Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) lawmakers yesterday urged landlords nationwide to reduce their rents amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
The global spread of the novel coronavirus has led to an increase in the number of people who are unemployed and has affected disadvantaged groups, the TPP legislative caucus told a news conference in Taipei.
Low-income families were already struggling before the pandemic, it said, adding that rent alone puts an enormous amount of pressure on those families.
Photo: George Tsorng, Taipei Times
Over the past few years, not only have property prices soared, but rent has also gone up “outrageously,” TPP Legislator Jang Chyi-lu (張其祿) said.
Now, in the midst of the crisis, many shop owners have found themselves unable to pay rent, he said, adding that some restaurants have already gone out of business.
Some landlords — including the central and local governments — have begun to lower rent for their tenants, Jang said, citing as examples the Taiwan Railways Administration and Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp, which have vowed to cut rent by at least 25 percent.
Landlords should sympathize with tenants and reduce or delay rent payments, the party said.
Tsuei Ma Ma Foundation for Housing and Community Services CEO Lu Ping-yi (呂秉怡) said that for most tenants, rent is their largest expense, consuming about 30 to 50 percent of their income.
As a result, when problems with their jobs arise, rent becomes a heavy burden, he said.
Lu echoed the party’s call for landlords to lower rent for tenants from a “philanthropic” perspective.
It would not be easy for landlords to find new tenants for their properties under the current situation should existing ones leave because they cannot pay the full rent, he said.
Instead of spending months without rental income, landlords might as well cut rent by 20 to 30 percent, he added.
TPP Legislator Lai Hsiang-ling (賴香伶) said that the government should set up a platform to help tenants struggling to pay rent due to a decrease in or loss of income negotiate rent deferrals with their landlords.
It should also ensure that when it lowers rent for businesses operating on publicly owned real estate, those cuts are extended to the businesses’ subtenants, she added.
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