LAHORE: Many tenants of properties owned by the Evacuee Trust Property Board and the Punjab Auqaf Organization in Lahore are taking advantage of the low rental rates by demanding high rents from sub-lessees while paying next to nothing in rent to the trust property departments.
Although the ETPB and the Punjab Auqaf Organization own several residential and commercial properties in the area, the rental rates remain unreasonably low, ranging from Rs. 8,000 to Rs. 10,000 per month, compared to the market rate of Rs. 50,000 per month for similar-sized properties nearby.
A resident living in an ETPB residential property confirmed to The Express Tribune that he has been paying Rs. 30,000 per month as rent to his tenant for the past five years.
The Chairman of the ETPB board informed that the department was aware of fraudulent behavior by tenants and had approved a higher rent policy in 2006.
However, widespread dissent among the tenants prevented it from being put into practice, leading to arrears in revenue collection.
Similarly, the Punjab Auqaf Board’s attempts at increasing the rental rates up to the level of the market rates in 2020 were met with resistance.
The Secretary of the Punjab Auqaf Organization remarked that tenants are reluctant to oblige with the revised lease policy, despite attempts to increase rental rates by up to 70 percent.
Source: Tribune
