25 May, 2012

Short Term Leasing Illegal in Dubai

Short Term Leasing in Dubai Short term leasing in Dubai has been officially banned and made illegal. At the beginning of May the Dubai Economic Department released a statement that clarified the fact that all short term leasing is 'not allowed'. My first question was to ask what exactly they defined 'Short Term Leasing' as? Is it 1 month, a week, nightly etc. This is still unclear but my opinion is that if there is a tenant in a property who does not have a residence visa then this tenant will be deemed illegal regardless of how long he is staying. With the introduction of Ejari, where all tenants have to register their tenancy, it will be easy to ascertain if the tenant is illegal or not. You will not be able to register with no residence visa and for less than 6 months. We stopped doing Short term lettings in 2009 after a heavy fine so a part of me is pleased other companies have to follow suit. However, the pragmatic side of me knows that the market needs this type of accommodation for many reasons. I am sure the governement will eventually allow it but are doing their due diligence at the moment to ensure the rules are thorough and clear.