Established in 1989 as a sub-division of the Central Provincial Ministry of Transport, Highways, Culture, Housing & Construction, and Power & Energy, the Central Provincial Department of Housing functioned under an Acting Housing Commissioner from 1994 until its formal establishment as an independent department in 1999. The Department operates under the authority of the Housing Development Charter of the Central Province, No. 05 of 1993 (published in Gazette IV (A) of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka on July 1, 1994) and in accordance with the powers vested under Item No. 05 (Housing and Construction) of the Provincial Council List within the 13th Amendment to the Constitution. Furthermore, the Central Provincial Department of Housing -along with the Rent Boards of Kandy, Matale, and Nuwara Eliya functioning under its purview is responsible for the implementation of the Rent Act No. 07 of 1972, as amended by Act No. 55 of 1980 and Act No. 26 of 2002.