House rents rise 27pc in 4 years, taking a bigger bite out of incomes

Shahadat Hossain works for a private company in the capital. He earns a total of Tk 39,000 a month. Until recently, he lived in a shared rented accommodation. He recently got married and now needs a small flat, preferably close to his office in Mohammadpur.

Over the past week, he has searched extensively for a two-room flat in Adabor, Shekhertek and areas around the Mohammadpur bus stand. But the rents are beyond his means, with nothing available for less than Tk 18,000.

If he rents a flat at this rate, gas and electricity bills will be added to the rent, along with a service charge. Altogether, the monthly cost would exceed Tk 20,000.

Speaking to Prothom Alo on Sunday, Shahadat Hossain said, “If half my salary goes towards housing, how am I supposed to manage in this high-cost market?”

Expressing his helplessness, he said he had been forced to decide to look for cheaper accommodation much farther from his office. Although this would make commuting more difficult, he said it would save some money to cover other expenses.

Like Shahadat, almost all people in Dhaka on limited and fixed incomes face a similar situation. A large portion of their income has to be spent on housing. Even then, they cannot always find a home that meets their needs. Moreover, once a house is rented, most landlords increase the rent almost every year.

According to the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS), house rents in the country have increased by around 27 per cent over the past four years. In reality, however, rents are rising at a faster rate than the government’s figures suggest. The increase has been particularly sharp in Dhaka.

Four years ago, Fozayel Ahmed rented a three-room flat in East Goran for Tk 20,000. He said the rent has now risen to Tk 27,000. It has been increased three times, meaning a 35 per cent rise. Electricity and gas bills have also increased during this period. He has had to cut back on other expenses to cover the additional costs.

The United Nations Economic and Social Council’s World Urbanization Prospects 2025 report says around 36.6 million people now live in Dhaka city and its surrounding areas. Dhaka is the world’s second-most populous city.

A large proportion of this vast population lives in rented accommodation. The government enacted the House Rent Control Act in 1991, but the law has remained largely ineffective. This is because regulations needed to enforce the law have still not been formulated. It is against this backdrop that World Habitat Day is being observed today, Monday.

Consumer Association of Bangladesh (CAB) President AHM Shafiquzzaman told Prothom Alo that rents are high in Dhaka because demand for housing exceeds supply. In many cases, landlords also have legitimate reasons for raising rents.

However, he said there is no mechanism to monitor whether the increase is reasonable or whether excessive costs are being imposed on tenants. For this, it is essential to formulate regulations under the House Rent Control Act. This would make it possible to resolve rent-related disputes within a legal framework.

Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) publishes a house rent index every three months. According to the government agency, house rents in Bangladesh increased by around 27 per cent between July 2022 and the end of July 2026.

This is the national average. Rents have increased even more depending on demand and location. In Dhaka, for example, both the ammount of rents and the rate of increase are the highest.

Over the past two days, Prothom Alo surveyed house rents in Mirpur, Mohammadpur, Shekhertek, Moghbazar, Eskaton, Paribagh, Banasree, Jatrabari and Bashundhara Residential Area in the capital.

In these areas, rents for three-room flats ranged from Tk 18,000 to Tk 50,000. A monthly service charge of Tk 3,000 to Tk 7,000 is added to this. However, rents are somewhat lower in areas farther from the main roads. For example, two-room flats in Basila, Mohammadpur, can be rented for between Tk 10,000 and Tk 15,000.

Ahsan Habib has been renting a house in the Shewrapara area of the capital for five years. He told Prothom Alo that the rent had been increased twice during this period. His landlord has informed him that it will be raised by another Tk 1,000 from January.

Tenants complain that in most cases, landlords and tenants do not have a written agreement. As a result, landlords put pressure on tenants to increase the rent at any time, often verbally.

In its 2022 Household Income and Expenditure Survey, BBS provided an average estimate of how much households spend on different items.

According to BBS, the average monthly income of a household in Bangladesh is Tk 32,422, while its expenditure is Tk 31,500. Some 42 per cent of expenditure goes towards food. The second-largest category of expenditure is house rent along with gas, electricity and water bills.

Experts say most people come to Dhaka primarily in search of work. If transport links were better, many could live outside Dhaka. This would reduce pressure on housing and help keep rents under control.