Rent control extended for 2 years

MANILA, Philippines - The Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC) has decided to extend rent control for two more years, Vice President Jejomar Binay said yesterday.

Under the Rent Control Act of 2009, which will expire on Dec. 31, rents of housing units shall not be increased by more than seven percent annually as long as the units are occupied by the same lessees.

“The rent raise cap applies to residential units in the National Capital Region (NCR) and other highly urbanized cities whose monthly rent does not exceed P10,000, and those in other areas with rental rates up to P5,000 a month,” said Binay, chairman of HUDCC.

“We want to help renting families have breathing room given the recent increases in power rates and the natural calamities we experienced,” he added.

Binay cited that Section 6 of the rent control law grants HUDCC the authority “to continue the regulation of the rental of certain residential units, to determine the period of regulation and its subsequent extension if warranted, to determine the residential units covered and to adjust the allowable limit on rental increases per annum.”

The HUDCC decided to recommend the extension of rent control at status quo rates up to December 2015 based on the initial results of a study commissioned by the agency.

The study was conducted by the Statistical Research and Training Center, an attached agency of the National Economic and Development Authority.

“Preliminary results of the study showed that about 1.5 million households or 7.2 percent of the total 21.5 million households nationwide are renters. Of this, 97 percent pay P10,000 and below monthly,” Binay said.

In 2012, the monthly average family income of renters in the country was P23,968, with P27,246 for NCR and P20,794 for other areas. Families in NCR spend about 12.4 percent of their income for house rent. – With Marvin Sy