AZE.US
Pressure is growing on both tenants and landlords in Azerbaijan as authorities step up checks on rented housing, according to Natig Jafarli, chairman of the REAL party, who says the current system is pushing people toward informal arrangements rather than transparency.
His comments come amid increased scrutiny of rental properties across the country. Local media have reported that police officers have been checking apartments to determine whether residents are officially registered at their current address and whether a formal rental contract has been signed.
Under the current practice, residents found living at an address without registration and without a rental agreement can face an administrative fine of 30 manats, with reports saying protocols may be drawn up on the spot.
Jafarli said the logic behind punishing people for living outside their place of registration is outdated and unclear, especially in a country where many people are registered in one district but live and work in another, particularly in Baku.
He argued that the policy resembles the old Soviet-era propiska system and said the state should focus on building a practical and modern registration system rather than penalizing citizens.
According to Jafarli, if the government’s real goal is to understand how many people live in rented housing and where they are located, that could be achieved through a simple digital mechanism using existing tools such as FIN codes and electronic identification.
He also argued that if authorities want to bring the rental market out of the shadows, the financial burden should be minimal. In his view, many landlords would be willing to formalize rental arrangements if the process were easy and the fee symbolic.
Jafarli warned that the current model, which combines inspections, fines and tax-related pressure, creates the opposite effect. Instead of encouraging full disclosure, he said, it pushes landlords and tenants to underreport rental prices or keep agreements informal.
He said fines should be used to regulate behavior, not to raise money, and argued that the current approach is damaging trust between citizens and the state.
Jafarli proposed replacing the punitive model with a simplified electronic registration system that would be easier to use, cheaper for citizens and more effective for the government’s own statistical and administrative needs.