The Hiyaa Union has started gathering signatures for a letter calling to lower the rent of Hiyaa flats.
The monthly rent for Hiyaa flats is MVR 7,500, and an additional MVR 1,000 is charged as a maintenance fee. However, no rent has been charged thus far since the flats were handed over to their recipients last August. The government has said rent will be charged from April onwards.
The main complaint of Hiyaa flat recipients is that the flats were not complete when it was handed over to them. While the expense of finishing works had to be borne by flat owners, a high rent on top of the expenditure is unacceptable as per flat owners. Furthermore, they compare the rents charged for fully completed flats under other housing schemes and complain that the rent charged on the units is lower than that charged for the Hiyaa flats.
However, the government has said on multiple occasions that it cannot lower the rent on the flats, despite the previous government having had set the rent at MVR 5,600 for the same units. The flat owners are requesting the government to change the rent charged on the units to the amount set by the former government. The letter addressed to HDC states the same.
Over 600 flat recipients have signed the letter thus far.
A total of 6,720 residential units were built in 16 towers under the Hiyaa scheme. An additional 280 units will be used for commercial purposes.
