Illegal villa partitions cease after crackdown
Civic crackdowns on illegally partitioned villas have brought the activity to a near halt, according to The Peninsula.
The newspaper cited market sources as saying that the situation has led to shortage of affordable housing that serves mostly low-income expatriate families and single workers.
The general consensus is that greedy middlemen in the illicit business may take advantage of the shortfall to increase the rents.
A major reason the unscrupulous elements are unable to partition villas without civic approvals is that the small contracting firms that thrived on the unlawful activity are unwilling to do the work anymore due to what sources say are prohibitive fines.
The municipalities have increased vigilance, trailing construction materials transported on trucks at the slightest suspicion and zeroing in on any illegal construction activity. The municipalities have cracked down on hundreds of illegally partitioned villas across the country, triggering fear among middlemen.
A company caught partitioning a villa or an apartment without legal approvals can be slapped with a minimum fine of QR40,000, one source familiar with the illicit trade said.
A single room in an illegally partitioned villa or in an annex built in a villa compound which was available for up to QR1,800 monthly rent, may now command up to QR2,000 to QR2,200.
And two-room and three-room sets attract rents varying from QR3,000 to QR4,500.
The takers are mostly limited income expatriate families and those low-income single workers who get their wives here on either visit or work visas.
Municipal approvals are hard to get to partition a villa as one must submit a whole design of the proposed alterations made by an engineering consultancy. It is also an expensive and time-consuming affair.
If a villa partitioned illegally can involve an expense of QR80,000 for instance, the amount would double in the case of approved changes.
Courtesy: thepeninsulaqatar.com
It's a demand n supply situation here as well.
The landlords know that the ordinary person has no choice and thus take advantage
Seriously, expats are suffering. Why? because there's a rule that permits landlords to increase their rent up to 10% a year,. It didn't say they need to increase 10% which is the maximum but since it's up to 10%... they really do increase 10% rent every year. It's not like we are all getting 10% in our salary every year so it's hard.
let and let live. yes, but in a legal and halal way.
Lets live in peace.
How many u will caught villa with partation..every 2nd villa have a partation.
How many u will caught villa with partation..every 2nd villa have a partation.
harjet: An excellent idea... I would further suggest that the estate agents offering such properties be arrested, fined and deported
Government can track partitioned apartment through advertisement made on Qatar living. I think it is better they start calling those advertising and pretend to be a customer they can be arrested after checking the partitioned rooms.
It's difficult to analyse why people do the things they do. I guess to be eligible for a family visa a person needs to be earning a certain minimum wage which is not low. So ideally it depends on how you manage your finances and plan your stay here.
Ther is another side to this. Is it right that expats bring their familes over and house them in cramped and dingy conditions ?
If the practice of partitioning villa's and renting them is stopped then there would be noticeable rise in untenanted villa's. Renting a villa as a single unit is quite expensive even in the outskirts and the locals are not inclined to lower the rents. So who will benefit by this restriction?
The apprtments rent is too high.What the people will do.Patation is reasonable price. We can get
the_rogue: I agree. The problem is that most workers take the Housing Allowance option believing thay will save money ... Usually It doesn't work out that way...
There is another problem with workers living here on single status and that is they cannot live at accommodations reserved for families or sometimes even in the vicinity of such apartments. In my area, a couple of years back a Sudanese working for the baladiya had workers vacate an independent apartment 200 meters meters away across the road with his house not even being opposite to the apartment simply because of his eerie feeling about his family's safety! The unusual part is that the entire street is lined with other houses with families and "bachelors" living opposite each other across the road and there has never been any issues.
The simple answer is that nothing will get done until those coming here vote with their feet.
The authorities know that there are queues os people waiting to come here.
The simplest answer is that companies should be made to provide housing for their employees as part of the contract..
If not for the partitioned villas, middle class or below average expatriates won't be able to afford a decent accommodation in this country, fact be said. How can someone earning 6,500 Qr for instance, expected to afford 1BHK that goes for about 4,500 on the average in non-partitioned villas, how will he take care of his family back home? This is simply hypocrisy as far as I'm concerned because the government knows the cost of rent on the average in this country.
Prize/MM, I was just going with MM style of multiple posts in almost all the topics here in QL....
Cheerz !
MM... didn't foul mouth you in anyway, its just you taking it that way. I just asked you to focus on the matter and give solid comments in relation to what is being discussed. Don't try to create unnecessary tension for other QL users...as you have also been around for some time. New comers and some of the old QLers are here to vocie concerns. Rather,,,you troll daily to put in unnecessary comments with no solid value to it. Ask yourself, if someone did this to you!
Zack, Don't be angry without any reason. Who is going to suffer with this rule ? Won't you bother to understand ? ......
All should understand one thing here. Why they are partitioning the villas and why people opt for partitioned villas? Its all money problem. Expatriates come to Gulf countries to make some good money so that they can support there family back there. For most of them families values does not make sense which I can see from the above comments. Earning and giving the hard earned money to the brokers or house owners does not make sense, then what is use of working here? One has to manage everything from the income they get. Please we are talking about a middle class person whose main priority is to earn to live not earn to show off to others like most of them do. For many money is like a dust on their hands, but for few people like us each riyal matters a lot. If there are rules made to be followed then government should also provide an alternative solution for middle class and lower middle class people to strive. Has anybody thought about it?
no matter what they say or issue in the news, partitioning and sub renting of the apartment/villa is not going to stop easily.. unless the government reduces the renting/leasing process.
Bcoz the local its the local landlord's income...think of it this way, they attract you to the country offering better wage and no tax...later, you will realize that rents are too high, and locals are the landlords, seeing most of our hard earned money given back to them and they reinvest in hiring more and investing more. Not much chance for expats to invest here, hence the monopolies. Workers are not motivated, due to problems and challenges that they are facing...with raising costs, especially ones with family and kids going to school. Few minorities within communities here commit suicides due to burdens and forced closing of small businesses. Loans keep piles and no means of paying...all this and more...this is why govn't cannot provide affordable housing for expat community.
I am very much annoyed why government cannot provide a 1bhk at a very reasonable price
Nothing mush has been done, that;s reality. We still see partition villas being advertised here in QL for rent... lots of it!
@ MM... what are you talking about... another rambling nonsense... we are talking about partition villa...pls stay on track if you want to comment.
Affordable Housing isn't available.
So much to favor and promote the real estate inflated priced apartments.
"Civic crackdowns on illegally partitioned villas have brought the activity to a near halt"
Really?????????
Men spend most when they are required to save more ................ wives never remind them about their wrong practices for their own good ...............
One needs to keep work & married life separate ........... to rise up the career ladder ................
WT: Two things come to mind.. One is that perhaps this is a hint from the authorities that low income workers should not being families. The other is that the buildings are owned by locals and rents are kept artificially high to maximise reurns.
And the point is that there is not enough accommodation available at reasonable prices. The "politics" of the State failed again
The point is that there is no real proof of this and those already renting partitioned villas continue to do so