Dubai denies introducing new housing fees

Dubai: The Municipality of Dubai on Thursday denied it has introduced new housing fees and refuted a rumour that it said was spread through Blackberry messaging.

It issued a statement saying that because of these rumours, it had received a large number of calls from the public asking whether the matter was true.

The municipality statement pointed out that there is a housing fee in existence, which is five per cent of the rental value of a unit leased or owned by an expatriate. It emphasised that no new fees have been added.