Is Rent Control Needed in Belize?
What does it cost to rent a living space in your community? There are many reasons why renting a home or an apartment in Belize City may come at a greater expense than renting a dwelling space in San Ignacio, Punta Gorda, or Corozal. But, it all boils down to the market and sure there are landlords out there gouging their prices. The Statistical Institute of Belize does measure the annual increases in housing cost, along with other goods like water, electricity and gas. Data shows that for 2019, the inflation rate for the housing category was at zero point two percent and 2022 at two point nine percent. But it all comes down to where you want to live in Belize and for most tenants that is highly dependent on where you work. News Five’s Paul Lopez reports.
Paul Lopez, Reporting
When looking for a place to rent, if you are like most people, you would likely go online to search for listings. And, depending on which site you use and the radius of the search, dozens of options are available across all municipalities. It may quickly become evident that it is cheaper to rent in certain towns. For example, eight hundred dollars is enough to rent a one bedroom apartment in a relatively safe neighborhood in Belize City. For three hundred dollars less you can rent an entire two bedroom home not too far from downtown San Ignacio. But, why is this case? We turned Carlo Habet, the President of the Belize National Association of Real Estate, for some answers.
Carlo Habet
Carlo Habet, President, BNAR
“For instance like Belize City is a strong market, San Pedro is a strong market, Placencia is a strong market. To an extend San Ignacio is a pretty strong market. In these places you have a larger mix or rentals and you have like higher priced rentals. The demand is higher for those. I feel like there is always a local market for every municipality. If you look a those same municipalities in comparison to Corozal for example or Orange Walk, a Dangriga, a PG, in comparison to those, it would still be more expensive for locals to rent, again just because there is more demands, higher paying jobs, people can pay more, people demand more, the renters put more into the place. It may be more square footage, might be semi-furnished. So, they might be offering more value. Again it is location, location, location. These places have more going on. There is better amenities, infrastructure all of these things, so you would expect a higher price.”
According to Habet, a lot of single income and double income families may not be able to access the finance necessary to build their dream homes. The increasing cost of labor and construction materials also influence why people decide to rent instead of owning a home at this time. On the other hand, many people simply desire to live where they work. In theory, there is an option for every budget, but cheaper may require some compromises.
Carlo Habet
“I think what people are looking for is something they can afford. That might sound silly but they are willing to compromise for the price. So what you will see is a typical local, one person to two people trying to find a place or share a place. There is a magic number they ask for which is like sixty-fifty to eight hundred dollars per month. That is what they know they want to spend. They might be going out there with an idea that this thing may be a three bedroom and in some cases it can be. We are representing agents, obviously, and you are going to get the highest price for your place, but that takes some time. But if you just jump on Belize Buy and Sell on Facebook, people are doing consumer to consumer transactions and those are sometime faster and cheaper and that is what it is. People have their budget and they can get it met.”
So, who determines the cost of rent? The long and short of the answer is that market demand does. Location, the kinds of amenities that come with the home, the square footage and the yard space are all factors that play a role in pricing. But, what if the Government of Belize implemented rent control to place a limit on what landlords can charge, would it work? In early October, a reporter asked Prime Minister John Briceño.
Reporter
“For those are still renting, you may know that rental cost of Belize is very high. Has his government ever given any consideration about doing something about rent control?”
Prime Minister John Briceño
Prime Minister John Briceño
“No, actually no. It would be very difficult to have any kind of rent control in Belize. But, I think that we can put in place, I think the renters need to be aware that there is a process when they are not paying their rent, how they can take them out of their homes. In some instances unscrupulous business owners would change the lock or cut the water and light. Those take a legal process to follow so from that end we need to ensure that they know their rights. Rent control would be a bit more difficult.”
Carlo Habet
“I do feel like if it gets to a point where there is some sort of rampant gentrification where it is pushing people out of their neighborhoods then fine, we need to look at what we can do as a government to make sure that is not the case. I believe that again it is socioeconomic. Before it gets there we have to look seriously at the education we are giving our kids, the jobs available to them afterwards to make sure they can make a living to afford where they are living too. There comes a point where you say fine, there is a cost to living in a certain place.”
Rental homes tend to be cheaper in rural communities based on online listings. But, renting a home in a rural community can place an additional burden on one’s transportation expenses. Reporting for News Five, I am Paul Lopez.
