Deputy Minister of Housing: If Tenant Refuses 25% Rent Increase, They Must Vacate
Iran’s Deputy Minister of Housing and Building under the Ministry of Roads and Urban Development, referring to the new government resolution for increasing rent, stated: if a tenant does not accept the resolution for rent increase, the landlord can force them to vacate the house.
Following criticism over skyrocketing housing prices and rents, Hassan Rouhani, Iran’s eighth president, announced on June 29 that the government has decided that rent in Tehran cannot increase more than 25 percent compared to last year.
Rouhani said that rent increases in other major cities compared to the previous year should not exceed 20 percent, and in other cities 15 percent.
Mahmoud Mahmoodzadeh, Deputy Minister of Housing and Building at the Ministry of Roads and Urban Development, told IRNA news agency on Monday, July 9: if a tenant has not fulfilled their obligations during the current contract period, in a way that has caused financial loss to the landlord, they are not covered by the new resolution and must vacate the property.
He added: likewise, if a landlord formally sells their house during the rental period, not through a promissory note, the tenant must vacate the property after two months.
This official from Iran’s Ministry of Roads and Urban Development stated: if the tenant does not comply with the rates announced by the National Coronavirus Headquarters, the landlord can issue an eviction order for them; meaning that if in Tehran, a tenant refuses a 25 percent rent increase, the landlord can force them to vacate their property.
The dramatic increase in housing and rental prices in Iran in recent months has caused serious discontent among tenants, especially since the Deputy Minister of Roads and Urban Development recently announced that according to 2016 statistics, 43.6 percent of people in Tehran are renters.
Central Bank statistics show that housing prices in June 2020 increased 42.5 percent compared to the same month last year, and rents increased 27.6 percent. However, media outlets, including Shahrvand newspaper, have reported that rents have increased between 40 to 100 percent.
Also, the government’s resolution to limit landlords in raising rental prices applies only to contracts whose renewal period has arrived and does not include new contracts.
Mahmoodzadeh claims: “This resolution neither violates the landlord’s rights nor forgets the tenant’s rights, but is considered a balanced resolution”.
In recent days, various reports have been published about renting one residential unit by two families, renting rooftops of houses for overnight stays, and tenants selling gold and cars to pay house rent.
Source: Radio Farda
