UAE Property: ‘Am I entitled to compensation if my landlord conducts major repairs during my tenancy?’

If repair work affects a tenant's living conditions, they could be entitled to some form of compensation. Getty Images

Question: I rented an apartment around two months ago. The maintenance company approached us last week saying it had to completely redo the plumbing of the bathroom, which would take about 15 days.

But the work has practically demolished the bathroom and the company is calling it necessary maintenance. We have maintenance people moving in and out of the flat constantly with heavy tools and it is practically impossible to be at home with all the noise and dust.

I reached out to the real estate company, which said this is part of the rental contract and there is nothing that can be done. Do I have any recourse here? PT, Dubai

Answer: If you are in direct contact with the landlord, I suggest you have a face-to-face meeting to ascertain exactly why this maintenance is regarded as necessary. I presume, when you viewed the property initially, everything was working fine, so this point needs to be addressed.

It is the landlord’s responsibility to maintain a property and, of course, the responsible landlord should attend to these emergencies in a timely manner. But if this work now affects your living conditions, you should be entitled to some sort of compensation because any necessary maintenance should obviously be done in between tenancies and not during, unless they are emergencies.

You have a right to what’s known as quiet enjoyment of the property when renting, so this needs to be addressed. I suggest you get confirmation from the landlord to recompense you with 15 days extra at no charge, or equivalent monetary value. I hope this has helped.

Q: The due date of renewal of my apartment’s rental contract was November 4 last year. The agency that used to manage the property has left and a new one is now in place. The old agency has shared a renewal contract with a higher rent 90 days ahead of the contract expiry, which I declined because, as per Rera index, it is not allowed to increase the rent.

I therefore asked the agency to reconsider, but it told me to wait for the new agency to take care of it. The problem is I have been trying to contact the new agency for the renewal, but I only get the usual reply that says, "We are still in transition and working on it."

I tried many times to open a case and call the new agency in August and September, but I got the same reply with no renewal terms.

On the last day of November, the new agency sent me a notice to come to its office and renew the contract with the higher rent.

I responded to them by writing back with all the history and asking where it had been, how it can send an email like that out of nowhere demanding higher rent with Rera saying there is no increase, etc.

I am still in the apartment as of today and have not yet renewed the contract. Can I just pay the agency rent for three months (November, December and January) and then vacate, as it was late to send renewal terms? Can I vacate the apartment if I do not get an NOC from the agency, though it did not reply to me until November 30? MC, Dubai

A: Technically speaking, a rental contract does renew under the same terms and conditions as before, unless otherwise agreed. Given the lack of communication to you between the two agencies, you would be quite within your rights to assume that the contract has now been renewed, but in order to affect this, you can use the cheque and deposit scheme at the Dubai Land Department.

You can lodge the cheques and the rental renewal contract with last year’s terms and conditions and the DLD will contact the owner to request that he or she collects the same. The fact the rental index also stated no rental increase just adds to your case, so I would suggest you use this service.

Alternatively, you can file a case at the rental dispute centre on the first floor of the DLD building to request a judge look at your case. No landlord is allowed to increase the rent unless the rental index states this is possible and, of course, communication of the increase has to be done within the 90-day window from the renewal date.

The opinions expressed do not constitute legal advice and are provided for information only. Please send any questions to [e-mail]