Job Discussion Forums

[crashartist1]

Hi all,

Has the housing housing market started to quiet down after the Asian Games? I had some buddies working there last year and hey were complaining that the rent was getting far too high. 7,000-10,000/a month for semi-decent two-bedroom flats, they contributited this rise in cost to the Games, but I just think it's following the way of Dubia and soon people will live elsewhere and travel into the city.

crash

[wilberforce]

they say the rents are coming down but some fiddling going on.

Gulf Times article:

http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=264255&version=1&template_id=57&parent_id=56


Real estate agents continue to �bully� ignorant tenants

By Ramesh Mathew
AGENTS and middlemen are taking advantage of tenants� ignorance of laws and bullying them into paying high rents in Qatar, say sources.
An Emiri Decree that came into effect on February 15, 2008, gives substantial protection to the country�s tenants, but legal experts said some unscrupulous real estate agents are deliberately misinterpreting its clauses.
According to legal expert Nizar Kochery, Decision 9 of 2008 pertaining to rent control safeguards the interests of the tenants.
The lawyer said �under the decision, leases entered into on or after January 1, 2005, may not have their rental value increased until February 15, 2010, unless the contract between the landlord or his representative and tenant provides otherwise.�
�Those leases entered into before January 1,2005, may have their rental values increased according to a percentage set out in Decision 9,� the lawyer said quoting the provisions in the rent control decision.
Under the provisions of law on agreements signed before January 1, 2005, if the rent per month was less than QR2,000, the hike should be up to a maximum of 20%, Kochery said. If the rents were between QR2,000 and QR5,000, increase could be up to 15% and between QR5,000-QR10,000, the hike could be up to a maximum of 10%.
The lease agreement will expire at the end of the period mentioned in the contract, he said. �However, if the tenant continues to stay with landlord�s permission even without his written permission after the date, the contract would be deemed as renewed,� Kochery said.
The strategy adopted by some agents is to verbally ask tenants to renew the contract while �explaining� the clauses that are either not familiar to them or are not covered by the Emiri Decree. In most cases, the tenants grudgingly �renew� the contract and end up paying a higher rent.
Kochery also said no representative or agent is allowed to raise the rent on his own unless authorised by the landlord.
Many tenants Gulf Times spoke to complained the agents were forcing them to pay more under the threat of eviction.
Reports also indicate that some agents continue to collect rents from residents of buildings earmarked for demolition near the Akai roundabout. The owners of these buildings had long stopped collecting rents.
Kochery said some tenants seek the help of the rental disputes committee set up by the municipal ministry. In the event of a dispute with the landlord or real estate firm, the tenant can deposit the rent in the municipality�s account at QNB and approach the committee at the Central Municipal Council office at Muntazah. Once the committee puts its seal on the payment receipt issued by the bank, the tenant can send a copy of the receipt to either the landlord or his representative, Kochery said.

[millie18]

There does seem to be some easing of rental prices in the marketplace - it will take time though. I've heard of people shifting to lower priced flats that are now becoming available and there have been articles in the paper about landlords who used to be able to demand rents of say 20,000/pm now advertising for 12 - 15000/pm and getting no takers.

One caveat - I don't know about the quality of these cheaper flats. As for commuting from outside Doha - from where outside Doha?

[wilberforce]

Unbelievable - there are actually some apartments being rented for 7,000 QR. Some building projects have been put on hold and workers have been sent home. But for the most part, Qatar is not really affected by the recession. The drop in rental is because of surplus housing - literally thousands of empty apartments because landlords were being too greedy. Now some of them have come to their senses and realize it's better to have them rented than empty. If they're empty, they can't pay back the bank loans!

[wilberforce]

Thousands in Musherib to lose homes

THE PENINSULA

DOHA: An estimated 5,000 to 7,000 people, including single workers, shopkeepers and families, are expected to be displaced from Al Musherib locality, which is earmarked for large-scale demolition to give way to modern structures, says a Qatari social activist.

�This is not a small number,� Hassan Al Jefairi told this newspaper yesterday, adding that the fact that they would need to be re-housed would put some pressure on housing supplies. The house rentals, which have now been marginally falling, may be negatively impacted due to the housing requirements of the population being displaced from this area. �It�s not a small area. The density of population here is very high since it is one of the oldest and busiest business districts of Doha,� said Al Jefairi. Many resident single workers and families have been living here for years.

Once displaced, they would be looking for mostly affordable housing whose supplies remain restricted since invariably all the constructions of new residential units are for upper-middle and high-end users. �Not enough attention has been paid by developers to building affordable housing, including small, one bedroom apartments or studio flats, so the shortage of housing in these categories, for people with limited income, continues,� said the social activist and businessman.

