Dubai, United Arab Emirates: Dubai Land Department (DLD) recently announced the completion of the first phase of its building classification project, which was launched earlier in 2015 as an initiative from DLD to survey real estate projects across Dubai. Phase one focused specifically on (non-freehold) old areas in Dubai.

His Excellency Sultan Butti bin Mejren Director General of DLD said: “This important project aims to enhance the transparency in real estate transactions by ensuring accurate data is available to government and private real estate customers. Our target was to complete the project by the end of 2017 which we have successfully done, and today we are pleased to announce that all parties in the real estate sector are now able to benefit from the survey data”.

After a comprehensive survey of the empty land plots, villas, commercial and residential buildings, factories and shopping centers, all types of buildings in Dubai were incorporated into the project's database. This will facilitate the rental procedures for tenants, as well as provide a precise classification of each property in the surveyed areas.

The survey examined 100% of land plots outside freehold areas, with the data collected focusing on the current state of the plot, whether there was a building or just vacant land, as well as determining the number of buildings, floors and units (apartments), and the nature of the property’s use (residential or commercial purposes).  Moreover, the specifications of the property were also listed according to 64 criteria, which includes the availability of parking spaces, the age of the building, the existence of facilities and services such as lifts, as well as the profile of its location such as sea view. The survey also captured relevant images to support the data collected.

The survey revealed that 79,280 plots of land are now located in non-freehold areas, compared to 69,982 plots located in freehold areas bringing the total up to 149,262 plots.

This project helps DLD to enhance its priority on trust, happiness and innovation, as all parties active in the real estate sector will benefit from it — in particular landlords and tenants. The project will also ensure that developers are able to classify their projects according to DLD classifications. With the survey data, real estate brokers can now list properties based on DLD classification, while allowing companies to classify any property before leasing it.

The project will be a useful tool for government decision makers as it provides them with important data for planning governmental services and ensuring the optimal delivery to the public.

There is a possibility of modifying the rental increase calculator also to reflect the classification of buildings, which will ultimately enhance confidence and fairness.

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© Press Release 2018