Married Men May Not Get Rent Increase

Only a small percentage of the 2,224 married University students who rent Cambridge apartments probably will have to face rent increases next year, even though the Massachusetts House of Representatives yesterday failed to override the rent control veto of Governor Christian A. Herter '15, it was learned last night.

After falling to obtain the required two-thirds majority, the House immediately passed another bill to extend controls until the end of this year. The original bill would have extended them for an entire year.

But under existing statutes neither the vetoing to the first bill nor the passage of the revised bill will have any effect on student rental rates.

Contrary to opinions which prevailed in the University following Herter's veto on Friday, no more than two percent of the students' apartments are now protected by rent control laws.

Faculty Faces Increases

Faculty members, however, who are living in apartments which have ceiling rent prices will face considerable rent increases after Jan. 1, 1956, when the new bill goes out of effect.

Apartment rates may rise, however, in certain student-occupied rooms because of building improvements, an official of the Harvard Housing Trust said yesterday. The rents for 173 units occupied by families of University students will definitely increase, he noted.

Improvements Cause Rise

"We intend to raise rents about 15 percent because the units are going to be repainted and new equipment will be installed," he said. No matter what bill the state adopted, improvements would have been made and rates raised, according to the official.