Fossildog

Hopefully landlords will behave with some restraint and not hike rents up too much?

busybee2

luckily we just renewed yesterday with 5% increase....see what the next year turns out.... but i can see it going back to the olden days of charging what you want and leaving places empty, there are empty places on our compound but still the 5% increase this year.

Fossildog

This is why the news is a worry, when you feel you are fortunate because you 'only' paid an increase of 5%. I was hoping to renew without an increase this year but this news I suspect will mean rents will increase by unreasonable levels and like you say landlords will keep places empty rather than offer competitive prices.

A non issue for those who have their rents paid for them but a real concern for those who pay rents from their own wages.

flares

which compound you on? Paying the 5% increase out of my own pocket this year but still way below market.

busybee2

we managed to stay the same last year but decreased from 3 cheques to 2. but he wanted his increase this year, next year we will see the landlord is a very nice guy, and as being living in auh for such a long time, he is a good one to keep on board as he actually looks after his properties, unlike a lot of them, so we will see what next year brings. we pay from our own wages but sometimes its not just about money, its about the hassle of it all...... the moving, the utilities, the looking etc etc etc. it should all be looked as a complete package.

busybee2

a small one in khalifa.

busybee2

in the real olden days, once you were in your property the rent stayed the same, no increase, only did the landlords increase the rental on a new tenant.... can we go back to those days!!?????

Inselaffen

hope Dubai sticks with its system!

mikewot

There are changes coming next year, but not yet fully defined.

The Dean

Currently (in Dubai) paying 110,000 for the third year running, but told it will go to 115,000 next time........ but if we move out, the new tenants will be charged 145,000..............

MataHari

I paid 85,000 for the past 2 years, if renewed, this year would be 97,000. But since my old contract was under the ex companies name who don't want to renew, a new contract under my own name is going to be 130,000....

busybee2

thats the way it always worked in auh, price went up when new tenants took over etc.

Maxima

http://www.arabianmoney.net/gcc-econ...market-forces/

The Abu Dhabi Executive Council has shocked tenants by removing a five per cent upper limit on annual rental increases by landlords. From now on landlords will be able to charge whatever rate the market will stand. For those who have been paying low rents in apartments leased as long as a decade ago the rent rises are going to be huge.

Still it makes absolutely no sense to keep a part of the real estate market artificially subsidized while new tenants are penalized. There is also a reduced incentive for a large part of the population to buy instead of renting, a transition essential to the health of the new build market.

Lesson for Dubai

Dubai can learn from Abu Dhabi here. When house prices fell by up to 60 per cent in 2009 rents also came tumbling down in Dubai. Tenants were very quick to blackmail their landlords into bringing down rents by threatening to leave. Now the same property has regained its value but the landlords can only raise the rents back up at five per cent a year.

This is distorting the local rental market. These tenants should be considering buying property in Dubai, not how to keep their landlords in check. At the moment they think they have a right to cheap housing at the landlord’s expense.

Amazing now to note Abu Dhabi is the champion of the free market and not Dubai.


MBR City plans

Besides if Dubai wants to build huge new districts like the Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid City (pictured above) then it needs to create a real estate market that favours buying over renting. Allowing market forces to determine rents again would go a long way to achieving that. Keeping rents down only helps existing tenants and not the development of the city.

mikewot

Factually incorrect. Rent rises are directly linked to the RERA Rental calculator and the rises must be in line with the law (Decree no 2 of 2011)

5, 10, 15 or 20% increases depending on how much less than current market rate you're paying.

Maxima

Why let facts come in the way of a rant for a free market?
It certainly is a funny site; they published a prediction that house prices in Dubai are likely to double by 2020 because "central governments are printing money like crazy"