Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and Assam have revised tenancy acts on the lines of the Model Tenancy Act (MTA), Minister of State for Housing and Urban Affairs Kaushal Kishore said in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha on July 25.
In response to a question by BJP MP Ashok Bajpai, Kishore said, “As per information available with MoHUA, the States of Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and Assam have revised Tenancy Acts on the lines of MTA (sic).”
MTA aims to balance the rights of all types of tenants and landlords and create an accountable and transparent ecosystem for renting premises in a disciplined and efficient manner, he said in his response.
The Union cabinet approved MTA on June 2, 2021, and it was circulated by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) to all the states and Union Territories (UTs) on June 7, 2021, for adoption by way of either enacting fresh legislation or amending existing rental laws suitably, he said in his reply.
The draft MTA was put up for public consultation, during which around 500 comments or suggestions were received from various stakeholders, the reply said.
The Cabinet on June 2, 2021, approved the Model Tenancy Act for circulation to the states and union territories for adoption. It seeks to facilitate the unlocking of vacant houses for rental housing purposes.
As per Census 2011, more than one crore houses are lying vacant in urban areas across the country. The existing rent control laws have been restricting the growth of rental housing and discouraging owners from renting out their vacant homes due to fear of the tenant not vacating the premises.
The Act seeks to balance the rights of both landlords and tenants to promote rental housing. MTA will be applicable prospectively and will not affect existing tenancies. Rent and duration of tenancy to be fixed by mutual consent between owner and tenant through a written agreement.
It is expected to give a fillip to private participation in rental housing as a business model for addressing the huge housing shortage.
The Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry floated the draft model tenancy law in July 2019. It seeks to establish an independent authority in every state and union territory for the registration of tenancy agreements and even a separate court to take up all tenancy-related disputes.
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