‘Exorbitant rent for earthquake victims’ riot in Ankara
The earthquake survivors, whose houses were destroyed or damaged in the earthquakes that took place in Kahramanmaraş and affected 10 provinces, began to migrate to different provinces. Ankara was one of the cities that received the most immigration from the earthquake region.
However, the exorbitant increase in house rents with the arrival of earthquake victims in the city caused a reaction. Claiming that the price demanded for houses advertised for rent was double that of similar houses in the same region, the earthquake victims rebelled against the situation and filed a complaint with the Ankara Chamber of Realtors.
‘They have doubled the rent’
Hüseyin Orhan, who was caught in an earthquake in his house on the third floor, where he lived with his 4 children, and came to Ankara when his house was badly damaged, said:
“I came to Ankara with my son after the earthquake. I sent my daughter and her mother to other relatives. We are also looking for a house to live in Ankara. Thanks to our state, he welcomes us in guest houses; but it has to be a place where we can stay for a long time. We are looking for rental houses in many parts of Ankara.
A few days before the earthquake, housing prices, which were following their normal course, doubled astronomically due to what we call ‘opportunists’. What should the government do with these people? Consciousness must be in itself. You will empathize, you could experience the same situation. We went somewhere; The house, which used to cost 6 thousand liras, is now worth 11 thousand liras. There is no such world. We went to 5 houses and we saw such movement in all of them”.
“THE PEOPLE WHO SAID ‘I DON’T WANT TO GIVE HOME TO THE VICTIMS OF THE EARTHQUAKE’
Hakan Akçam, Chairman of the Ankara Chamber of Realtors, said:
“As Ankara Chamber of Realtors, we have placed almost 500 families in their homes for free. On such a day, believe me, the owners should reveal their spiritual feelings beyond money at this point. There has been a disaster, our citizens are victims. A serious control mechanism can be put in place for landlords who provide these rent increases. I receive complaints about this and report it to the ministry.
The Ministry side also evaluates this work and writes sanction; but for now the number is very large. More than 50 such complaints were received. There were also those who said: ‘I don’t want to give a house to the victims of the earthquake.’ When we asked why, they said that they would have a hard time getting rent after a few months, that some families that came here would live together, and that the people that came here would not have jobs.
The Ministry of Commerce has an exorbitant price fine application. A fine of around 200 thousand lire is imposed. We strongly recommend this is written to owners who are opportunistic. We will also support you in this regard.
We inform all our members; We said, ‘Don’t take the commission service fee as much as possible on rental applications from earthquake victims.’ As Ankara Chamber of Realtors, we would like to have a support in this business. 95 percent of our members have responded to our call and they do not receive commission for the earthquake victims who come to Ankara.” (DHA)