The government on Wednesday announced a reduction to the rent of Hiya Flats, with the new rent being MVR 5,300.

Speaking during a press conference on Wednesday to announce the changes, State Minister at the Planning Ministry, Akram Kamaluddin noted that the President heard the concerns submitted by Hiyaa Union, and has decided to bring changes to the rent.

Akram announced that following relevant discussions, Hiya tenants will now be paying MVR 5,300 as rent for the next seven years. Akram noted that this is not a reduction in rent technically, just that an easier way to pay the rental money monthly.

Speaking during the press conference, the Managing Director of Urbancho, Ahmed Athif noted that the change has been brought keeping in mind that an average of MVR 130,000 had to be spent on finishing works for each unit. He further noted that the maintenance fee remains unchanged and that with this change the loan repayment period has increased to 27 years from 25.

With the maintenance fee, the total rent for each unit will now be MVR 6,300.

Athif revealed that the government had previously subsidized MVR 3.7 billion for the project as well, and that even though the rent period has increased the loan repayment period for Urbanco remains the same.