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Al Ain: Surging rents and alleged violations of the rent cap has besieged private sector employees here, who have asked authorities to intervene and put an end to what they see as exploitation.
High rents have put decent accommodation out of the reach of many people.
Rents have doubled and people refusing or unable to pay have been asked to vacate their flats or villas. Violation of the rent cap is, reportedly, rampant and tenants are feeling helpless.
Residents yesterday told Gulf News rents have recently been hiked by 40 to 60 per cent. In some case rents have more than doubled.
Rents in buildings belonging to the Department of Social Affairs and Commercial Buildings (Khalifa Committee) are still in the previous, normal range, but the department's properties are fully rented out.
"Finding affordable accommodation is very difficult," said Munawar Ahmad, an expatriate who has been looking for a flat for the past month. He feels the problem has been caused by people who came from Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Buraimi, a neighbouring Omani town.
The northern part of the city is mainly occupied by people working in Dubai and the western area by people from Abu Dhabi because here they pay comparatively lower rents.
Ahmad said real estate agents and landlords are also responsible for hiking rents. Ahmad said his landlord had asked him to pay rent of Dh65,000 for a villa in which he had been living for the last three years, compared to the Dh40,000 he used to pay.
"When I protested and asked about the rent cap, the landlord told me to lodge a complaint," he said. The very next day the landlord asked me to vacate the villa saying he wanted to do maintenance work.
Three categories
J.M. Anthony, an Indian expatriate, said the rent cap of five or seven per cent is useless until the government fixes rents for flats and villas. "Landlords or real estate agents are not respecting the cap," he said.
Anthony said buildings should be divided into three main categories, such as new, medium, and old buildings and rents should be fixed accordingly. Mohammad Qasim, another Al Ain resident, said the city administration must impose a ban on people coming from other cities.
Authorities must also create two separate categories of rental properties, such as residential and office buildings, said Qasim. Most of the buildings at prime locations have been occupied by beauty salons, contracting companies, consultancy firms, and other commercial outlets. "I have seen offices and residences on the same floor of buildings. It is shameful, there must be some ethics," he said.
Khalid Assadi, an Arab expatriate, said the city has a large number of government employees who get high accommodation allowances. "Private companies have been paying peanuts as accommodation allowances, forcing their employees to live a substandard life."
"I was paying Dh35,000 for a three-bedroom villa. The landlord evicted me and then the same villa was taken by a government employee for Dh70,000. Private sector employees cannot pay that kind of rent."
He said many Dubai residents have moved to Al Ain in search of lower rents. "This has created a shortage of flats and villas and seriously affected the rent structure in the city," he added.
Murli Parakash, another Al Ain resident, said he had been looking for a villa in the suburban localities of the cities. "It was a mammoth task and I could not find a proper place," he said, adding that even subdivided two bedrooms accommodation in a deserted place is not available for less than Dh35,000.
"Rents are very high in Al Ain and constitute a burden even for people with good salaries."
He said many of his colleagues and friends have been sending their families back to their home countries as they cannot afford the rent.
According to a market survey, rents for privately managed residential flats and villas in Al Ain (medium age) are: One-bedroom flat Dh30,000 to Dh45,000; a two-bedroom flat Dh45,000 to Dh55,000 and villas or flats with three bedrooms from Dh65,000 to Dh120,000 (older villas and flats).
Only a few months ago a one-bedroom flat cost Dh18,000 to Dh25,000, two bedrooms Dh28,000 to Dh 33,000, and three bedrooms up to Dh50,000.
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