I rent an apartment in a building within the Dubai International Financial Centre and the landlord was responsible for paying the cooling fees as part of the annual service agreement.
However, the building's management changed the billing mechanism for air conditioning services and now requires each resident to be liable for their cooling expenses, depending on their consumption.
My lease agreement was signed before these changes became effective and there was no reference to the tenant being liable for air conditioning bills.
The agreement specifically referred to the tenant paying for services provided by the Dubai Electricity and Water Authority and telco du only.
However, the agent, who is acting on behalf of the landlord, is demanding that I pay for air conditioning services, too.
If I renew the rental agreement, will I be liable to pay for the air conditioning bills? SR, Dubai
The first point is that all rented properties in the DIFC do not follow the Dubai rental laws.
While this is the case specifically, in general, they tend to mirror Dubai rental rules. However, they don’t necessarily have to.
Therefore, when it comes to rental disputes, the Rental Dispute Settlement Committee (RDSC) does not necessarily intervene in matters in the DIFC.
The key is to come to some form of agreement with the owner to find a mutual understanding so that all parties can move forward.
According to the Dubai rental laws, the landlord cannot change the contract without giving 90 days’ notice from the renewal date.
But, in this case, your landlord doesn’t have to, considering what I said earlier.
If you find a mutual agreement, that is great, but if not, I am afraid you will have to abide by the changes requested, otherwise any future litigation could result in failure.
I live with my family in a townhouse in Dubai. At the beginning of the lease in 2020, we paid an annual rent of Dh90,000. The landlord increased the rent every consecutive year as villas and townhouses were much sought-after in Dubai during the coronavirus pandemic.
We agreed to pay the higher rent as it was reasonable and because we wanted to avoid the hassle of moving out. We currently pay a rent of Dh125,000.
But the landlord is now demanding an unreasonable rent of Dh170,000 to renew the lease next year. My children love the community, so we don’t wish to move out unless it is the last resort.
Although the landlord has given us 90 days’ notice before lease renewal, we know the rent increase is unfair. I want to contest this in court.
What is the legal procedure to dispute the landlord’s claim? Will the process be costly and time-consuming? Can we continue staying in the property while the case is in court? SN, Dubai
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The first thing to do is not to worry. Many landlords are seeing what similar units are renting for in the vacant rental property market.
They are only trying to maximise their investment but are coming across as greedy.
You can do a few things to mitigate such rent increases. Firstly, go to the Real Estate Regulatory Agency (Rera) rent calculator to see exactly what increase the landlord is entitled to demand for an existing rental contract.
It is also important to know that the most a landlord is allowed to raise rent by in a year is 20 per cent, but only if the calculator allows for this increase.
To contest the increase, you will have to file a case at the RDSC, which is located at the Dubai Land Department office in Deira.
The cost to file a case is 3.5 per cent of the annual rent, plus Dh120 for processing, knowledge and innovation fees.
____________
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You will need to provide the following documents: passport and Emirates ID copies for both the landlord and tenant, an Ejari certificate, a title deed, a tenancy contract, a recent Dewa bill, a copy of rental cheques and written documents to support your case.
The processing time is about 15 days but in the event of further disagreements, this could take an additional 30 days to resolve.
You can continue to stay in the property while the dispute is going on.
Mario Volpi is sales and leasing manager at Engel & Volkers. He has worked in the property sector for more than 35 years, in London and Dubai. The opinions expressed do not constitute legal advice and are provided for information only. Please send any questions to mario.volpi@engelvoelkers.com
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
Notable salonnières of the Middle East through history
Al Khasan (Okaz, Saudi Arabia)
Tamadir bint Amr Al Harith, known simply as Al Khasan, was a poet from Najd famed for elegies, earning great renown for the eulogy of her brothers Mu’awiyah and Sakhr, both killed in tribal wars. Although not a salonnière, this prestigious 7th century poet fostered a culture of literary criticism and could be found standing in the souq of Okaz and reciting her poetry, publicly pronouncing her views and inviting others to join in the debate on scholarship. She later converted to Islam.
Maryana Marrash (Aleppo)
A poet and writer, Marrash helped revive the tradition of the salon and was an active part of the Nadha movement, or Arab Renaissance. Born to an established family in Aleppo in Ottoman Syria in 1848, Marrash was educated at missionary schools in Aleppo and Beirut at a time when many women did not receive an education. After touring Europe, she began to host salons where writers played chess and cards, competed in the art of poetry, and discussed literature and politics. An accomplished singer and canon player, music and dancing were a part of these evenings.
Princess Nazil Fadil (Cairo)
Princess Nazil Fadil gathered religious, literary and political elite together at her Cairo palace, although she stopped short of inviting women. The princess, a niece of Khedive Ismail, believed that Egypt’s situation could only be solved through education and she donated her own property to help fund the first modern Egyptian University in Cairo.
Mayy Ziyadah (Cairo)
Ziyadah was the first to entertain both men and women at her Cairo salon, founded in 1913. The writer, poet, public speaker and critic, her writing explored language, religious identity, language, nationalism and hierarchy. Born in Nazareth, Palestine, to a Lebanese father and Palestinian mother, her salon was open to different social classes and earned comparisons with souq of where Al Khansa herself once recited.
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A worker is categorised as skilled by the MOHRE based on nine levels given in the International Standard Classification of Occupations (ISCO) issued by the International Labour Organisation.
A skilled worker would be someone at a professional level (levels 1 – 5) which includes managers, professionals, technicians and associate professionals, clerical support workers, and service and sales workers.
The worker must also have an attested educational certificate higher than secondary or an equivalent certification, and earn a monthly salary of at least Dh4,000.
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