Jumeirah Islands: Costly issue

A British expat claims he has spent over Dh400,000 to repair faults on a Dh2.5 million villa in a luxurious gated community.

A father of three, Jim Underwood has racked up a bill of over Dh44,000 over the last three years but will not pay up because he is unhappy with the quality of service from developer Nakheel.

He says he has had to pay a further Dh450,000 out of his own pocket to repair a catalogue of faults with his property at Jumeirah Islands.

He claims the developer has either ignored dozens of requests to fix problems or failed to repair them properly.
The issues include repairing the swimming pool, marble flooring, windows and landscaping, among others. These problems were on a list of more than 60 given to Nakheel 18 months ago, a quarter of which have still not been resolved.

Underwood, a director at a fibre optics supplier, said the house was supposed to be the dream family home when he bought it in 2005. The family could not move in immediately for the first 18 months because it was not completed.

Endless Frustration

He said: “We were always the ones pushing Nakheel to get information, they never told us anything.

“We moved in but the swimming pool wasn't done despite repeatedly asking them to get it sorted.''
He said: “We have e-mailed them, telephoned them and gone to their offices to get something done but nothing has happened.''

Last week he was told by the developer's director of customer services that although there had been problems remedial work would not be carried out.

In a statement a Nakheel spokesman said the developer did not comment on individual cases.

It said: “Nakheel takes the views of each of its residents very seriously and in many cases [our services] exceed what is required under our contractual obligations.''

People can express their views on Nakheel by calling the customer service number: 800 6267.

Owner of a Dh2.5 million villa in a gated community says he spent more than Dh400,000 to fix faults