Building quality ratings and inspections, an ‘improved’ rental index, and a new affordable housing policy – the Dubai Land Department says it is rethinking the future of regulation in the emirate of Dubai and is planning to implement several new initiatives next year.
“We are rethinking the future of regulation, (and) I’m wishing that 2018 will be a great year,” Mohamoud Hesham El Burai, CEO, Dubai Real Estate Institute Development, Dubai Land Department, told Thomson Reuters Projects, in an interview last week.
He was speaking on the sidelines of the Urban Thinkers Campus event in Dubai, a brainstorming session focused on the future of cities.
The changes expected in 2018 include:
Rental index revamp
Dubai’s official Rental Index will be updated next year, with new rental bands based on additional factors including building quality – a move expected to impact property prices in the emirate.
The index, currently updated on an annual basis, is used as the main reference to determine average rent, upon which rental increases are calculated.
Burai said the new index will be a “modified and improved version” of the current index, based on rating assigned to buildings in Dubai. The ratings will be based on factors including the quality of the property, rather than based on area and type of accommodation, and rental 'slabs' are set to based on the average rent for similar properties.
Affordable housing incentives
Property developers in Dubai will get incentives to include ‘affordable’ homes in their product mix in central areas, as part of a new government policy on affordable housing to be implemented next year, Burai said.
The policy, which could include land concessions as incentives for developers, has been designed to address the affordable housing shortage and help the city become “more liveable, accessible and socially inclusive.”
Burai said the Dubai Land Department’s definition of ‘affordable’ is that “people should not pay more than 30 percent of their income for housing”. In Dubai, that number is currently 41 percent, he said.
Quality inspections
Last month, Thomson Reuters Projects reported that the Land Department will be inspecting properties to make sure that the quality promised by developers selling off-plan is being delivered on completion.
“If the quality is not what has been promised, there is a mechanism of complaining,” Burai said.
Further reading
© ZAWYA 2017
“We are rethinking the future of regulation, (and) I’m wishing that 2018 will be a great year,” Mohamoud Hesham El Burai, CEO, Dubai Real Estate Institute Development, Dubai Land Department, told Thomson Reuters Projects, in an interview last week.
He was speaking on the sidelines of the Urban Thinkers Campus event in Dubai, a brainstorming session focused on the future of cities.
The changes expected in 2018 include:
Rental index revamp
Dubai’s official Rental Index will be updated next year, with new rental bands based on additional factors including building quality – a move expected to impact property prices in the emirate.
The index, currently updated on an annual basis, is used as the main reference to determine average rent, upon which rental increases are calculated.
Burai said the new index will be a “modified and improved version” of the current index, based on rating assigned to buildings in Dubai. The ratings will be based on factors including the quality of the property, rather than based on area and type of accommodation, and rental 'slabs' are set to based on the average rent for similar properties.
Affordable housing incentives
Property developers in Dubai will get incentives to include ‘affordable’ homes in their product mix in central areas, as part of a new government policy on affordable housing to be implemented next year, Burai said.
The policy, which could include land concessions as incentives for developers, has been designed to address the affordable housing shortage and help the city become “more liveable, accessible and socially inclusive.”
Burai said the Dubai Land Department’s definition of ‘affordable’ is that “people should not pay more than 30 percent of their income for housing”. In Dubai, that number is currently 41 percent, he said.
Quality inspections
Last month, Thomson Reuters Projects reported that the Land Department will be inspecting properties to make sure that the quality promised by developers selling off-plan is being delivered on completion.
“If the quality is not what has been promised, there is a mechanism of complaining,” Burai said.
Further reading
- EXCLUSIVE: Dubai to launch 'improved' Rent Index next year incorporating building quality ratings
- EXCLUSIVE: Dubai Land Department to incentivise developers to build affordable homes in central locations
- Cityscape Dubai Live Blog: All the news, interviews and insights from the region's biggest property showcase
© ZAWYA 2017
