Dubai strata law expected to give concessions to master developers

Dubai: With various factions lobbying in the run-up to the finalising of how the strata law would operate in Dubai, an associate of a top legal firm expects the master developers to be given concessions.

"What I am expecting to see is that law may not apply to the same extent to master developers in respect of larger master communities," said Stephen Kelly, associate, Clyde & Co.

"If we take, for instance, the master developer which looks after the infrastructure of the Palm, we don't expect the strata law to apply to that kind of a development in the same manner as it will to smaller developments.

"But we expect all the individual apartment buildings within the Palm to have to comply with the law. In fact, we expect the master developer to continue managing the community areas - roads, lights, infrastructure - in the same way as it presently does.

"The change will occur at the individual building level - the buildings would still be governed by the strata law and must comply. The owners of each building, through their owners association, will manage the common areas of their buildings."

Sub-developers, who are the individual developers building on the Palm, and not Nakheel, for instance, need to fully comply.

Though the strata law came into effect on April 1, 2008, nothing much has changed as the regulations are still to be finalised by the Land Department. But it is hoped to be finalised in the coming months, if not sooner, Kelly said. "In other countries, the type of infrastructure being constructed by master developers in Dubai would normally be done by the local council. The council would charge council rates for maintenance.

"The likes of Nakheel [for instance] fall into that role - they are constructing and maintaining the infrastructure, and need to charge the owners service charges. An owners association within a larger master community may not be sophisticated enough to manage such complex infrastructure. It's a big job."

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