The Affirmative Reposition (AR) movement has called on the Ministry of Urban and Rural Development (MURD) to finalise the Rent Control Bill as a matter of urgency. The drafted Bill, earmarked to regulate rent prices in Namibia, which has been housed under MURD since 2017, is Cabinet’s resolution to seek that the government introduces measures to regulate rental prices and avoid the current exploitation of tenants by landlords through the appointment of Rent Control Boards. In an interview with Nampa on Tuesday, AR spokesperson, Simon Amunime, said the movement, through its legal department, has filed a court case against the ministry regarding the pending tabling of the Bill, stressing that the exploitation of tenants through high rent prices is a ticking bomb. Amunime claims that the execution of the Bill is being prolonged deliberately by the ministry due to self-interests. “AR’s position is that the tabling of the Bill is a matter of urgency. It is long overdue and must be dealt with immediately. It is a matter of implementation because consultations were already made. There is a charter and rent control board committees have been established in different regions and towns,” said Amunime. According to the latest First National Bank (FNB) Rental Index report issued for March 2022, the rental growth in Namibia is on an upward trajectory, with an annual contraction of 2.3% at the end of June 2021 from -3.7% recorded at the end of the preceding quarter. The report further noted that due to a shortage of housing supply in the demand gap due to the high cost of land servicing, rent prices options vary across regions, noting that the implementation of the Rent Control Bill also presents downside risks to affordability for tenants. “Given that the ceiling is set at 10% and the market-determined rental yields are at 6.8%, this gives room for landlords to push prices higher, thus putting the tenants under pressure,” the report noted. Although, President Hage Geingob’s blueprint strategy; the Harambee Prosperity Plan (HPP), aimed for the implementation of the rent control board measures by December 2021, Minister of Urban and Rural Development, Erastus Uutoni, in a recent interview with Nampa, said the Bill is back to the drawing board due an identified regulation challenge. “After the Bill was submitted from the Attorney General’s office, we have identified that the regulations are not finalised and a Bill cannot work without regulations. So, the process of appointing a consultation to come up with regulations to accompany the Bill is at an advanced stage. We are hoping that it will not be long,” he noted.