Dubai has introduced an initiative to help tenants pay rent in monthly instalments as part of efforts to ease their financial burden.
The 'Flexi Rent' scheme was unveiled by the Dubai Land Department on Tuesday in partnership with 12 property companies including Deyaar, Wasl, Dubai Investment Real Estate and Driven Properties.
The initiative seeks to provide a flexible and accessible rental solution, said Khalid Al Shaibani, director of the rental affairs department at the DLD. It will also help reduce the financial burden on tenants.
“We have an agreement with 12 real estate companies that they can divide the instalment plan, they can provide grace period, they can redesign the payment plan and, if there is any increment for this year, and only for specific cases, they can just ignore it,” he said.
The initiative applies to new and renewed tenancy contracts. Rent will remain the same whether it is paid in monthly installments or in one or two cheques.
Rent can also be paid by debit or credit card under the agreement between the tenant and the landlord.
The fee for bounced cheques will also be waived as part of the initiative, according to officials. Rental incentives, discounts and promotional packages are also being provided for new tenants.
Other companies working with the DLD on the scheme include SBK Real Estate, Al Showaib, Rocky Real Estate, SRG Properties, Modern Real Estate, Harbor Real Estate and Dubai World Real Estate.
“We will have more [companies] join us. In addition, the affordable rental initiative is under the umbrella of other initiatives that will be coming soon,” Mr Al Shaibani said.
The partnership also includes monitoring the results of the pilot scheme based on a set of key performance indicators. These include the number of rental units covered by the initiative, the number of tenancy contracts concluded under the 'Flexi Rent' model, occupancy rates, tenants’ payment compliance levels, the extent to which flexible payment options are used and the number of incentives offered to new tenants.
In the next two months, there will be another initiative that will support stability with “the same goal to make … Dubai the best city to live, work, and enjoy”, he added.
Dubai registered almost 1.2 million tenancy contracts last year, according to DLD figures.
In the first quarter of this year, rent growth in Dubai decelerated as more new homes were delivered, according to a report by CBRE. Overall rent prices increased by about 4.1 per cent year on year, with apartments rising 4.9 per cent while villa costs remained stable.
Dubai's property market, which was booming at the start of the year, has weathered most of the immediate fallout from the Iran war, which began on February 28. Property transactions remained strong in the first quarter of this year, while developers have also launched new projects.
“Dubai always breaks through all challenges. We will recover very fast. These initiatives that government is launching will support this,” Mr Al Shaibani said.
The emirate has in recent years looked to support the market, including through a first-time buyers initiative and a smart rental index, which were launched last year.
The Dubai government has also updated visa rules to spur demand and attract overseas buyers.
