I notified my tenant in September 2021 that I wish to move into my property. The tenancy contract had an expiry date of October 2021. Although the tenant promised to vacate, they eventually did not.
We renewed the contract in November 2021 and added a clause that the tenant needs to vacate the property in October 2022.
Can my tenant cause me further trouble by refusing to vacate the property, although it is mentioned in the contract and we also served him a 12 months’ notice by renewing the contract? PG, Dubai
You say you notified your tenant last year that you wanted to move into the property yourself. But the only way to actually make a tenant move out is to send them 12 months’ notice of the same, citing the reason for eviction.
It appears to me that the only communication between you and the tenant was verbal. Unfortunately, this is not sufficient for a notice.
Even renewing the lease for one more year is not effective if you fail to send the specific eviction notice through notary public or registered mail.
You now have three choices. Either wait until the end of October this year and see if the tenant will vacate, or you can immediately send a 12 months’ notice of eviction for the reason of moving in yourself.
Lastly, you could ask the tenant to put in writing that he or she will definitely move out at the end of October, but this notice has to be notarised too. It cannot be an email.
A written note from the tenant saying they will vacate is not good enough without the notary stamp.
One of the bathrooms in my townhouse in Dubai has water damage. The developer inspected the house and removed the tiling and plastering in the bathroom. They also checked the neighbouring villa.
In a report, the developer said that the wall on my villa’s side was dry. However, they identified that the bathroom wall in the neighbouring villa was damp.
I am unable to fix my bathroom till my neighbour takes action. I have written to the owner’s representative and requested for a resolution. However, I have not received a response as yet. What are the next steps to fix the problem? SP, Dubai
Getting hold of the concerned people in these situations seems to be harder than resolving the actual issue at hand.
Continue to communicate with the owner or representative because the only way forward is for the neighbour to initiate proceedings from their side. If you cannot do anything without their intervention, then wait and or be persistent in trying to communicate.
Often, owners are absent as they may not live in Dubai, so you have to be insistent with representatives or tenants who might live there.
Presumably, the owner has insurance in such instances. While you are waiting, you could check your insurance policy to see what could be the procedure in the event of non-co-operation by the neighbour.
You could also try to find someone at Dubai Municipality to see if they have more persuasion towards leaning on your neighbour.
My tenant has a two-year tenancy contract, which is valid until July 2023. However, his UAE residency visa expired last week.
I know that he is required to obtain a new visa within 30 days or leave the country, procure a tourist visa or have some other legal title to stay in the UAE.
Am I, as the landlord, entitled to receive a copy of the tenant’s new visa and Emirates ID?
If the tenant does not provide this within 30 days from the date of expiry of his old visa, is this a ground for eviction? If yes, how do I go about it? MH, Dubai
Dubai rents Q1 2022 — in pictures
A tenant needs to have a valid visa to rent property long term (longer than six months).
If your current tenant’s visa has run out, then you are entitled to see documents of his new visa and Emirates ID.
If the tenant cannot produce any documents within the time frame mentioned above, then he must provide written evidence that the new visa is under process by a new employer or equivalent (assuming this is the road map to obtaining the new visa).
However, if he cannot obtain a new visa within a reasonable time frame, you are within your rights to offer him another 30 days to vacate the premises. This should be done via the Rental Dispute Settlement Committee in Dubai and preferably via notary public.
Mario Volpi is the sales and leasing manager at Engel & Volkers. He has worked in the property sector for more than 35 years, in London and Dubai. The opinions expressed do not constitute legal advice and are provided for information only. Please send any questions to mario.volpi@engelvoelkers.com
Director: Laxman Utekar
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FIRST TEST SCORES
England 458
South Africa 361 & 119 (36.4 overs)
England won by 211 runs and lead series 1-0
Player of the match: Moeen Ali (England)
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
