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'No law against villa sharing', says Dubai Municipality
Source: BI-ME , Author: BI-ME staff
Posted: Mon February 2, 2009 12:00 am
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UAE. More than one family will be allowed to share a villa as long as the property is not overcrowded, the head of the Dubai Municipality said on Sunday. The statement, from Director General Hussain Nasser Lootah, comes as an important revision of the original terms of the ‘One Villa, One Family’ campaign.

The policy saw thousands of people having water and electricity supplies cut. The cuts were made to villas where inspectors found more than one family or small groups of singles living together.

“In some places we see 20 people living in a five- or eight-bedroom villa. These houses simply weren’t designed for so many people to live,” he  said, clarifying that the law had previously been incorrectly applied.

“It causes problems with the Internet, DEWA (Dubai Electricity and Water Authority) and sewage facilities in the area. I have been having complaints from various departments over this issue.”

However, Lootah said that more than one family could occupy a villa if it was not overcrowded.

“The main issue is overcrowding. As long as they are within the building regulations, we don’t mind for more than one family to share a villa.”

He did not elaborate on what constituted overcrowding.

Thousands of people have been made homeless and some fined up to AED 50,000 due to the ‘One Villa, One Family’ campaign and many have complained of a lack of affordable accommodation.

Lootah said families living in a villa who have their utilities disconnected because of the campaign can negotiate with the municipality if they feel they have been unfairly impacted.

He confirmed that the Municipality had supplied land to private and government developers to create low-income accommodation in the Al Quoz and Al Qusais areas of Dubai.

“Construction is almost complete and the accommodation will be for low-income workers,” he said.

Up to 4,200 villas in areas ranging from Al Rashidiya to Al Wasl were identified as early as in October 2008 as violating building regulations.

Omar Abdul Rahman, head of the Municipality’s Building Inspection Section, who is in charge of the campaign, previously said that his team was cutting utilities to as many as 200 villas a week.

On Sunday, he confirmed that there were fewer cases of utilities being turned off, but was unable to give exact figures.

One resident, who had utilities cut to her property, said on condition of anonymity that she had moved to a similarly overcrowded villa in the same area. “I am looking for a flat, but rents are very high,” she said. “I have moved now to a different villa, although we are still worried that the DEWA will be cut again.”

MIDDLE EAST BUSINESS COMMENT & ANALYSIS

date:Posted: February 9, 2010
UAE. Location and quality are driving apartment prices; while average prices decreased, select communities, including Palm Jumeirah and Downtown Burj Dubai, experienced slight increases according to Landmark Advisory's latest quarterly report.
date:Posted: February 8, 2010
INTERNATIONAL. Trying to achieve financial goals by pouring all of one's assets into emerging markets today, telecommunications tomorrow, and Japanese small-cap stocks next week is not a guarantee for achieving a sound financial plan.
date:Posted: February 8, 2010
INTERNATIONAL. The latest survey shows 46% of respondents expect their business travel to increase, marking a rise by 22 points compared with figures of the same period in 2009.
UAE. Location and quality are driving apartment prices; while average prices decreased, select communities, including Palm Jumeirah and Downtown Burj Dubai, experienced slight increases according to Landmark Advisory's latest quarterly report.