Dubai rents get easier to pay as more landlords go back to four cheques and more

Dubai: More landlords in Dubai are back to offering tenants to pay rents on their apartments and villas via four cheques or more. The trend is showing up in Dubai's freehold locations, which typically have multiple landlords to a building offering their units up for rents.

Paying through multiple cheques have always been favoured by a majority of tenants. But in recent years, landlords had been insisting on upfront payments, where possible, or allowing a maximum of four cheques. If the latest rental contracts allow for over 4 cheques, that would be a major boost for tenants. (Those who pay off annual rents via one cheque get a fairly big rate cut.)

In the last 2-3 years, with more demand for rented spaces than was available, landlords were calling the shots on payment frequencies. This is what could be in for slight changes.

According to new data from Allsopp & Allsopp, the most active rental areas were the Downtown Dubai, Dubai Marina, Business Bay, Town Square, and JLT. "Encouragingly, nearly half of landlords (49%) are now accepting four or more cheques, a sign of growing flexibility and a tenant-friendly market," according to a statement from the agency.

The rental market in Dubai has been showing mixed signs, with market feedback suggesting rental declines or stability in some locations. It is to be seen whether this remains a summer-only trend or whether the coming weeks would start seeing rental spikes reappearing.

Allsopp & Allsopp, meanwhile, has reported a 43% increase in total apartment rental value and a 48% rise in rental transactions month-on-month in August, 'proving that demand for apartments is equally strong on the leasing side'.