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Al Ain: High rents and a dearth of accommodation have become major concerns for residents who are demanding a proper regulatory mechanism.
In some cases, rents have risen 100 per cent, forcing many people to look for shared accommodation.
"The biggest issue in the city is the rent," said Anil Parbhakaran, an expatriate.
Parbhakaran said many residents had moved to Al Ain from other emirates in search of low rent in recent years. "This has created a shortage of flats and villas and seriously affected the rent structure," he added.
Hardly affordable
He was paying Dh35,000 per year for a villa until recently. "The landlord stopped the maintenance, forcing me to vacate. When I did so, he refurbished the villa and rented it out for Dh65,000," he said.
Fareed Chabara, another expatriate resident, said: "I have been living here for the last 23 years and have not seen such an increase in rents."
Chabara said he had been looking for a villa in the suburbs. "It was a mammoth task and I could not find a proper place," he said, adding that even subdivided two-bedroom accommodation is not available for less than Dh35,000.
Shahmir Khan, a resident, said: "Rents are very high in Al Ain and constitute a burden for even people with good salaries."
Families and executive bachelors, he said, are facing a tough time because of the exorbitant rents.
Khan said many people are living on a shared basis in villas and rooms. A common practice, he said, is to subdivide old villas into separate rooms and then rent them out to bachelors and low-income expatriate families.
He said many of his colleagues and friends had been sending their families home as they could not afford the rents. He suggested that the city needs low-cost housing units of one and two bedrooms and studio flats at reasonable rents.
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