UAE | General
Rera reprieve for Shoreline residents
Dubai's property market regulator says Nakheel cannot deny owners and tenants access to clubhouses if they have paid building service fees
- By Anjana Kumar, Staff Reporter
- Published: 00:00 January 12, 2012
- Image Credit: Gulf News archive
- The Shoreline Apartments on Palm Jumeirah
Dubai: The Real Estate Regulatory Agency (Rera) — Dubai's property market regulator — has told residents of Palm Jumeirah's Shoreline apartments that developer Nakheel cannot deny clubhouse access if flat owners have paid building service fees.
Nakheel had threatened to deny access to residents, asking them to pay fees for the clubhouses.
There are five clubhouses for 20 Shoreline Apartment buildings.
Each clubhouse has a swimming pool, gym, children's play area and access point to the beach. There are around 2,460 apartments and more than 2,000 residents living in these apartments.
Positive support
In an e-mail sent to a Shoreline Apartment resident on January 8, Rera said no additional clubhouse fees will be charged if owners pay building service fees.
"This communication is with Nakheel since Sunday and we are waiting for them to implement the same," the resident told XPRESS at a gathering of around 35 owners on January 9.
"Rera has been very supportive to residents on the Shoreline matter. No developer has the right to privatise what is rightful to the owner," she added.
According to an e-mail sent by the Land Department and Rera to residents on December 15, Rera has approved building service fees for the Shoreline Apartments for 2010 and 2011. "Remaining issues regarding outstanding fees from 2007 till 2009 will be resolved at a later date once the OAs [owners associations] are registered and functional," the e-mail said.
In another development Rera has instructed Nakheel to revise outstanding arrears to reflect building service fees for 2010 and 2011 and send revised invoices to all owners once more. Residents said they were yet to receive the new invoices.
Meanwhile, residents have raised other issues that are dogging this posh community. For example, they alleged that Nakheel has locked the back door of the buildings. "Locking the back door of a building is a gross violation of Civil Defence safety guidelines. In case of a fire in the front door we are stuck in the building itself," one resident told XPRESS.
Residents were also miffed over a draft report by audit firm Baker Tilly Merali (BTM), which revealed that Nakheel charged around six times the market rate for clubhouse management.
According to the draft report seen by XPRESS, while Nakheel charges Dh1.2 million per annum for gym and swimming pool maintenance, quotations from other service providers were as low as Dh201,300.
Burning issues
Other key points discussed by residents at the January 9 meeting:
Shoreline resident owners accept that the beach is not part of the common area, but they have the ‘exclusive right' to the beach as mentioned in their sales and purchase agreements (SPAs). This is because the beach is a part of the Palm Jumeirah master community and is owned by all Palm Jumeirah owners, regulated by Trakhees.
Maintenance of the beach is done through the master community fees paid by owners
The SPA supports the owner's right over the swimming pool, gym and children's play area, marking it as common property
Despite Rera's directive to Nakheel, owners are yet to receive new invoices that exclude arrear payments from 2007 to 2009
Residents allege Nakheel has been inconsistent in service fee collection. Some have received e-mails to pay service fees, while others haven't heard anything as yet.
Residents say they are happy to pay fees as long as a fair price is set for the services
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