Staying in a rented apartment and troubled by your landlord with rent increases every now and then? You should know that there are regulatory limits to which the rent can be raised by the landlord. It is not just a question of whether or not there are people willing to pay more to occupy the same apartment.

Only 12% of the total cost of the building is supposed to be charged as rent for commercial buildings, and just 9% if it is a residential accomodation! The total cost of the building is the sum of the land cost (based on guideline values of Registration department)  and the building cost (calculated by Chied Engineer Buildings).

Tenants have got the right to approach the rent control court to get the fair rent fixed, in case exorbitant rentals are being asked for. The rent control court will take into consideration the guideline values prepared by PWD (Public Works Department) for the relevant apartment and arrive at a decision.

However, in the long term land costs will increase as an area becomes more urbanised and thus its guideline rates will increase. As a result of this, the rentals that can be demanded by the landlords will eventually increase, although in short term tenants are protected by the fact that PWD may not have revised their guideline values appropriately.