No place to hang your hat
As Namibians continue to express their anguish over the escalating house prices, government was this week forced to come out of its long slumber after the Affirmative Repositioning movement threatened to sue over the authorities’ failure to come up with a Rental Control Board as previously agreed upon.
Although government through the Office of the Prime Minister claims that this process has already started, it remains to be seen whether we will have an up and running rent board by the end of this year. Rent control alone should not be the solution to the housing crisis.
The painful truth is that many Namibians who merely want a place to live are shut out of the market because rising prices have encouraged “buy-to-let” landlords to snap up so many properties on the market.
And they are able to do so quickly as they are not first-time owners and have access to credit. It is not only house prices that are taking up a greater share of our incomes, we also have an increased tax burden to prop up a system which has become unaffordable.
The situation has now become a way of keeping the poor poor and making the rich richer. It is the new apartheid and modern-day parasites are capitalising on the huge demand for housing in the country, as a result giving rise to property prices.
The economics of supply and demand because there are too many people and not enough houses cannot be the only factor pushing up house prices and consequently causing high rentals.
Some even suspect collusion within the market where real estate agents - using underhanded techniques - are deliberately overvaluing properties. Until 1991, the rental of properties was strictly regulated by the Rents Ordinance of 1977, who were empowered to investigate any complaint, and to consider any application for the increase or decrease of rent. Why this was deregulated remains a mystery to this date.
Government must not be seen to be doing something, but must take the cries of ordinary Namibians seriously as this issue has now spiralled ludicrously out of control.
Although government through the Office of the Prime Minister claims that this process has already started, it remains to be seen whether we will have an up and running rent board by the end of this year. Rent control alone should not be the solution to the housing crisis.
The painful truth is that many Namibians who merely want a place to live are shut out of the market because rising prices have encouraged “buy-to-let” landlords to snap up so many properties on the market.
And they are able to do so quickly as they are not first-time owners and have access to credit. It is not only house prices that are taking up a greater share of our incomes, we also have an increased tax burden to prop up a system which has become unaffordable.
The situation has now become a way of keeping the poor poor and making the rich richer. It is the new apartheid and modern-day parasites are capitalising on the huge demand for housing in the country, as a result giving rise to property prices.
The economics of supply and demand because there are too many people and not enough houses cannot be the only factor pushing up house prices and consequently causing high rentals.
Some even suspect collusion within the market where real estate agents - using underhanded techniques - are deliberately overvaluing properties. Until 1991, the rental of properties was strictly regulated by the Rents Ordinance of 1977, who were empowered to investigate any complaint, and to consider any application for the increase or decrease of rent. Why this was deregulated remains a mystery to this date.
Government must not be seen to be doing something, but must take the cries of ordinary Namibians seriously as this issue has now spiralled ludicrously out of control.
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Namibian Sun
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