Bed space woes haunt poor expats in Dubai

Dubai: Dubai's poorest workers have no protection from some greedy landlords, who often sub-lease rooms and bed spaces, which means they cannot complain to the rent committee.

Many of Dubai's low-income earners cannot afford to rent an apartment, and so cannot obtain a rent agreement, which would entitle them to complain at Dubai Rent Committee if landlords increase their rent.

Instead, low-income earners rent out what they call "bed space" effectively, a bed in a crowded room, usually containing 5 to 10 beds. Depending on the location, bed spaces typically cost between Dh150 to Dh600 a month.

Bed space renters are not given any contracts, effectively leaving Dubai's poorest members vulnerable to landlords wanting to increase their rent sometimes up to 100 per cent in a year.

An official at the Dubai Rent Committee said landlords are not allowed to increase rent by more than 15 per cent until December 2006.

But the rent committee cannot help if the tenants have taken a room or a bed space on sub-lease.

"It is between the landlord and the tenant. If a landlord allows his tenant to sublease his flat and both the landlord and tenant agree to this condition, we can't do anything about it," he said.

Mohammad, a 60-year-old Sudanese translator who lives off about Dh1,000 a month, has lived in Deira's Al Ras area for the past year, paying Dh150 a month for a bed in a room he shares with nine other men.

"It's a very old, dilapidated house. It's overcrowded, there are bed bugs and cockroaches," Mohammad said.

He said that between six to ten men shared each of the seven rooms in the house.

Last week, their landlord but not the house's owner "nobody knows who that is" told them their bed space rent had increased to Dh200.

When Mohammad complained to the landlord, he was told "pay or leave".

"In the past 12 months, they have raised the rent from Dh100, then Dh110, then Dh150, and now Dh200."

Mohammad said his roommates were too frightened to complain, and even if they wanted to, could not, because they did not have rent agreement to show the rent committee.

"Our circumstances discourage us from approaching authorities," he said, "and if we complain, we'll be kicked out." He said while Dh200 was still cheap for a bed space, the men he shared the house with could not afford to pay more.

"They are almost all unemployed, some are porters, they are all in economically difficult situations, that's what brought them to this place."

Mohammad said if he was kicked out, he'd be forced to find a bed space costing "Dh500 to Dh600, and that's beyond me".