Illegal brokers causing rent hikes

A number of Qatari nationals and industry experts have said that the existence of large number of illegal real estate agents is the main reason for the unjustified hike in the rentals and prices of real estate properties, including plots of lands.

Many of them urged from the concerned authorities to ensure the effective implementation of laws dealing with real estate agencies, and to crackdown on illegal brokers involved in wrong practices to stabilise the market.

"Currently there is a chaos in the real estate market because of the lack of effective implantation of the Law No. 13 of 2011, which regulates the mediation or brokerage services in the real estate market", a local Arabic daily reported quoting an expert.

"Due to the lack of effective implementation of the law, a large number of unemployed individuals have become full time real estate brokers running from coffee shops and cafeterias, who are greatly responsible for the skyrocketing rentals and prices of real estate properties," Abdurrahman Al Jufairi, a prominent lawyer, was quoted as saying by the daily.

Al Jufairi said these so-called real estate agents and brokers, working without licenses, always try to sell and rent out properties at maximum prices so that they can have maximum possible cut from the deal, resulting in artificial surge in the prices.

He said that even after four years of the promulgation of the law, a large number of brokers and agents (without license) still exist in the market, and majority of them are not Qataris.

Article 3 of the law stipulates a number of conditions that must be fulfilled by a real estate agent. For instance, anyone willing to obtain a license to provide real estate services must be a Qatari citizen (not less than 18 years of age); he/she must not have been convicted for committing any crime and many other conditions, including having a permanent office and knowledge of Arabic language.

He noted that despite clear laws, a large number of individuals are working without license, and also many of the existing agencies are not owned by Qatari nationals, which clearly contradicts the law.

"The existing situation is pushing the prices of real estate properties, including lands, unjustifiably, which must be addressed. The effective implementation of the law will not only bring order in the market but also stabilize prices," he said.

Ibrahim Al Ajlan, another Qatari national, said: "There is no comparison between the silenced and unlicensed agencies as the number of unlicensed operators dominates the market."

Al Ajlan noted that a lot of employees of licensed agencies are even working secretly as sub-agents without the knowledge of the management in office. They offer much better deals to property owners and convince them to negotiate outside the ambit of office to mint money.

He said that many offices also do not work in a transparent manner and hide the actual prices of deals, especially when the property is being given on lease for rent.

According to the law agents can charge maximum commission between 1.5 and 2.5 percent of the total value of a deal, while these illegal brokers charge commissions from both the tenants as well as from the property owners (half month's rent from each).

"There is adequate supply in the market, but because of these illegal brokers, a villa of worth QR6,000 rent, is being leased at QR15,000 per month," he said.

Another citizen, Nasser Rashid Al Johaira, however did not agree with the reason cited by others. He added: "We can't blame real estate agents about the steady rise in the prices and rentals. It is determined by market forces—supply and demand—and the current situation show that demand exceeds supply."

But he suggested that the laws regulating the real estate market need to be updated. [The Peninsula]