Buoyed by the remarkable transactions worth AED 77 billion in the real estate sector in the first quarter of 2017 and bringing more transparency, Dubai Land Department is working on a new rental law that will give separate weightage to commercial real estate such as offices, malls, health and educational property.
After the law is passed, each property asset class will have its own rental index and contractual obligations between negotiating parties. Passing of this law will also signal another major step up for Dubai’s property market in terms of having a more equitable relationship between tenant and landlord. Currently, the Dubai Rental Index, dominated by residential property, is updated annually.
At present, the law is in front of the legislative committee and will replace the existing one-size-fits-all rental regulation.
Marwan Bin Ghalita, head of Real Estate Regulatory Agency, which comes under the Land Department said, “We wanted a new rental law that covers all types of property assets and not just draw on the provisions within a single, unified law.”
In addition to this, changes in other regulations are also in the pipeline. This includes laws governing homeowners associations that will be “clarified” to bring in more transparency, officials said. The Land Department wants to clearly define the rights of developers and property owners.