Dubai rent cap

[shawarma]

The Dubai rent cap for 2009 was announced on 14 January 2009. The initial announcement headline was that rents would be frozen for 2009 if a new contract had been signed in 2008. Good news ? But wait ... there was some small print to cover those rentals that were well below market rates. The way I look at it is there is a scale of varying rent caps depending on your 2008 rent, and the market rent for that area in Dubai and type of accommodation, as given in the Dubai rent index that was released shortly after the new Dubai rent cap law. Rent caps range from 0% to 20% for 2009, going up in steps of 5%. More information and a calculator here:

• Dubai rent index - tables with area, number of bedrooms, type of ownership, and rent index guide for that area based on figures in the second half of 2008 (June to December). There will be a new rent index released after June 2009 for the first half year period of 2009.
• Dubai rent cap calculator - enter lower and upper rent index figures for the same type of dwelling in the area you live, and your current rent, and get an indication of rent range you are likely to pay for 2009, according to the rent cap that applies.

Add any questions or comments about the rent cap and rent calculator here, especially if you think there's an error in the calculations . Any other comments about the Dubai rent index or Dubai 2009 rent cap? Add them here too. Thanks .

[sandiae]

As I've been reading about Dubai rent cap & Dubai rent index, unfortunately I cannot find more clarified information of following issues regarding rental accommodations, which ones in my opinion should include in rent cap & rent index calculations;

1. Building year (Bldg materials were lower 10-11 years ago...)
2. Facilities (swimming pool, fitness/sport rooms, sauna, 24h-security, parking, aso...)
3. DEWA a) Central A/C contra b) Window A/C aso... (normally central A/C cost are included in rent, but the window A/C cost are not, which are paid by teenants, which also will make the actually rent cost/year much higher than in written contract!)
4. Other DEWA costs like water can also be included in rent, but in many cases not, not with Window A/C buildings in my understanding.
5. Maintenance of bldg (Quality of maintenance is a very big issue too!)

In my case as I've been living 11years here in 11years old building in Al Qusais area with Window A/C & DEWA bills on my account & only with facilities 24h-security & Basement parking.
All these mentioned issues means, that my rent has not increased so much at all during these 11years.

After my calculation my recommendated rent cap will be 20%, the maximum, could that be correct, if comparing different type of accommodations according above mentioned points from 1-5?

Also my maintenance company have now created an additional new rule for all "old" teenants, that they have to now pay for mixers, faucets, taps, fans, shower-heads etc... when repairs are required by teenant, however these matters have earlier been taking care by maintenance of bldg.

I suppose that Real Estate & Maintenance Company is now punishing me cause my rent hasn't been able to increase according the market values?

I would be very happy if Dubai rent cap 2009 and Dubai rent index 2009 would include all these above mentioned issues 1-5. when valuating & estimating next caps & indexes for 2009.

[shawarma]

Hello sandiae and welcome to the Dubai forums .

Yes, I've heard and seen comments from many other residents saying that age, condition, etc wasn't taken into account with the rent cap index for Dubai. Maybe the rent cap department figured that those issues were (or should be) already factored into the actual rent price on apartments so therefore by default, if the price was lower, then the actual increase wouldn't be as much. However, the higher rent cap at lower prices does seem to result in a bit of a penalty for residents in lower quality apartments if they've been there for some time. Perhaps with the dropping rents recently there might be some incentive for landlords to improve the maintenance, or if not, then there may be better apartments becoming available at lower prices in the coming months.

[shawarma]

Landmark Properties have released a guide to Dubai rental prices for March 2009. The rent index pages have been updated to include the Landmark prices as a comparison with the RERA rent index for the second half of 2008. Note that the Landmark prices should not be used to work out your rent cap since they are not official RERA figures. The RERA rent index update is due to be released this month (April 2009), although there were some contradictory reports last month with one RERA person apparently saying the update would only include prices for properties that hadn't been covered in the previous index, but shortly after that the RERA boss said the April update would be a full revision of all rental prices. Which is what you'd expect given that Dubai rentals have been falling like a stone ... in some areas if the Landmark guide is anything to go by. Links to rent index tables here ...

Dubai apartment rents (freehold areas and Al Barsha)
Dubai villa rents (mostly freehold, also Al Barsha and Mirdiff)

[shawarma]

The RERA Dubai rent index has been updated (or partially updated) for 2009 first quarter. Dubai FAQ tables have been updated with apartment and villa data for freehold areas. Other areas should be updated later ...

Rera Dubai apartment index
Rera Dubai villa index