Pen­sion­er Glo­ria Barnes (not her re­al name) moved in­to her St Joseph Street, Ari­ma, apart­ment six years ago and has al­ready seen her rent in­crease twice.

Barnes is now brac­ing for her third hike fol­low­ing Fi­nance Min­is­ter Dav­en­dranath Tan­coo’s an­nounce­ment in his 2026 Bud­get pre­sen­ta­tion on Mon­day that the Gov­ern­ment will im­pose tax­es on land­lords in light of an ex­plo­sion of un­reg­is­tered com­mer­cial and res­i­den­tial rental prop­er­ties.

Pen­sion­ers and low-in­come ten­ants across T&T are now fac­ing the prospect of high­er rents as land­lords pass on the added costs.