dubai expat life

Dubai Rent Guide

Are you planning to rent a property in Dubai? Whether it is a villa, flat or bed space – rent negotiation is a skill every expat must acquire.

Although there is too much supply and low demand but rents in Dubai fluctuate very frequently. Some say falling rents in Dubai is a myth.

Gulf News reports rents in Dubai have surged by more than 10% this year.

Dubai Rent Guide

Dubai Rent Guide:

Business Bay

Rent in March 2011 – Dh87.6 per square foot yearly
Current rent – Dh92.4 per square foot
Current average three-bedroom apartment rental – Dh115,000 to Dh130,000

The Greens

Rent in March 2011 – Dh73.92 per square foot yearly
Current rent – Dh78.6 per square foot.
Current average three-bedroom apartment rental – Dh120,000. to Dh150,000

The Palm Jumeirah apartments

Rent in March 2011 – Dh76.44 per square foot yearly
Current rent – Dh81.84 per square foot
Current average three-bedroom Shoreline apartment – Dh160,000 and Dh170,000 for a street view / Dh200,000 and Dh220,000 for a sea view.

International City

Rent in March 2011- Dh66.96 per square foot yearly
Current rent -Dh72 per square foot
Current average two-bedroom apartment rental – Dh40,000 to Dh50,000

Jumeirah Lakes Tower (JLT)

Rent in March 2011- Dh60.36 per square foot yearly
Current rent – Dh64.92 per square foot
Current average three-bedroom apartment rentals – Dh110,000 to Dh130,000

Arabian Ranches

Rent in March 2011- Dh56.52 per square foot yearly
Current rent – Dh61.2 per square foot
Current average four-bedroom villa rentals – Dh220,000 to Dh250,000

Dubai Marina apartments

Rent in March 2011 2011 – Dh74.76 per square foot per year
Current rent – Dh81.84 per square foot
Current average rentals for a four-bedroom apartment – Dh140,000 to Dh200,000.

The Springs, The Meadows and The Lakes

Rent in March 2011 2011 – Dh53.76 per square foot yearly
Current rent – Dh59.16 per square foot
Current average three-bedroom townhouse rentals in The Lakes – Dh180,000.
Current average four-bedroom villa rental in The Meadows – Dh250,000

Jumeirah Beach Residence (JBR)

Rent in March 2011 — Dh73.92 per square foot yearly
Current rent — Dh82.2 per square foot
Current average rentals for a four-bedroom apartment – Dh180,000 to Dh220,000

Discovery Gardens (DG)

Rent in March 2011 – Dh49.68 per square foot a year.
Current rent – Dh49.8 per square foot.
Current average : two-bedroom rentals – Dh55,000 to Dh70,000 a year

Palm Jumeirah villas

Rent in March 2011 – Dh73.92 per square foot yearly
Current rent – Dh77.28 per square foot
Current average four-bedroom villa rental – Dh350,000

Downtown Dubai

Rent in March 2011 – Dh92.88 per square foot yearly
Current rent – Dh97.44 per square foot
Current average four-bedroom apartment rental – Dh200,000 to Dh240,000

relaxing in Dubai

Drydocks World to build Underwater Hotels in Dubai

World Discus Hotel - Dubai Underwater Hotel

Underwater Hotels are the next big thing in luxury resort business, not to mention top tourist attraction. Residents and visitors of Dubai will soon have another luxury at their disposal, as underwater hotels are soon coming to Dubai.

Arabian Business reports that Drydocks World, the shipbuilding arm of Dubai World, has announced plans to build a series of underwater hotels in the Dubai.

Drydocks World said it has signed an agreement with a Swiss contractor to develop the World Discus Hotel, which is partly submerged under the sea. It will be first Dubai underwater hotel.

Underwater Hotels DubaiWorld Discus Hotels comprise of two discs – an underwater and above-water one. The two parts of the structure will be connected by three legs and a vertical shaft containing a lift and stairway.

The hotel “discs” are to be located up to 10m below the surface and will include 21 rooms next to an underwater dive center and bar.

Guests will be able to operate miniature vehicles from inside their rooms that will take blown-up photographs of the surrounding sea creatures.

The land station is located in the famous Jumeirah beach. This land station of the Dubai Underwater Hotel is the entry point to the hotel. It is from this important point, that the guests can gain admission into the hotel. The land station is in the shape of wave, on entering which, the guests get to view some high tech cinema presentation, on everything related to the aquatic life – as an introduction to what they are about to experience. Guests also get to know more on the underwater architecture of the hotel.

The station houses a few marine biology research labs, houses for the staff, parking spaces, and also a few conference centers. The connecting tunnel – almost 515 meters long, is another vital part through which people will be transported by a special train to the main hotel from the land station.

The third element which makes up the grand luxurious hotel is the heavenly suites. There are about 220 suites, which are all located underwater.

According to Drydocks World, BIG InvestConsult will provide the required technological expertise for the unusual concept.

 The World Discus Hotel is not technically the world’s first underwater hotel, but it is the most lavish and probably the best of underwater hotels built so far.
dubai mall open after coronavirus lock down

Dubai Municipality pushing back plans to charge expat housing fees

Dubai expat housing feesDubai Municipality is pushing back its plans to charge all expat housing fees.

Currently, the housing fee is imposed in some residential districts of Dubai. The authorities have planned to roll it out across the emirate by June 2012.

However, a series of delays means only 65 percent of expats are currently being charged.

Housing fees, billed through residents’ monthly utility bills, are calculated at five percent of the tenant’s annual rent. Freehold property owners pay five percent of the annual rental value, as calculated by the RERA index.

Among the areas not yet fully covered include Al Barsha, Discovery Gardens, Palm Jumeirah, Burj Khalifa area and Dubai Marina.

Emiratis do not pay the charge, leading some residents to dub the fee an “expat tax”. This is one of the hidden costs of living in Dubai.

As one expat said, Dubai is replacing the word tax with fees.

Dubai Residents to be fined for hanging clothes, having barbecue in balconies

Dubai Residents to be fined for hanging clothes, having barbecue in balconies

Residents of Palm Jumeirah, Jumeirah Lakes Tower, International City and Discovery Gardens will start getting fines from March if they are found hanging clothes or having a barbecue on their balcony.

Trakhees, the organisational arm of Ports, Customs and Free Zone Corporation, supervises residential communities, which also includes Jumeirah Heights, Jumeirah Village and Jebel Ali Downtown, will end its awareness campaign that started in October last year by month-end.

“We will end our awareness campaign by end-February and start issuing fines to those not obeying the law from March,” a company spokesman told this website.

In November, the Community Conformance Division of Trakhees had informed residents not to fix satellite dishes on the facades or balconies of their buildings; not to use balconies as places of storage for any purpose other than seasonal furniture pieces; not to hang sheets, clothes or curtains or rugs or mops or laundry on balconies or railings of homes and not to have barbecues in their balconies.

The authority says it has undertaken a comprehensive community-based awareness campaign that includes a range of awareness-raising posters and brochures in five languages: Arabic, English, Hindi, Urdu, and Chinese. Those failing to follow the rules would face a fine Dh500 per offence.

Separately, tenants breaching the occupancy limit regulation set up Trakhees could face fines of up to Dh50,000. The maximum allowable occupancy limit for apartments is one person per 200 square feet from the total property area.

From: Emirates 24X7