UAE | Housing & Property

Dreading the next step

Sunila Muzawar, a 16-year resident of Dubai, has seen rents rise more steadily in the last eight years than any other time during her years in the UAE.

  • By Emmanuelle Landais, Staff Reporter
  • Published: 23:34 May 3, 2009
  • Gulf News

  • "Things are so desperate that now people are renting out maid's quarters for people to stay in." - Sarah Salera, A Filipina resident
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Dubai: Sunila Muzawar, a 16-year resident of Dubai, has seen rents rise more steadily in the last eight years than any other time during her years in the UAE.

"It always went up every year but not as much as 15 per cent in one year. Last year our rent went up by 40 per cent, but when the announcement was made we received another contract with only a 15 per cent increase," she said.

Click here to see the rents in Dubai (pdf)

"Fifteen per cent is high! How can you have annual inflation of 15 per cent? It should be less than five per cent. Salaries don't rise like this. If you get a three to five per cent salary increase it is a huge amount," said Muzawar.

"I'm sure they will do another 15 per cent cap. I'm dreading it because on top of this we don't get any maintenance with the cost. If anything goes wrong we have to do it ourselves. It doesn't seem correct," said Muzawar.

"We do like Dubai, but it's getting to the point where it is becoming an unattractive place to live because it costs so much. We are in a high income group but there is so much pressure with cost of living. If everything went up by 15 per cent people would go nuts," she said.

Priya Rau has been living for 12 years in Dubai in the same three bedroom flat and has seen her rent cheques become bigger and bigger, especially in the last two years. "When freehold property became available all this madness begun," she said.

"The first ten years were a lot more peaceful. We have already renewed our rent, but I'm dreading the next cap. At least our landlord is not going above that and it is legal," said Rau.

Commuting woes

"People are hanging on quietly but the commute is what is killing people. If you want to move to be closer to your work, we've found we'd be paying more for less space. Some buildings are not ready even so you still need a place to stay for two years," she said.

"I think the rent increase should be every two years and not every year to give people a chance. Every year is too much. People are not receiving a 15 per cent increase on their housing rent allowance every year," she added.

Sarah Salera, 37, a Filipina who works for an exhibitions company, said: "I am moving out of the flat I share in Satwa because the rent has increased. It was Dh75,000 per year and it's gone up to Dh87,000, plus a Dh3,000 maintenance fee, which is a 15 per cent rise. It's crazy. How can you save?

"When I went round looking for new places, I realised how much rents had increased. When I came to Dubai two years ago I was paying Dh1,500 for my share of a two-bedroom flat, but now you have to pay double that. It's horrible the way things have gone up.

"Things are so desperate that now people are renting out maid's quarters for people to stay in. I think rents increases of five to seven per cent would be reasonable, but instead they are going up by much more than that."

With inputs from Daniel Bardsley, Staff Reporter

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