If affording a rented
house is getting in
creasingly difficult for residents of the city, finding one even when funds are not a problem is a task equally herculean, if not more.
Shillong is growing fast and the rapid urbanisation means that hundreds throng the city from rural and neighbouring areas in search of better earning opportunities.
Also considered an educational destination, students from around the region and also from other parts of the country also land up in the Pine City.
It is a well known fact that despite construction work going on almost everywhere in the city, there seems to be a perennial shortage of rented houses in the city.
Things get worse due to lack of timely information about vacant houses in different localities.
With this ever increasing population, it is virtually impossible for anyone to find a house in the locality of their choice.
However, the process of renting out houses can be streamlined to reduce a bit of the distress of the scores of shelter-seekers.
However, in doing so, care should be taken that like in bigger cities (mostly in metros) middlemen do not get any opportunity to make a quick buck.
When this scribe approached Edward Kharwanlong, Rangbah Shnong of Laban, to seek his opinion on the issue, he stated that the Laban Dorbar Shnong has been making efforts since long to streamline the process of renting out houses in the locality but without much success.
“In the past, we had requested house owners to inform us if there were any vacant houses. However, the initiative did not pay many dividends as most of the time the previous tenants recommend their relatives or friends to occupy the house they have vacated,” Kharwanlong said.
Kharwanlong also mentioned that house owners mostly avoid giving information to the Dorbar Shnong about any vacant house fearing that the Dorbar might regulate rents in the locality.
Similar views were echoed by Saifun Nessa, Head of the Department Sociology, St Mary’s College. According to Nessa, there is already an existing provision whereby landlords have to inform of any new tenants to the Dorbar Shnong.
“We can go a step forward and form a council, whereby all the residents can be members, with the cooperation of the Dorbar which would help in disseminating information about vacant houses in a particular locality,” Nessa said.
The move would also prove beneficial for the house owners who can verify the antecedents of the new tenants beforehand, she added.
Laitumkhrah Rangbah Shnong GM Bruce said that the Municipality has a bigger role to play as far as streamlining the rent is concerned. “The whole problem is that statutorily, the Municipality collects taxes. If they get the owners to declare how much rent they collect from the tenants, a whole lot of problems like irrational hike of rent and high advance payments can be streamlined to an extent.”
Bruce added that he had tried to implement a few changes like streamlining rents of commercial shops and buildings for residents of the locality but failed in his attempt due to non-cooperation from the owners.
Talking about the need to register any vacant house in the area, Bruce said, “We only get to know of new residents in the locality when someone comes for errands like getting a new gas connection etc. The responsibility lies with the owners as we do not want to be too pushy on these things.”
Informing about vacant slots to local bodies can also prove beneficial for the owners as with proper documents provided, the whereabouts of the tenants, if required, can be found out.
No doubt that with better cooperation between the Dorbar Shnong and the house owners a host of issues can be streamlined and in absence of an active Rent Control Act in the State, there is a need to put things in order sooner than later to avoid further crisis. (By Nabarun Goswami)