Many landlords in Binh Duong Province have lowered the rents by half for people who can’t return to their hometowns during Tet Holiday due to Covid-19.
Over 1.2 million people in Binh Duong who are working at various companies and factories are from other provinces and cities. Thousands of them became unemployed in 2020 and the situation has become even more difficult as Tet nears.
Le Huu Huy, the owner of Tung Huy rental residential area in Thuan An City, lowered rents by half to VND700,000 (USD30) per apartment per month. Huy said he also prepared some gifts for the tenants who can’t return to their hometowns. Pham Thi Luyen also lowered the rents by half to VND600,000-VND700,000 for all 40 apartments.
In 2020, many landlords in Binh Duong also waived or lowered the rents to help struggling workers. Doan Thuy Duong, a landlady with 80 apartments in Thu Dau Mot City, already waived two months of rent and gave 10 kg of rice to all of her tenants. Nguyen Thi Yen said she lowered the rents by VND400,000 after seeing many workers became unemployed.
The leaders of Thu Dau Mot City visited and praised the actions of Duong and Yen. As of now, hundreds of landlords in Binh Duong supported the workers by waiving or lowering the rents.
The police in Tan Dong Hiep Ward sent a letter to the landlords to call for them to lower the rents as a way to help community policing.
Tan Dong Hiep has the highest number of workers. About 40,000 workers live in 17,000 apartments in Tan Dong Hiep. After many businesses were suspended or shut down, many workers were affected.
This article was originally published in Dtinews