Tenants woes in 2008
The harrowing times faced by tenants in 2007 are only likely to get worse this year, a top property market expert has said.
The swelling population in the country “is expected to exacerbate the existing shortage of space,” said Reginald Barichievy, general manager of Colliers International in Qatar.
The situation will be particularly bad at the bottom end of the market which is where the largest demand could be expected. This segment of the market is largely being ignored by developers, Barichievy observed.
The population swelled by a massive 461,929 people in 2007, according to The Medical Commission at the National Health Authority, he pointed out.
The only significant development was the low-cost housing project being undertaken by Barwa but a good number of that space had been reserved for Qatari nationals. So it was unlikely to ease the shortfall in accommodation for foreign work force in the country.
The prospects for the mid to upper market segments were somewhat better but there was still likely to be a shortfall in accommodation. So, rentals could be expected to remain high or increase further, Barichievy said.
The Pearl would start coming on stream from April this year but was unlikely to have any impact on the shortfall while Lusail City and Al-Khor were still several years away from completion. “There is a steady stream of new apartments coming on stream, the exact amount of which is unknown but this is unlikely to satisfy demand during the course of 2008”.
Rentals in West Bay were averaging QR10,200 a month for a single bedroom apartment and QR16,071 to QR21,750 for two to four bedroom apartments. Mid range rentals averaged QR7,000 to QR8,000 for two- and three-bed apartments and mid-range villas averaged QR16,000 to QR18,000 a month for four and five-bedroom villas, Barichievy said.
“The office market is also expected to remain tight with only a limited amount of space coming on stream during the year. It is estimated that 496,000m² of space will come on stream in West Bay during 2008. While this is a large amount, the pent up demand is even higher and it will not be until 2009 that the uptake of space has an effect, if at all”, the general manager said.
The increase in the number of companies establishing themselves could be expected to continue in line with Qatar’s booming economy, he said. According to the Kuwait Financial Centre, Qatar’s economy could be expected to grow a further 13.2% this year.
Rentals for new space in West Bay could be expected to rise to QR280/m² to QR300/m². Asking rentals along the C Ring Road were presently QR250/m². “Whenever possible landlords try to rent their buildings to single tenants so the shortage of small space is likely to continue”, Barichievy said.
In summary, he said, “the optimistic forecast for the year ahead is that 2008 will be as challenging as 2007, if not more difficult for residential and office tenants”.
My contract is due to finish in the summer, so we thought wew would have a look at the rental market now, starting with the classifieds in the Gulf time this week.
We arranged to look at 2 Villa's in North Doha. Both met our requirements, but sounded totally different in the description, so we arranged one for 4pm and the other for 4.30pm.
We looked at the first one and it was ok, good villa, bad surroundings. At 4.30pm we met the second Agent who took us to exactly the same Villa. I explained we'd just seen it but for some reason he couldnt explain why he wanted QR2000 more a month than the previous Agent.
Now thats inflation....QR2000 in 30 mins...lol
Humanity is simply a parade of fools....and im right at the front twirling the biggest baton anyones ever seen.
who is this 'expert'? What's his name? What firm is with? Top globally or in his house?
I think things will get better.
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Thei nformation in the Pinisula is better written than the Gulf Times and gives more information.
Rent relief
Web posted at: 1/31/2008 7:29:2
Source ::: The Peninsula
Doha • The State Cabinet yesterday ratified the draft of a new and extensive rent law and decided to forward it to the Advisory Council for its approval.
Legal circles hope the new legislation will be enforced on or before February 16 when the existing law (temporary legislation brought into force two years ago) is due to expire.
Lawyers told this newspaper yesterday an extensive rent law was enforced in Qatar in 1975, about 33 years ago, and since then a lot of changes have taken place in the country on all fronts, including housing.
“We hope the new legislation will take into account all aspects related to property ownership and tenancy and effectively regulate their relationship. The 1975 law was incomplete," lawyer Jamal Al Nema said.
Reports of the draft having been referred to the Advisory Council have also led to speculations in legal circles over its possible contents.
While some lawyers believe it may reduce the current cap of 10 percent annual increase in rentals to five percent every two years, there are others who think the limit may be further upped to benefit the owners of old buildings with tenants occupying them for decades.
“The tenants of old buildings are still paying very low rents, so the owners are suffering,” said lawyer Mohamed Fudala. “I, therefore, expect the new law to raise the annual cap to 15 percent,” he said.
The law could make an exception in the case of commercial properties and furnished apartments, according to Fudala.
But Al Nema insisted his understanding was that the cap would be lowered to five percent and that too a landlord would have the right to hike the rent once in two years, and not every year, as is the case now.
Another prominent lawyer, Ali Issa Al Khulaifi, said he also felt the new law should bring the upper limit on rent hikes down to seven percent from an existing 10 percent annually.
As for the possible timeframe of the law seeing the light of day, Al Nema said: “Well, I expect it to be out on or before February 16 since the existing temporary legislation is due to expire by then.”
If that doesn't happen by any chance, the Rent Law of 1975 with all its obsolete provisions would be applicable once again, he said.
Aside from restricting rent hikes, what is expected of the new legislation is that it would provide protection to tenants who are asked by property owners to vacate the premises after producing civic certificates for repair or renovation, said the lawyers.
The owner subsequently rents out the property on higher rates after cosmetic repairs, eventually cheating the tenants. The new law should not let this happen. There should be legal provisions for adequate compensation in such cases, said the lawyers.
Cabinet approves draft law on rentPublished: Thursday, 31 January, 2008, 02:04 AM Doha Time
Cabinet approves draft law on rent
THE cabinet yesterday approved a draft law on real estate rent and decided to refer it to the Advisory Council.
The decision was taken at the weekly cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister and Foreign Minister HE Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jabor al-Thani at the Emiri Diwan.
Minister of Labour and Social Affairs and Acting Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs Dr Sultan Hassan al-Dhabit al-Dousari said the cabinet also approved a draft law amending some provisions of law No 18 for 2002 on public debt.
The cabinet also approved the following:
l decision of Qatar Petroleum to set up a company under the name The Gulf International Services Company (QSCO)
l hosting a workshop on information security in co-ordination with the Supreme Council of Information and Communications Technology (ictQatar), the International Telecommunications Union and the Qatar Computer Emergency Response Team to be held in Doha from February 18 to 21.- QNA
can you post a link to the Peninsula's article?
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Whatever Makes You Happy...
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Insha'allah!
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Whatever Makes You Happy...
[img_assist|nid=63830|title=Gemini|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=|height=0]
This is an article posted in the Gulf Times today at the same time there is another article posted in the Peninsula about the new rent law coming on the 16th February.
This is just another person pushing fears on the mass so that the Real Estat Agents can earn more money.
God help us The Tenants .......