INTRODUCTION

A fair rent is a rent which is fair between the landlord and tenant and subject to prevailing
rent law of a locality, enacted by a legislative body of the state concerned or central government.
The basic objective of the rent control legislation is to protect the tenant against exorbitant rents,
arbitrary increases in the rent and ensure him security of tenure. The legislation has been
necessitated by conditions of scarcity prevailing in rental housing markets of urban areas. As
housing is a State subject, different State Governments have framed their own rent control laws.
By 1972, almost all the States in the country had enacted Rent control Acts (RCA). The Rent
Control Act typically contain the provisions on the fixation of fair or standard rent and the
ways to calculate the fair rent and other rent control matters such as control on letting and leasing
of vacant buildings to assist tenants in their search for desirable rented accommodation,
protection to tenants against indiscriminate eviction by unscrupulous landlords, obligations and
duties of landlords vis-a vis maintenance and upkeep of their rented properties, rights of
landlords against tenants who default in paying rent or misuse the premises, and rights of
landlords for the recovery of premises in specific cases.

SCHEME OF RESEARCH:

This article is divided into 5 chapters dealing with introductory aspects containing the
historical aspect of the emergence of rent control legislations and fixation of fair rent, a special
emphasis on The Tamilnadu Buildings (Lease and Rent Control) Act, 1960 with reference to fair
rent in Tamil nadu and calculation thereon, and the problems arising in the enforcement of rent
control provisions on fixation of fair rent and finally ends with suggestions and
recommendations.

RESEARCH PROBLEM:

In strict sense, the application of provisions of fair rent is not practically possible. The
problems which support the contention is that:

The Fixation of standard/ fair rent (Worked out on the basis of the value of land and
cost of construction when built, as per the provisions of the Rent Control Act) as a
 percentage of the cost of construction is a major disincentive for those wanting to
invest in rental housing as it gives a very low rate of return as compared to other
assets. This presents a gloomy picture of the future supply in the rental housing
markets.
Problems as to Demand and Supply

OBJECT OF THE RESEARCH:

This paper provides a very brief historical background as to the emergence of fair rent
fixation in India, method of calculation of fair rent with special emphasis to Tamil Nadu state
legislation on rent control, extent of application of fair rent and other related provisions.

HYPOTHESIS:
Enforcement of provisions of fair rent may be a dream, yet to be realized. Even though,
several legislations are enacted for rent control in various states there may be a lack of proper
implementation mechanism because of various reasons. The aim thus would be that even if this
rent control regime has to be continued, certain changes have to be brought forth.

LIMITATIONS
This research paper is done relying mostly on articles and essays published by authors
online and few on books written on the Tamil Nadu Buildings (Lease and Rent Control) Act,
1960 and its calculations. Though such books are referred they do not contribute to the bulk of
the research and my research is mostly confined with the online sources. The area of research is
restrained only to the concept of fair rent a dream come true.

REVIEW OF LITERATURE
The existing literature on this research work mainly revolves around the published works
of foreign as well as Indian authors pertaining to the subject matter, well decided cases cited in
Indian journals and cases cited from other countries, and the articles published in the websites.