A landlord’s act of generosity to help an elderly father-and-son household continue residing in Taipei has received praise from residents following reports of the landlord offering rental housing to the pair for only NT$1 rent per month.
The octogenarian, surnamed Hu (胡), takes care of his disabled son, who is older than 50.
Datong District (大同) borough warden Chen Yu-nu (陳玉女) confirmed Hu’s status as head of a low-income household, and said that caring for the son was becoming more difficult for the senior citizen.
The pair rented an apartment on the third floor of a building in Chen’s borough. The building lacked an elevator and the stairs had no handrails, leaving the men facing increasing difficulty and danger, Chen said.
Hu said he thought about looking for another place on the ground floor and asked Chen for help. Chen posted the message on Facebook and someone responded shortly.
The “good Samaritan” landlord, who wished to remain anonymous, offered housing for NT$1 per month.
Chen witnessed the signing of the rental agreement on June 5 with a renewable one-year deal with the rent set at NT$12 for the whole year.
Chen said the apartment is near the Taipei Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) Minquan W Road Station, with 20 ping (66m2).
She said the apartment had been empty for a while and had six co-owners.
The kindhearted landlord was modest about the deed.
When reporters wanted to conduct interviews, the landlord demurred, saying: “Thanks, there is no need,” and declined to give further comments.
According to a real-estate agent surnamed Hsu (徐), a 20-ping apartment monthly rental within 1km of Minquan W Road Station would be at least NT$12,000.
Although most buildings in the area are more than 30 years old, the housing can command a good rental price because it is near the MRT, with schools and public parks close by, and the area has convenient living amenities, the real-estate agent said.
Hu said that he receives welfare assistance from the government that adds up to about NT$10,000 for monthly living expenses, while he had to pay NT$11,000 in rent for his old apartment.
“After deducting the rent, we had little left. It was difficult to live on,” he said.
“We will move into the ‘NT$1’ place soon. It is just near the old place. It is a happy feeling to know that we have the extra money to spend for our needs. From now on, we can live a little better than before,” Hu said.
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