�So, there would be a problem when so many people are out looking for cheaper housing in a short span of time. A similar problem was witnessed when some other areas of Doha were razed a few years ago,� he said.
Shops are also in short supply as new commercial properties have not been developed in and around Doha. This is the reason for shop rentals keep shooting up while house rents have begun to ease. There were shops in areas which were demolished in the city a few years ago. The affected shopkeepers moved mainly to the suburbs into what were small commercial complexes. But now that the National Area is being razed, the shopkeepers who would be displaced would also need alternative commercial premises, argued Al Jefairi.

�Effort should be made to provide them, both residents and shopkeepers, alternative premises,� he said.


http://thepeninsulaqatar.com/Display_news.asp?section=local_news&month=february2009&file=local_news2009022113115.xml

[wilberforce]

Sharp drop in house rents expected by summer: Expert


2/6/2009 2:16:25

Source ::: The Peninsula

DOHA: Property market observers expect house rentals to drop sharply with the onset of summer when supplies would have considerably eased.

Already, supplies are adequate and there are hardly any shortages, said Abdul Hadi Al Shahwani, a prominent businessman and industrialist who keeps a close watch on the real estate market.

Developers have taken bank huge loans to build properties, mainly apartment buildings. One can see a lot of newly-constructed apartment buildings in and out of Doha. A large number of owners, who are not established developers, have been holding on to their properties waiting for the rental market to stabilise. �Sooner rather than later, they will be under pressure to begin repaying the loans. In that eventuality, they will be forced to rent out their properties in a panic situation,� Al Shahwani suggested in remarks to The Peninsula. �Rents will definitely come down then.�

Meanwhile, a report released on Wednesday by Kuwait-based Global Investment House, a prominent regional finance and research agency, said that land prices within Doha city limits dropped by almost 30 percent in November 2008 alone as a fallout of the global economic turmoil. The rates in the suburbs are declining faster. Plots in some residential localities on the outskirts are now available for QR400 ($110) per sq meter, which is almost half the price prevailing just a month before November.

Investors are expecting further fall in land prices. House rents, as a result of the property market bust fuelled by the world financial crisis, dropped in and out of Doha by as much as 20 percent in November, the �Global� report said.

New residential buildings are being completed in large numbers in and around Doha, easing supplies further. But there are few takers and this, in turn, is increasing the pressure on property owners. �Hence, if a property has to be rented out, the rental rates have to be lower, as per industry sources,� the report noted. With the oil prices falling in the international markets, companies engaged in the energy and services sectors may put their recruitment plans on hold. �This could hit the demand for new housing, so rents may fall,� the �Global� report said. According to market observers, a sharp decline in house rents can be expected with the onset of summer, which is barely a few months away

[veiledsentiments]

Rather an obvious disconnect between those two articles...

But, that is how it goes everywhere in the world. Developers only want to build high end properties, while the major need is for affordable housing for the large numbers of people who are the ones who do most of the work keeping the country functioning.

VS

[wilberforce]

Rents are going down and some places are actually offering one month free. But the new buildings have hardly any parking space, the apartments are small and dark and many buildings are built choc a bloc next to one another so there is hardly any natural light. I've been in buildings where some of the living rooms have no windows! The greed for construction profits has overrident consideration for human living conditions. Most of the new buildings are basically rabbit warrens. Landlords would never dream of living in one of these cells themselves but they think that's all expats deserve.

[wilberforce]

http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=280899&version=1&template_id=36&parent_id=16

[wilberforce]

This is grim news for renters!!!


Landlord�s right to demand eviction gets council nod

By Nour Abuzant

The Advisory Council yesterday approved a proposal allowing landlords the right to demand the eviction of tenants �in case they needed the premises for themselves or for their kin.�
The proposal will be discussed now by the Cabinet.
Earlier, the council�s legal and legislative committee convened three times to discuss the proposal and the Minister of state for cabinet affairs, HE Sheikh Nasser bin Mohamed bin Abdulaziz al-Thani attended one of the meetings. Sources said the minister �supported� the draft saying the rent law of 2008 did not tackle the issue because there was an acute shortage of premises at that time.
The minister was quoted as saying that now the situation was totally different and more real estate projects were available.
The Advisory Council rejected a proposal to reconsider the annual fee paid by the landlords for the registration of rental contracts.
Advisory council member Rashid Medadi, who presented the proposal, told reporters: �Laws should be changed if they did not fit the reality.�
On the rights of tenants in this case, he said: �Tenants would be given reasonable time to find a new premises, as in the cases of demolition and maintenance. If the tenant has paid the rent in advance, he should be reimbursed.�

http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=280441&version=1&template_id=36&parent_id=16

[stickleback]

Good to hear the rents are going down. They are higher than the rents in Dubai for some strange reason. Greedy landlords probably.

