Rising construction costs increasing house rents in Qatar
A shortage of residential units in the market coupled with the increasing construction costs have caused a significant rise in house rents over the past six months, say industry sources.
Rents have gone up by 10 to 20 percent despite a presumed lull in recruitments by leading companies and corporations and a subsequent fall in the number of high-salaried professionals arriving in the country, say experts.
Most landlords are hiking the prices as they renew the tenancy contracts and the tenants have been forced to shell out, in the absence of cheaper alternatives in the market.
"There is a shortage of residential units and new projects are not coming up mainly due to a lull in allotment of lands," Ahmed Al Arouqi, a real estate analyst told this daily yesterday.
"Land prices remain very high and there are no new allotments. No new areas have been earmarked for construction," he added.
He said the increasing construction costs, especially the land price, has caused the rents to shoot up by at least 10 percent since the beginning of this year.
According to latest data, a square foot of land in central Doha cost as high as QR2075, while property prices have also gone up, with a one-bed flat in some areas in the city being sold at QR1m.
Many landlords are not willing to rent out their properties to individuals, which, he said, is an additional factor creating an artificial shortage.
"Everyone is looking for a single corporate customer to avoid dealing with many tenants," said Al Arouqi. An expert working with a leading real estate company said that house rents have gone up by 10 to 20 percent since the middle of last year. [Read more on The Peninsula]
@Boredman, Studying the issue without implementing and taking immediate necessary action against the perpetrators it makes no sense, why traffic rules especially in Qatar are implemented immediately when there's an outcry and published in the official newspapers to become a law?
All this business will come to an END one day. I hope the ministry started studying the issue already.
ITS A BUSINESS
Tony: the locals own most of the flats and derive a good income . Also, it is a case of supply And demand . Why would the government intervene
I do not agree with the comments by Qatar living , if you take a look in to the rent in qatar it is not proportional to the standard of the flats where we are living , most of them are constructed incautiously and the poor expats forced to pay and exacerbated price for these lousy apartments further they are not getting hike in salary or proportional payment to cop up with this inflation , for the best illustration how it can manage perfectly you don't need to go long way jut compare it with Dubai it is at least 20% less than that of here and the apartment standard is 40 % better i reckon it is high time for the government to intervene to stop this real estate mafia from squeezing the poor expat pockets .
SRKY: There is no rent control and there is not likely to be. Its a business
this has to big issues to the expatriates..pls looking to this who ever is responsibility part o control rent
Idcekm: then why stay and suffer ?
Idcekm: then why stay and suffer ?
Happy expats are not sustainable. Not even for the so-called Richest Country in the World. It would cost more than the country has.
i havent heard of any expat who is happy with his salary in qatar !!!
Absolutely WRONG TITLE of this post. That is not true the cost of rent is being increased just because of construction cost. Construction is done already so why they are increasing the rent EVERY YEAR ? Qatarliving is slowly supporting the real estate agent. You black street cat.
i would say greedy landlords, they need their investment return in the blink of an eye
MM, You are siding with the rich businessmen , think about hard working expats who wait for 30 days for their salaries but spend in just 3 days !
causes mentioned here is just part of the problem. Just think how many families control the real state market in Qatar. 3 to 4 families?
So we are given these reasons for rising rents ........... now their position is clear .............
1. A shortage of residential units in the market, 2. coupled with the increasing construction costs have caused a significant rise in house rents.
The only way is for Expats to vote with their feet. The owners know that will never happen.
IF WE COMPARE THE MONEY VALUE, NO VALUE FOR THE EXPATRIATES BECAUSE OF INFLATION AND HIGH RENT AND THERE IS NO INCREASE IN SALARY AND THERE FOR NO SAVINGS FOR THE EXPATRIATES AND I STRONGLY BELIEVE THAT NOW STAYING IN MIDDLE EAST IS UTTER FOOLISHNESS, SIMILAR SALARY IS BEEN RECEIVED IN THE HOME COUNTRY
There is no hike in salary at all
I hope government will do something to eliminate these fake increase in price.
Its all artificial , created to help the investors
Salaries have also gone up by 10 to 20 percent, or not? If not, then you are working for less and less each year.