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Abu Dhabi: The Urban Planning Council (UPC) on Sunday assured tenants in Abu Dhabi that landlords cannot evict them under the pretext of implementing the proposed green buildings laws to be issued early 2009.
"This will not happen absolutely, and landlords need to know that the necessary changes, when the law is introduced, can be only carried out during the minor and major maintenance operations," Falah Al Ahbabi, UPC's general manager said, indicating that the new laws will virtually have no effect on the property lease market.
The emirate, which imposes an annual rent cap of 5 per cent, requires landlords to abide by the specified ceiling when renewing contracts and in the case of takeovers, while new buildings and buildings that undergo major renovations are exempt given the approval of the Abu Dhabi Municipality and the Executive Council's Rent Dispute Resolution Committee. The housing shortage is driving rents up in the UAE capital. However, landlords see the rent cap as an obstacle to obtaining higher rents.
Hence a large number of landlords try out innovative ways to bypass the cap.
Last month, UPC introduced the Estidama (sustainability) programme, aiming at the introduction of new regulations governing real estate development in Abu Dhabi to comply with environmental concerns and seeking to enforce a minimum 35 per cent compliance.
"It is not necessary that all the guidelines be converted into law. That can only be decided by the government, but at least we will have our minimal requirements," Al Ahbabi said.
Have you ever been sent an eviction notice? What was the reason you were given? Do you think the council's assurance will help reduce instances of unfair evictions? Why? Tell us at letter2editor@gulfnews or fill in the form bellow to send your comments.
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