UAE | Housing & Property
4,000 villa-owners in Dubai issued notices for violations
About 4,000 villas were issued notices and nearly a dozen had their water supply and electricity disconnected for violating the 'one family, one villa' rule, the Municipality announced on Wednesday.
- By Sunita Menon, Staff Reporter
- Published: 23:27 December 17, 2008
- Image Credit: Gulf News Archive
- Violators of the rule have been issued with notices
Dubai: About 4,000 villas were issued notices and nearly a dozen had their water supply and electricity disconnected for violating the "one family, one villa" rule, the Municipality announced on Wednesday.
Denying rumours making the rounds in this regard, Omar Mohammad Abdul Rahman, Head of Building Inspection Section in the Buildings Department said that the campaign is very much on and more areas are being covered.
"We are only concerned about the safety and security of the residents as well as the environment," he said.
Abdul Rahman said the rule will not be extended to apartments but added that the there exists a municipality regulation on the number of people who can stay in a residential unit.
"If anybody complains about huge number of families staying in a small area in a single flat creating social problem for neighbours, the Municipality will conduct inspections and take necessary actions," he said.
Campaign
"We are now concentrating on the Al Barsha area. We started the campaign against bachelors staying in family residential areas in 2005. As part of that campaign we had issued warnings that many families staying in one residential unit after making alterations inside the building illegally would not be allowed.
"It is against the rules and regulations regarding building safety as well as social and urban planning norms," said Abdul Rahman.
The ongoing economic situation will have no effect on the "One family One villa" rule, Abdul Rahman said.
He said that service amenities like water, electricity and sewage are provided according to the plan of the buildings.
Regarding flats, he said there is a Municipality regulation on the number of people who can stay in a residential unit.
"So far, we have not started any campaign against flats being shared by families. There are rules and regulations regarding environmental and public safety in flats. Partitions are not allowed without Municipality permission," he added.
Families and bachelors sharing villas in Al Barsha got a shock earlier this week when they were asked to vacate by their landlords who had earlier given them the assurance that they would not have to leave.
"I live in a double storey villa in Al Barsha.. on Saturday we were asked to vacate in a couple of days. How are we going to do that as finding a proper apartment is not going to be easy," said K.V. Pillai who works in the hospitality sector.
Notice period
- 2005 Rule announced for bachelors staying in family residential areas
- 2007 Strict implementation of the drive against bachelors
- 2008 ‘One family, one villa' rule enforced
- October 2008 residents sharing villas were given notice through newspapers.
- Municipality inspectors begin issuing notices to vacate and disconnect electricity and water at the end of the notice period in October
Have your say
Do you know anyone who has been given a notice? Have they been able to find an alternative accommodation? Tell us by filling the comment form below.
Your comments
The laws and policies of the authorities are definitely right. The best solution to other mentioned problems about this high cost of rentals for villas is that the authorities must have control over the increase in rents, on part of landlords, for one family. By this, I am so sure that this policy will be followed since the salary of other families are only below the minimum wage. Once this has been established, I do not think that people would still share with other families. Nobody would want to live with other families anyway. They would like to have their own home and privacy.
Alfia
Dubai,UAE
Posted: December 18, 2008, 13:09
Where would bachelors live? The increasing rents every year have made it impossible for expatriates to live in the UAE.
Syed Arafat Ahmad
Dubai,UAE
Posted: December 18, 2008, 12:52
I do not understand, why are people still taking the risk of sharing accommodation despite many reminders and warnings from the authorities?
Erfan
Dubai,UAE
Posted: December 18, 2008, 12:40
So where are these bachelors supposed to go? With rents so high, what is done for the working class people in Dubai. Where are these people supposed to go? Are salaries being increased? Is there a mandatory requirement for companies to provide accommodation? Why isn't there action being done about that? I do not think a series of new laws and restrictions will help.
Kux
Dubai,UAE
Posted: December 18, 2008, 12:40
My uncle was also given a notice. He was staying with bachelors in a villa. It has been a month since they started searching for accomodation but all their efforts are going in vain and the time is nearing for them to leave. What will all these people do and where will they go? The authorities must provide some alternatives to such people.
Fatima
Dubai,UAE
Posted: December 18, 2008, 11:51
If there is one family in one villa then I think the authorities should make sure that rent prices come down first. Instead of increasing the rents every year, it should be increased every three to five years and only by a maximum of seven per cent. Otherwise, how will the common person afford this?
Charmaine Clayton
Dubai,UAE
Posted: December 18, 2008, 11:49
How do we know that we are given the notice to vacate the villa we are staying in? The landlord always tells us there is no notice. What if all of a sudden we were asked to vacate?
J. O.
Dubai,UAE
Posted: December 18, 2008, 11:07
What about Abu Dhabi? When I was searching for an apartment to rent, I noticed that the prices were very expensive. Why is that? Not all employees earn a high salary, this is really a crisis in itself. I saw many landlords building partitions inside villa gardens without a basement. The authorities should take direct action to avoid these problems.
Ranine
Abu Dhabi,UAE
Posted: December 18, 2008, 11:04
I think this is the right thing to do. However, Dubai also needs to support those who earn lower incomes. Before you prevent sharing accommodation, you must provide low-cost housing. For a city to survive it must have strong foundations.
M. B.
Dubai,UAE
Posted: December 18, 2008, 11:02
Bachelors are not allowed to share accommodation with families. What else are people supposed to do with this increasing liability and low salaries. On top of that, the proposal of the salary cap to sponsor families is really scaring people.
Hycinth Kinny
Dubai,UAE
Posted: December 18, 2008, 10:56
This is really difficult, especially in times where the whole world is facing financial problems. Why is Dubai so concerened about the one villa, one family issue? I request the authorities to take some major action to fight the crisis.
Nayeem
Dubai,UAE
Posted: December 18, 2008, 10:34
If the authorities are so concerned about people and their safety and living conditions then they should offer people better accommodations at fair prices. Even development boards who own buildings are charging rates that are equivalent to the unjustified market rates.
Darvin Wilson
Dubai,UAE
Posted: December 18, 2008, 10:12
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