mhammo

Hi all,

I am moving with my family to dubai for 2-3 years in April next year. I have a couple of questions which I am hoping people can answer:

1) I will have 2 small children (3 months and 18 months) when we move and hence want a villa - i get a housing allowance of around $10k per month. Where should we consider living? The office will be in media city and I have heard emirates Hills is good but cant seem to find any websites which show what’s available. any ideas? Any advice much appreciated.

2) If the contract starts on April 5th how long does the residency visa etc take to process. I was intending on coming ahead of my wife to get everything set up but know before i can get house and car etc i need the visa. Is there an easy way to do this?

3) Does slingbox work? I am keeping my house in london which has sky+ but I am not clear if slingbox works well in dubai?

4) Re tax advice and HMRC - my understanding is that the 90- days is now a guidance and what they really look for is where you living and have family - is that right?

Any thoughts reall appreciated and happy to buy a pint for the most helpful answers when i arrive!

Matthew

Englishman in Dubai

Hi Mhammo,

Here is my 2p's worth:

1. $10k a month will pretty much get you your choice of villa in the Meadows/Lakes, Emirates Hills or even on the Palm. All areas are a less than 10 minute drive from Media city. Have a look on www.dubizzle.com for examples.

2. The company will sort your residency out - when I had my renewed it took just over a week

3. Slingbox - yes it works! I have one myself - the limiting factor is the upload speed you have in the UK

4. HMRC - tell them what you are doing and get yourself declared as non-resident before leaving. As for the 90 days thing - I would get some advice from a tax lawyer


Cheers

Aaron

matthew.lewis2

1. $10,000 usd per month is a healthy allowance, and should give you plenty of accommodation choice. It almost sounds too good to be true, if it were Dhs 10,000 per month (120,000 per year) then to compare I rent a 3 bed in Jumeira for Dhs 155,000 per year.

2. All depends on how efficient your company are at processing the required paperwork.

3. Not sure on the Slingbox

4. Not too sure on current requirement. When I came over it was required for you to spend a full tax year out of the country to avoid income tax.

Ethos83

Whoa, dude. Your $10k per month (assuming US dollars) works out to about 440K AED/year rental allowance. That's very, very generous even by Dubai standards. You will easily find a 4-5 bedroom villa in the Meadows for between 200K-250K, and a villa on the Palm J for 350K upwards. Alternatively you could consider Umm Suqeim and Jumeira, which have a slightly older feel but a great deal more character. If you want to be sensible, chose the Meadows villa and bank the rest of the housing allowance.

If you really meant 10K AED per month then it's an entirely different ball game. For a three-bed villa you would need to look into Mirdiff for something under 120K AED, or one of the crappier 3-beds in the Springs.

mhammo

Thanks very much - really appreciate the help.

on the housing allowance i did mean USD10k per month (it seemed generous to me when they presented it too!). I was over on the weekend and saw some houses but was generally a bit disapointed with the quality especially in the kitchen and bathrooms - saw a signature villa on the palm which was great but all the others felt a bit tired but i guess thats just a dubai thing?

anyone recommend their favourite estate agent or would i be better to just go through drizzle and then pick whoever has got something available?

anyway really appreciate the answers. gues life is pretty good out there?

Matthew

Ethos83

Quality in Dubai is crap. Places may look nice in the initial year after handover but in 2-3 years it goes steadily downhill from there.

Very few people have "fancy" kitchens or bathrooms in Dubai, certainly nothing like what you would find in a higher end place in London or elsewhere in the West. Even in expensive, 300K/year villas we're still looking at cheap plastic cabinets and pedestrian tiles. The granite countertops may appear to be a generous note, until you realise that everyone in Dubai has granite countertops.

Given that most people are expats who don't own their properties, and most property owners rent out their property, there isn't much demand for fancy kitchen fittings. If like most expats of your income category you have a maid, you won't be spending much time in the kitchen or bathrooms.

Millhouse

Why would having a maid reduce the time spent in the bathroom? It doesn't take me any less time to have a shit just because the maid wipes my ass for me afterwards.

unless you mean cleaning... in which case, I have no idea how the bathroom gets cleaned - could be the maid, the wife or the fairies for all I know.

Millhouse

10k USD is awesome - do you get to keep any unspent amounts?

Anyway, as others have said, have a look at the meadows, emirates hills, or god forbid the ranches.

matthew.lewis2

I wouldn't automatically say awesome. As most of us long termers here in the UAE know, the package must legally be sub-divided into salary and allowances. Just becuase it 'shows' your allowance for accommodation to be greater than the cost you shall rent at, its the overall package that really needs to be reviewed once you have taken out fixed costs such as rent, DEWA etc.

A comomon practice is to bias the package in favour of the allowances as much as is allowed, so as the end of service gratuity is calculated on as smaller 'base salary' element as possible.

Millhouse

I am assuming that it's on top of a salary he is happy with.

Blue Cat

10k USD a month!! wow lucky you! I would like at Jumeirah if I was you, good area, handy location etc. Friends of mine have just rented on Le Collecion at the Ranches, very nice indeed, big, spacious and nice finish

mhammo

the $10k is use it or loose it and is on top of rest of package. So i really have to use it. As such want to get the best place possible with the nicest finish as was surprised how small and dark most of the kitchens were. i know the psychology is that the maid cooks but i like to cook in evening as i find it relaxing so really would like a big, light, nicely done kitchen.....

Thanks so much for all the comments (even concerning potential scatological actions!). They are very helpful.

Anyone got an estate agent/relocation agent they really rate?

GuyinUAE

A friend of mine was in a Villa on the Palm, he moved out after the first year, nothing worked, things broke and the pool leaked. Other than that, it was fantastic!

MataHari

I work in relocation and deal with agents on a daily basis...I have had nothing but good experiences with The Property Shop, their agents know the market and do what they promise to do and often a bit extra and they are the first ones I contact when I have a new client (and no, I don't get any money from them).
Different agents handle different areas so you will need to call their general number first +971 43455711.

MataHari

and as far as your budget is concerned, don't be blinded by that....
make a list of things that are important to you regarding your housing needs, how many rooms, open plan or not, what area, what 'feel' does it need to have, compound or independent, close to whatever you feel is important etc etc...you may find the right house for 320,000, if it tickes the boxes then go for it. Many clients with high end budgets want to spend every last cent cause hey, they have this amazing budget, but often the house/apartment they really like best is below budget.
You are not restricted by money, so just try and find a house that suits you and your family.