President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih has vowed to lower Hiyaa flat rents ahead of the upcoming presidential elections.
The then-government chose to lease out the Hiyaa flats built during the presidency of President Abdulla Yameen for RF 6,500 per month. However, following the change of government, the current government raised the rent of the Hiyaa flat to RF 8,000.
Furthermore, the shelter flats were handed over to their legitimate owners without the finishing work being completed. As a consequence, many people were forced to take out large loans in order to complete the flats. Due to this government’s failure to obtain the loan that the previous government had approved for the purpose, the finishing work on the apartments could not be finished.
During a meeting with members of the Hiyaa Union at the President’s Office today, President Ibrahim offered three options for lowering the rent. In order to finish the Hiyaa flat until the loan was repaid, the president suggested three ways to reduce rent for borrowers: identify those who did not pay the rent; identify those who did not pay the rent; and reduce the rent for everyone by extending the rent payment period.
The Hiyaa Union has requested that it be made available in order to reduce rent for all. The President promised the Hiyaa Union members that the rent would be reduced.
Even though the hiyaa flats’ legal owners had been pushing for a rent reduction ever since the rent was declared, the government had claimed at the time that it was impossible to lower the rent. The government had previously stated numerous times that if the Hiyaa rent was lowered, the government would incur a significant loss.
Unexpectedly, the government’s claims about rent has reversed, and the decision to reduce the rent is likely to be targeted at garnering votes in the upcoming presidential elections from a population of more than 30,000 people residing in Hiyaa flats.
