One general comment about housing - although rents have stabilized and are even dropping here now - the previous 6 years saw double digit increases in rents. If you go for only the allowance, make sure that it's written into your agreement with the employer that they will pay the market rent for a 3/4 bedroom stand alone villa less than 3 years old(or whatever suits your taste).
Many in the GCC got caught in this bind over the past 5/6 years and had to pay out of pocket in order to stay where they were.
Qatar employers, like Saudi, tend to keep all their employees in one set of accomodation. Something I don't like but have to put up with here. I compensate, as I said, by going out and meeting other people in various social/sporting communities that have no ties to my employer. I won't go to the Harp because too many of my colleagues congregate there (the fact that the beer is too expensive, the food menu is limited and bland, it's way too smokey, you can't sit outside, and often there's no soap in the dispensers in the ladies toilet - also has something to do with my personal boycott).
One general comment about housing - although rents have stabilized and are even dropping here now - the previous 6 years saw double digit increases in rents. If you go for only the allowance, make sure that it's written into your agreement with the employer that they will pay the market rent for a 3/4 bedroom stand alone villa less than 3 years old(or whatever suits your taste).
Many in the GCC got caught in this bind over the past 5/6 years and had to pay out of pocket in order to stay where they were.
Qatar employers, like Saudi, tend to keep all their employees in one set of accomodation. Something I don't like but have to put up with here. I compensate, as I said, by going out and meeting other people in various social/sporting communities that have no ties to my employer. I won't go to the Harp because too many of my colleagues congregate there (the fact that the beer is too expensive, the food menu is limited and bland, it's way too smokey, you can't sit outside, and often there's no soap in the dispensers in the ladies toilet - also has something to do with my personal boycott).
Signature line > "You can't fix stupid"