Government Supports Plan To Reduce Annual Rent Increase.

The Government united to the call from various sectors in favor of a bill that aims to reduce the allowable annual rent increases.

This was stated by the minister of Housing and Human Settlements (MIVAH), Rosendo Pujol, in reference to the reform of Article 67 of the Law on Urban and Suburban Leasing, which allows an annual increase of up to 15%.

ìWe have already discussed this and we sent a note to the Assembly. Lowering the 15% seems very positive to me, said Pujol.

The bill (file number 18,067) was presented in 2011 by the then deputy of the Frente Amplio (Wide Front) (FA), José María Villalta.

The idea is that the yearly increases are in line with inflation, as long as it does not go above 12%, reads the plan.

The issue is particularly relevant given the growing trend among people in Costa Rica to rent rather than buy.

Tenants grow. According to the National Institute of Statistics and Censuses (INEC), the percent of rented housing increased from 16.4% in 2000 to 20.2% in 2011.

On the contrary, the amount of owned houses (completely paid) stalled at 58%, from 935,289 in 2000 to 1,211,964 in 2011.

This information was confirmed by a study last May from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), which placed a 21% average leasehold in the country. The average in Latin America is 20%

The number of people that rent went from 567,000 to 802,000 from 2000 to 2011 according to INEC.

Reasons. Formal living in Latin America and the Caribbean is costly. Some sources suggest the price-income relation can be up to three times more that in the US.î, highlighted the IDB, about why renting is more attractive.

The company even recommended that governments include the rent in policies aimed at solving housing problems.

Guillermo Carazo, President of the Costa Rican Chamber of Construction, assured the weekly El Financiero that people interested in homeownership, but cannot afford it, grew from 5% in 2000 to 30% in 2013.

Minister Pujol acknowledged that the cost is a cause for rent.

Buying a house is not very easy. There are many people that would like to have a house, but do not have the means to buy it, and the only option left is to rent, confirmed the hierarch.

Franklin Solano, from the Housing Promoting Foundation (HPF) has another theory. He believes that the rise in the rate of leasing is that single person households are increasing.

ìThese homes are more than 15 years old; therefore we require more housing and, as everyone cannot buy, what remains is to rent, concluded Solano.

Our thanks to our friends at La Nación – Costa Rica’s largest and most influential Spanish circulation newspaper for their permission to summarize their articles which originally appeared here.

Andrew Makarik

to@welovecostarica.com

Andrew Makarik is the main editor of WeLoveCostaRica, a fan of this sunny country. He is also a loving husband and a has a lovely daughter. By being a devoted family man and the biggest Costa Rica fan, he wants to make more people feel at home there. WeLoveCostaRica unites people and helps them find new home or a new travel destination. This website is a friendly community where everyone can find not only information, but also new friends and travel pals. Andrew is also passionate about IT and programming, so he himself maintains a friendly atmosphere in this cozy environment of WeLoveCostaRica.com.