BAD NEWS: Freeze on residential rents goes
Web posted at: 2/16/2010 5:30:22
Source ::: THE PENINSULA/ By MOBIN PANDIT & MOHAMED SAEED
By MOBIN PANDIT & MOHAMED SAEED
DOHA: Qatar yesterday passed a new rent law that retains most of the provisions of the 2008 legislation except that landlords will now be free to raise rents of residential properties on their whims and fancies.
Conversely, depending on the demand and supply situation, tenants will now be in a position to haggle and insist that landlords reduce the rent.
The new law, however, freezes the rents of shops and other commercial premises for one more year, that is, until February 14, 2011.
The 2010 legislation, nevertheless, specifies some conditions under which the owner of a shop or commercial property can move the authorities concerned to evict a tenant from the premises even when the tenancy agreement is valid.
The law (Number 2 of 2010) was ratified by the Emir, H H Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, yesterday, amending Article 27 of the previous law (Law No. 4 of 2008) in respect of shops and commercial properties.
Article 27 stipulated that all rent contracts (whether residential or commercial) were to remain valid until February 14, 2010.
Its amendment in respect of commercial properties means that while residential rents can now be raised or reduced by the landlords, commercial rents will remain frozen for one more year, until February 14, 2011.
After Qatar News Agency reported that Law No. 2 of 2010 had been passed, the Ministry of Municipality and Urban Planning issued a clarification giving details of the conditions under which the owner of a shop or commercial property can move to evict a tenant.
If a tenant is not paying rent on time without any valid reason and without the permission of the authorities or has sublet part of a property or in full without the landlord’s written permission, he can be evicted. A tenant can also be evicted if a property is not being used for the purpose for which it was rented out, or if the building in which a rented property is housed is not safe, or the property is over 15 years old and earmarked for demolition. A tenant can also be removed if a shop is located within a residential building and the landlord wants it back for family use. A landlord is required to serve a notice of eviction on a tenant of a shop or other commercial property at least six months in advance, says the new law.
The Peninsula
http://www.thepeninsulaqatar.com/Display_news.asp?section=Local_News&mon...
PACK YOUR BAGS GUYS
This is bad news indeed for landlords trying to evict tenants because they can get a higher rent from new tenants,rest assured there will be cases of tenants being forced to vacate because the landlords will raise the rent to a ridiculous level,forcing the tenant to evict,then lower it to the rent that he/she was expecting from the new tenant...that's a HUGE loophole in the law that these greedy landlords/estate agents are going to use,sadly the new law provides no respite from this...
In this recent financial situation no one can raise the rent again, number of new/old villas flats are vacant, now real estate agents started to give promotion to attract the customer like 3 months rent but still they dont want to announce the rent is reduced because they wanted to keep the rent rate high. (GREEDY) but in actual if 3 months rent free for a 7000 flat in real you are paying 7000*9 that is 63000 per year that means if still divide 63000/12 it is only 4846 ? just assume one year ago a two bed room new flat was cost up to 9,000? they have to understand all the people are not fools. Again the rent will comedown, wait. All the building are constructed by bank loans and they have a limit they have to pay back monthly otherwise bank will take action against the owner.
Our landlord has reduced the rent upto QR 1500 and one month free stay..isn't that amazing???
With so much of options available in the market currently, I hope this would not be a problem for anyone.
I don't see this as a big problem. If you are worried about rents buy one of the second hand apartments on the Pearl from the suckers who bought one off plan....
Blame the middlemen and real estate agencies for the problem not the landlords.
The real estate agents are the main cause for the exorbitant rise in rents.
You move them out of the picture automatically the rents fall down.
UKeng when has the rental prices ever been dictated by demand and supply here? It's almost in a manner of extortion. Plus all the empty new buildings don't need to be counted. The bank loans taken on them have to be paid back only when the first piece is rented out. If it lies vacant, the Qatari owners don't have to worry about interest or loans. They make very good use of this policy.
Time to pack your bags if your company doesn't provide accommodation lol.
Well looking at the current over supply of propertes in the market, Tenants should be able to get a decent rent.
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Can We Fix It?
Yes We Can!
ok people,prepare for another RIDICULOUS surge in residential property rents...yes,i know there are loads of empty apartment blocks as it is but try talking sense to idiotic local landlords...
thats how it goes here...