The operator of a long-term apartment project in Bao’an District is suspected of illegally raising rent, a SZTV news program reported yesterday.
According to a tenant, surnamed Chen, she was told by the management of Qixing Yujian Apartments to pay an extra 500 yuan (US$73) when she paid her utility bills in June.
“They told me that the extra was to cover increases in the water fee, sanitation fee and some other fees,” said Chen, who moved into the long-term apartment managed by Ziroom Apartments in March.
Chen came to Shenzhen after graduating from college last year. She decided to move into a Qixing Yujian apartment on Liuxian No. 1 Road in Bao’an District because of its good location, reasonable rent and cozy ambience.
Many other tenants in the long-term rental apartments were also told to pay extra, which they said was unacceptable as it wasn’t stated in the lease contracts they’d signed.
A person in charge of the Qixing Yujian Apartments said they raised the fee for hot-water supply to 50 yuan per ton because they recently purchased an expensive water heater for the tenants. The person, who wasn’t identified, said the other extra fees they charged also had a legal basis.
The tenants, like Chen, said they suspected that the operator of the long-term apartments was trying to raise the rent, which it had initially set at a low level to attract tenants.
According to a rent graphic released on the Ziroom Apartments app, the rents of its apartments in Shenzhen and Beijing rise slightly almost every month, the report said.
A staffer with Ziroom Apartments was quoted by the report as saying that tenants need to pay eight percent of their total rent in service fees, which are in addition to the base rent and utility bills. The total cost to live in a long-term rental apartment is not as attractive as it may seem, the report said.
Ziroom Apartments was embroiled in a scandal earlier this month when it was reported for raising its offers several times when competing with a market rival to lure a homeowner in Beijing to lease the property, resulting in the rent jumping from 7,500 yuan to 10,800 yuan.
The city government has been urged to strengthen its supervision of the long-term rental housing market to protect the healthy development of the industry.
Song Ding, a real-estate market analyst, said the government needs to intervene to ensure rents stay within a range that is affordable for residents, as the government cracks down on housing speculation.
(SD News)