MHC rentals hike July 1: Malawi landlords to follow suit

Tenants of the Malawi Housing Corporation (MHC) will   from July this year dig deeper into their pockets following the corporation’s rental hike.

MHC General Manager, Wezi Mkandawire has not indicated by how much the rentals will be raised per unit.

“We are in the process of coming up with a statement on that one and the nation will be told as to how much the rates will rise,” she said.

Minister of Lands, Housing and Urban Development Paul Chibingu disclosed that he gave MHC the go-ahead to raise house rentals effective July 1 as one way of increasing revenue to help the parastatal meet some of its obligations.

One of the tenants in Chinyonga, Lawrence Phiri said the corporation could have first undertaken renovation exercise on the houses before hiking the rentals.

Some of the private landlords Nyasa Times spoke to, have also indicated that they will be raising their rentals.

A house with one bedroom on the open market costs K20 000 (US$44) while that belonging to MHC is pegged at K7 000 (US$16).

MHC is a parastatal organization which is responsible for the construction and renting of houses to the public to ease the accommodation problems.

However, press reports indicated that the corporation has made losses in two consecutive years on its rental accounts.

MHC posted a K43 million (US$95 556) loss compared to K38 million (US$84 444) in 2013.

According to Mkandawire, the parastatal is in the process of applying for a loan, which will enable it to construct 648 houses in Lilongwe and 400 in Blantyre.

Apart from that, she said they will also build one United Nations (UN) house near Sunbird Capital in Lilongwe, which will enable the parastatal to raise more money.

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