canukabroad

...just had an interesting coversation with a head-hunter, who said that it's not common for housing to be paid-for in Dubai?

I'd be really interested to hear if she is correct... my impression was that a housing allowance (however much/little) is standard for moving to Dubai from the UK.

Any thoughts on this?

Blue Cat

there are two ways to look at this. Either you have a massive salary and you pay everything your self or you have a normal salary and get the housing allowance seperately. Now I know Gareth will come on say that his housing allowance is so low he has to contribute to it, well yes that is true but that is probably cos his basic is bigger. Swings and roundabouts. We get housing allowance every 6 months from my husbands company. Hope this make sense!

Meow

It is not 'standard'. Many companies pay it, many others don't. Just consider the overall package.

Paidtoplease

As BC said there are various options

Option 1 - Large enough salary to cover own housing
Option 2 - Monthly allowance to cover housing
Option 3 - 6 or 12 Month allowance
Option 4 - Company pay total housing up front and deduct from your wage monthly

Option 5 - Company provide set living quarters (not that popular)

Either way you will need to remember landlords want rent paid in advance either 1 / 2 / 3 /4 cheques per year most are looking for 1 this needs to be considered in the negotiations package with the company

canukabroad

Thanks everyone.
That was largely my impression from what I've read here on this form and from looking at many other posts...
"...take your UK salary, minus the tax and that's what you get in Dubai - housing etc. is up to you..." is what I was told. hmmmmm

canukabroad

I mean the quote was what the headhunter said to me.
It's this expat form that is much more informative.

Border Reiver

Bear in mind that your end of service benefit is based on your basic salary which does not include your housing/transport/maid/whatever allowance. Hence a high basic rather than a load of "allowances" will work out much better in the long run. And the longer the run the better it will work out.

As for what the headhunter said, if you were only getting the same as the UK (net) there wouldn't be much point in coming, surely?

canukabroad

thanks for the tip re: eos benefit - very helpful to know!
Yes re: "What's the point?" - aside for my love of traffic jams and an ability to fry an egg on a handy piece of pavement (kidding)...
Cheers.

Madam Medusa

we have housing paid for, thank god, cos it's gone up to astronomical levels over the 2 years we've been here. We were under the impression this was standard when we arrived...but i must say that i think we are pretty much the exception to the rule...

as others have said, you need to look at the overall package, but do factor in that if you're going to be renting, then costs will inevitably go up significantly so you need to weigh this up when working out what deal is best for you...

MM, xx

canukabroad

thanks MM.
re: standard when you arrived - that's what i had thought.
since takehome pay in Dubai was going to be 'net', then I had assumed housing would top it up to UK's 'gross'.
much rethinking in order this evening...
(at least the chardonnay is nicely chilled tonight - a perfect post-gym drink!)

arbroath_abroad

We have always had our house paid in the 2 jobs i have had here.

Job 1, company provided a villa and paid everything. All in company name.

Job 2, received an allowance for rent and utilities.

Thought option 2 was better as we could get a cheaper place and pocket the difference. Errr no chance, the rent has skyrocketed of late.

I would definately go for the bigger salary and rent yourself, for the EOS benifits.

About to start job number 3 and have reverted to a deal like Job 1.

Swings and roundabouts.

Basically for me, the salary should at least match what i was earning at home before tax, not after, and the car, bonus, fuel, medical, housing, utilities, pension, schooling etc etc are perks (and some necessity's) that go hand in hand with a middle east contract.

Depends thou what industry you are in I suppose, some markets are more favourable to the employee

Cham128

what's the end of service benefit? i must have missed out on that one

Meow

The gratuity.

Accrues over years of service

canukabroad

any idea how much housing allowances vary by industry?

I've told her (headhunter) I'm not interested if a job leaves me no better off than I would be in the UK. Whilst experience is one thing attractive about working in the middle east, financially I don't want to suffer... or is that much too optimistic?

Bob

doesn't the rent have to be stumped up front? so think of that if your relying on a big salary...