The rent rant

So PD and I have ceased looking for a place to live. But it’s not because we have found one – oh no, it’s because we can’t.

Many people think that with the huge amount of development going on in Dubai and the Emirates that there is actually an oversupply of available property to rent. While there may be millions of apartments and hundreds of villas in existence, they are all hideously expensive.

I am talking about decent places here – not grubby small hovels placed squarely in the middle of a traffic jam (and there are quite a few of them, my friends. And they cost more than a shabby studio above Stockwell tube station). I am not talking about an uber high spec diamond encrusted staircase containing dwelling either. I’m simply wishing for a clean apartment, with nice fixtures and fittings, white goods, air conditioning, perhaps a community gym and a shared pool. Sure, there are plenty of those in plenty of sizes – studio, one bed and two bed. But take a guess how much it will cost me and PD to rent one of these monthly?

For a two bed with the above specifications we’ll be looking at paying between…

£2,000 and £3,500 PER MONTH

No, I’m not lying! I’m not even exagerrating (I NEVER do that, me). Rents for accommodation in Dubai have risen by a stratospheric amount in the last 18 months and with it, so has the greed.

A couple of years ago, the rulers of the UAE decreed that landlords could not increase the yearly rental on their properties to current tenants by more than a certain percentage. So far, so good, I hear you say. However, for all new tenants moving into a property, the rental increase cap does not apply – and that is terrible news for me and PD.

Here’s the loophole: many tenants looking to renew their yearly leases are told that their landlord wants to increase the rent up to the maximum allowed amount. If the tenant declines, then they are told that the landlords wants to “move in a family member” – this being a valid reason for landlords to ditch their current tenants, hitch up the rental price and bundle in some poor unsuspecting b*stard fresh to the Emirates and over a barrel because they need somewhere to live. Meanwhile, the ditched tenant also has to get back on the rental train and spend loads more money to get a new place, probably replacing someone else who was on a lower rate. And so on. As people are so worried that the costs keep increasing, they are willing to pay what they are quoted for fear of waiting and having the rents increase again.

There is a tribunal committee here in Dubai that can resolve disputes about these things – I am told that the outcomes of a hearing more often than not falls in favour of the tenant. But the tribunal takes time – there is a huge waiting list, and fees if you lose can amount to around 20% of your yearly rent. By the way, when you do rent property here, you have to pay the full year’s rent in one go.

The problem as I see it, is that all estate agency fees are payable by the tenant upon securing a property lease. In the UK, the landlord has to pay these fees. This means that landlords in the UAE have nothing to lose if they want to give a tenant their notice and move them on – they don’t need to lay out any cash to acquire new tenants so the thinking goes, “Why not try and get some more money for my property if it’s not going to cost me anything? After all, rents keep going up, so why shouldn’t I get my share?” By simply shifting the fees onto the landlord, perhaps some of these greedy so and so’s wouldn’t bother, thus helping to keep the spiraling rent issue under control.

Another, rather interesting peculiarity of this system is the fact that it is illegal for mixed sexes to live together if they are not related. Many expat singles and couples club together and rent large villas to save money – and why not? Well, it’s not allowed and if you get caught, you get evicted. So then you have to find somewhere else at greater expense, also potentially foregoing the money you have already paid for a whole year’s rent. Some landlords use this as an excuse to get rid of their tenants that way.

PD and I will shortly recommence our search and just have to bite the bullet – at the moment we cannot rent a place even if we wanted to – because I am still waiting on my visa!

Ah, it’s enough to make a girl turn to the white wine to forget – except I won’t, because I don’t want to waste my duty free!

Today I am mostly loving: the fact that it’s Eid this week and we get two days off

This week, I am absolutely hating: the cost of renting in Dubai – can you tell?

Flickster. x