Readers respond to house rent survey

Dubai: A Gulf News poll on how much people spend on their rent netted the highest response so far, with over 11,400 readers clicking their votes on the web.

A majority of readers, over 29 per cent, said they spend 50 per cent of their salary towards housing.

As rents in Dubai and elsewhere in the Emirates go through the roof, people are forced to share their living space. To add to their woes the Municipality is now also cracking down on people sharing villas and has given a deadline this coming Friday to vacate the shared villas. But many are staying put as they have no place to go without sharing.

Over 2,400 people or 22 per cent in the poll said they spend 20 per cent of their salary on rent.

One interesting aspect was that only seven per cent of the people said their company pays for their housing. With the high cost of living in the UAE, many expatriates opt to send their wives and children back home which leads to various social problems.

The salary packages had gone up in the recent past as the UAE tried to hold on to qualified staff. But the recent economic downturn has brought things back to square one.