[wilberforce]

I actually saw an ad for a furished one bedroom apartment at 4,000 QR!!! Unbelievable - a few months you couldn't get one for less than 7,000. The problem for many is that most apartments are furnished with cheap furniture so that makes the rent higher. In the old days most of the apartments were unfurnished but a couple of loopholes in the law regarding rent increase makes it easier for landlords to up the rent on furnished places.

[wilberforce]

http://thepeninsulaqatar.com/Display_news.asp?section=Local_News&month=May2009&file=Local_News2009051531147.xml


50 teachers told to vacate homes
::: The Peninsula/ BY JABER AL MUSALLAM

DOHA: Fifty teachers working for the Ministry of Education were shocked when they received a notice to evict the building they live in within three days, before their electricity is cut off.

The teachers were surprised when they received the notice from the housing department in the ministry, telling them they had to leave their homes in three days, and will have their electricity cut off thereafter.

The teachers were asked to move to another building prepared for them by the ministry. They complained that the time period given to them was too short to move, especially since examinations were going on in schools.

When some of the teachers started moving their belongings, they received another shock when they found that the new accommodation was not fit to live in. They said the building looked like it had been abandoned for some time and it didn�t have electricity. The apartments were also filled with litter and dirt and lacked basic services, according to some of the teachers.

Much to their dismay, the teachers were not given any prior notice about the move, nor did they receive any official explanation as to why this action was taken by the ministry.

The teachers have pleaded with the ministry to delay their move; at least until the examinations are over, and asked the ministry to get the appropriate authorities to provide basic services at their new accommodation.

THE PENINSULA

[wilberforce]

http://thepeninsulaqatar.com/Display_news.asp?section=local_news&month=may2009&file=local_news2009051321058.xml

Affordable housing next big thing for developers

Source ::: The PENINSULA / BY MOBIN PANDIT

DOHA: Property developers in Qatar are now increasingly looking to create housing stock for middle-income users as there is clearly a shortage, says

an expert.

�We see an opportunity for affordable housing here,� said Blair Hagkull, managing director (Middle East) of US-based property services firm, Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL). The firm has operations here as well.

�We had discussions (on the subject) with the government as well as clients,� Hagkull told this newspaper on the sidelines of a symposium on global investment held by financial services firm Amwal here yesterday. Confirming that the clients he was referring to were developers, Hagkull said two key considerations in this regard were affordability of land and construction cost. According to global standards, a person typically spends 30 to 35 percent of his income on affordable housing. This is how affordable housing can be

precisely defined.

Hagkull reiterated that with greater supply and adjustment in pricing, there was greater opportunity for affordable housing here now. �This is the right time to plan such housing schemes as any real estate project takes about two to five years to complete.�

Earlier, answering a question during a panel discussion on �Real Estate in the Middle East: Calling a Bottom?� on why developers were not focusing on creating housing for lower-income people, an expert suggested it was probably because construction cost here had been rising by an enormous 25 percent annually. It was also pointed out during the question-answer session that one of the problems in the GCC region as a whole had been that in the past five years real estate had turned into a short-term trading commodity.

The Peninsula

See also page 3

[wilberforce]

http://thepeninsulaqatar.com/Display_news.asp?section=local_news&month=may2009&file=local_news2009050324011.xml

Plenty of houses, few takers

Source ::: The PENINSULA / BY MOBIN PANDIT

DOHA: As housing supplies now far exceed demand, a number of owners of newly-built apartment buildings are considering selling their properties, says a prominent member of Qatar�s trade and industry.

�But there are hardly any takers since the real estate market here suffers severely in the aftermath of the global recession,� Abdul Hadi Al Shahwani told this newspaper. �Property prices have dropped substantially.� He said around 80 percent of the apartment buildings which began construction on a large scale following a worsening housing shortage a few years ago, are now ready for occupancy.

�In addition to the adverse impact of the world financial crisis on the local property market, the fact that supplies currently remain high, there is a substantial drop in demand,� he said. Earlier, almost everyone was taking a bank loan to buy land and build an apartment structure for rental income to take advantage of the yawning housing shortage. Obviously, the real estate situation having worsened following recession, the trend has ended.

Asked why real estate agencies had almost stopped taking entire apartment buildings on rent for subletting as they did earlier when the demand for housing was huge, Al Shahwani said: �Why should they? Many building owners are offering their properties for sale.�

Land prices have come down by almost 60 percent, he said, attributing the slump to the cash crunch caused by the recession. �Liquidity is not easily available now.� According to Al Shahwani, house rentals are expected to drop further by September when the long summer break ends and people begin returning from vacations. 

THE PENINSULA