Autonomy

Anyone know the current situation with rent renewals?

There was a directive a while back that stated rents can't be increased at the end of year one.

Is this still applicable? Anyone have a link to the legislation?

Landlord is trying to increase (only 5%) at the end of year one but would still like to slap that back down if possible....

busybee2

where in dubai then the same applies i thought no increase first year renewal, in abu dhabi they can apply the 5%

Autonomy

yes Dubai - but to argue I might need "proof" i.e. link to document or Government site with this proof...

busybee2

they have kept it the same for abu dhabi that was in the paper a little while ago, but havent heard they have changed the rulings for dubai.

flood2

My landlord in Al Ain has just stuck 5% on. I got the letter 4 months before lease is up. Think they are chasing as building is half empty.The apartment below me is currently at over 10% less than I paid last year, and still for rent!

I may move to Dubai this year and travel. One question, can you get out of a 12 month lease in Dubai after a few months of your job ends?

Patsy Stoned

Try this darling
http://www.bhomes.com/uae/dubai-law.xhtml

"Article 9 of the law previously contained a two year protection against any increase in rent for the first two years of the tenancy; the amending law removes this protection. This means that rent increases can take place every year, in accordance with the 2009 rent cap and the index of rental values."

However they can't increase it if it is already above the RERA index.
This is the latest info that I found for you

http://www.arabianbusiness.com/dubai...83.html?page=1

Hope it helps xxx

Patsy Stoned

Ok..here is RERA page with the latest updates.
Just put your info in and it will tell you what the rents should be in your area.

http://www.rpdubai.ae/rpdubai/rental...ator.do?lang=0

It isn't easy to do..type in bur dubai and then you will get a drop down window so you can put your area in!!

eg
Tenancy Contract Expiry Date : Choose expiry date
Main Area : bur dubai
Property Type : villa
Areas : al barsha
Bed Rooms : 4
Current Annual Rent: ******

The rent for a four bedroom villa in Al Barsha - Individual is in the range 130,000 to 150,000 AED per year.
Your rent is less than or equal to 25% of the average similar rent in the area.
So you are not entitled to any increase of rent.

Autonomy

According to this page = no increase allowed. *mwah darling"!

Cheers!

busybee2

al ain is in abu dhabi emirate so they can add the 5%, we had to fight with ours to not put the increase on..... the law states it can be a maximum of 5% it doesnt mean they have to do it, but because its there they will always apply it......

we have a compound of 6 and the landlord was told that unless he drops it to nearer the market rents at least 5 will thats happened and so now he is left with empty houses of which he will have to drop the rent to get people in more than likely...... as usual there is no logic to it.....

i know in abu dhabi if you can prove that you were made redundant they "may" let you out of your lease early but with a couple months notice etc but thats only a "may".

Patsy Stoned

Another little tip for people who are not yet paying housing fees..check the average rent for your area and if you are paying more than the RERA index DO NOT register your contract..they will calculate your housing fees on the average RERA index..

Patsy Stoned

you're welcome darling xxx

flood2

Thanks

I may be moving to work in AD, from Al Ain, so your info is interesting, as I thought you could only get out a lease in Dubai if unemployed & -> kicked out UAE!

busybee2

remember though the abu dhabi landlords are very very different than the ones in dubai, mostly because a few more of them in dxb are expats and so will have different mindsets than the local landlords of abu dhabi emirate, who are quite happy to leave a complete building empty until they get X for the rent...... they still dont get it!

Miss Anne Thrope

What don't they get?

It is, after all, their choice to do this. Evidently they can afford it and other factors, not obvious to us, may be more important to these landlords than consistent income (or happy tenants). In some cases this is because the terms of their (usually) Islamic mortgages and other financial instruments mean that no repayment is required when there is no rental income being generated. I believe that most of those arrangements have been withdrawn for new credit provision but there are many extant on buildings pre-dating 2009.

It is very frustrating for us as tenants of course, because there is an "artificial" distortion of the market that works against us. But it is no more artificial than the rent caps that have been applied in Dubai and Abu Dhabi to constrain landlord behaviour nor than other rules governing eviction and so forth. All of these tend to favour tenants. Like so many (not all) of the things that expats find distasteful here, it comes down to a question of perspective.

Perhaps the most frustrating aspect is that this behaviour appears to work to some extent. Rents have not come down as much as a "free market" might suggest that they should have, certainly on Abu Dhabi island and arguably even in certain parts of Dubai. Holding out for higher rents undoubtedly contributes to this and thus those landlords may be acting rationally and in their own interests moreso than might initially appear to be the case.

busybee2

oh i quite get why they leave the places empty as they do not need to pay their mortgage, but the banks are now getting wise to this and so have taken that little incentive away, so its not always the case. in abu dhabi this is how its always worked, so its no different there, but now they have opened up the market to include expat then expats will behave differently and so affects the market, whereby there is competition now. i have been in "this market" a very long time, and in the past there was no increase at all, only when a new tenant was brought in then perhaps the rent went up usually it didnt.