Stakeholders in the real estate sector have been urged to explore innovative solutions that take into consideration the interests of both property owners and tenants to ensure the sustainability of the housing sector.
This is because the growing trend of rent increments and the practice of property owners demanding one to two years’ rent in advance was not sustainable.
The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Richardson Group of Companies, a diversified conglomerate with interest in the real estate sector, John Andrew Richardson, explained that while property owners were justified in seeking to protect their investments, the practice of demanding one to two years’ rent in advance was creating an unsustainable burden for many tenants.
That, he said, disproportionately affected low- and middle-income earners, who often struggle to raise such large sums of money.