Rowley: Govt to review Rent Restriction Act

Speaking at a post-Cabinet news conference, Rowley said Government was examining the effect of the restriction on rent prices on the private sector units for rental. Rowley noted that the system which was very popular was no longer so because persons who normally built units for rent, were no longer doing so. He said experts had advised that this was a major contributing factor to the housing shortage. "This thing has come full circle," he noted.

Rowley explained, the Act was initially meant to assist tenants, but by creating a shortage it has caused an explosion in price because of the limited number of units. As a result, he said Government was trying to determine if it was time to renew the legislation.

The Rent Restriction Act currently in operation applies only to a certain category of housing. To qualify to be covered by the Rent Restriction Act, the housing has to be of a certain age, Rowley said. He said the act does not cover new construction and new tenancies. "It is really confined to a body of persons — landlord and tenants — who are of a certain ilk by virtue of age of the structure and age of the tenancy," he said.