After complaints, the landlord and community management put out rat poison but the tenant fears this will not 'stem the tide'. AFP
After complaints, the landlord and community management put out rat poison but the tenant fears this will not 'stem the tide'. AFP
After complaints, the landlord and community management put out rat poison but the tenant fears this will not 'stem the tide'. AFP
After complaints, the landlord and community management put out rat poison but the tenant fears this will not 'stem the tide'. AFP

Homefront: 'Can I break the lease on my town house if it is infested with rats?'


  • English
  • Arabic

I rent a town house in Abu Dhabi and we recently re-signed our lease for another year. However, since re-signing, our back garden has become infested with rats from the construction site we border. It's a major health hazard with dozens, if not more, of the creatures invading our garden looking for places to nest. There are rat droppings everywhere.

We have approached the landlord, the community management and the owning company, and the most that has happened is that they've put out some poison. However, I believe it's too little, too late to stem the tide.

I have young children and I don't want them playing in rat droppings, but we have nine months left on our lease and we paid six months upfront. How can we break our lease and get our money back before my family gets sick? EB, Abu Dhabi 

Firstly, let me tackle your point of breaking the lease, you can only do so easily if there is a break clause in the tenancy agreement, otherwise you are at the discretion of the landlord.

Clearly you have a serious problem and one I hope your landlord takes seriously. When renting a property, a tenant has the right to quiet enjoyment of their unit in return for paying the rental money. It is clear in your situation, that you are not presently experiencing quiet enjoyment.

If you are not satisfied with the remedial efforts taken by the landlord or the representatives, you can use this as part of your negotiations to try to break the contract. If there is no break clause mentioned, remember that under the present laws, a landlord does not have to agree to the contract being broken but I would expect yours to be reasonable given the situation.

Despite the problem, there will most likely still be a penalty for leaving mid-contract and this is normally a couple of months' rent as compensation to the landlord. Assuming you really do believe that the problem cannot be eradicated, breaking the contract appears to be your only option, but in doing so it seems unfair to have to pay to leave.

I know you have involved the parties to help remove the vermin but have you also spoken to the Abu Dhabi Municipality? I’m sure they would act swiftly to eradicate the problem especially knowing your children could be affected.

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

ICC Women's T20 World Cup Asia Qualifier 2025, Thailand

UAE fixtures
May 9, v Malaysia
May 10, v Qatar
May 13, v Malaysia
May 15, v Qatar
May 18 and 19, semi-finals
May 20, final

Full list of Emmy 2020 nominations

LEAD ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES

Anthony Anderson, Black-ish
Don Cheadle, Black Monday
Ted Danson, The Good Place
Michael Douglas, The Kominsky Method
Eugene Levy, Schitt’s Creek
Ramy Youssef, Ramy

LEAD ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES

Christina Applegate, Dead to Me
Rachel Brosnahan, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
Linda Cardellini, Dead to Me
Catherine O’Hara, Schitt’s Creek
Issa Rae, Insecure
Tracee Ellis Ross, Black-ish

OUTSTANDING VARIETY/TALK SERIES

The Daily Show with Trevor Noah
Full Frontal with Samantha Bee
Jimmy Kimmel Live
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert

LEAD ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES

Jason Bateman, Ozark
Sterling K. Brown, This Is Us
Steve Carell, The Morning Show
Brian Cox, Succession
Billy Porter, Pose
Jeremy Strong, Succession

LEAD ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES

Jennifer Aniston, The Morning Show
Olivia Colman, The Crown
Jodie Comer, Killing Eve
Laura Linney, Ozark
Sandra Oh, Killing Eve
Zendaya, Euphoria

OUTSTANDING REALITY/COMPETITION PROGRAM

The Masked Singer
Nailed It!
RuPaul’s Drag Race
Top Chef
The Voice

LEAD ACTOR IN A LIMITED SERIES/TV MOVIE

Jeremy Irons, Watchmen
Hugh Jackman, Bad Education
Paul Mescal, Normal People
Jeremy Pope, Hollywood
Mark Ruffalo, I Know This Much Is True

LEAD ACTRESS IN A LIMITED SERIES/TV MOVIE

Cate Blanchett, Mrs. America
Shira Haas, Unorthodox
Regina King, Watchmen
Octavia Spencer, Self Made
Kerry Washington, Little Fires Everywhere

OUTSTANDING LIMITED SERIES

Little Fires Everywhere
Mrs. America
Unbelievable
Unorthodox
Watchmen

OUTSTANDING COMEDY SERIES

Curb Your Enthusiasm
Dead to Me
The Good Place
Insecure
The Kominsky Method
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
Schitt’s Creek
What We Do In The Shadows

OUTSTANDING DRAMA SERIES

Better Call Saul
The Crown
The Handmaid’s Tale
Killing Eve
The Mandalorian
Ozark
Stranger Things
Succession

 

The specs

Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder MHEV

Power: 360bhp

Torque: 500Nm

Transmission: eight-speed automatic

Price: from Dh282,870

On sale: now

Also on December 7 to 9, the third edition of the Gulf Car Festival (www.gulfcarfestival.com) will take over Dubai Festival City Mall, a new venue for the event. Last year's festival brought together about 900 cars worth more than Dh300 million from across the Emirates and wider Gulf region – and that first figure is set to swell by several hundred this time around, with between 1,000 and 1,200 cars expected. The first day is themed around American muscle; the second centres on supercars, exotics, European cars and classics; and the final day will major in JDM (Japanese domestic market) cars, tuned vehicles and trucks. Individuals and car clubs can register their vehicles, although the festival isn’t all static displays, with stunt drifting, a rev battle, car pulls and a burnout competition.

Two-step truce

The UN-brokered ceasefire deal for Hodeidah will be implemented in two stages, with the first to be completed before the New Year begins, according to the Arab Coalition supporting the Yemeni government.

By midnight on December 31, the Houthi rebels will have to withdraw from the ports of Hodeidah, Ras Issa and Al Saqef, coalition officials told The National. 

The second stage will be the complete withdrawal of all pro-government forces and rebels from Hodeidah city, to be completed by midnight on January 7.

The process is to be overseen by a Redeployment Co-ordination Committee (RCC) comprising UN monitors and representatives of the government and the rebels.

The agreement also calls the deployment of UN-supervised neutral forces in the city and the establishment of humanitarian corridors to ensure distribution of aid across the country.

How to avoid crypto fraud
  • Use unique usernames and passwords while enabling multi-factor authentication.
  • Use an offline private key, a physical device that requires manual activation, whenever you access your wallet.
  • Avoid suspicious social media ads promoting fraudulent schemes.
  • Only invest in crypto projects that you fully understand.
  • Critically assess whether a project’s promises or returns seem too good to be true.
  • Only use reputable platforms that have a track record of strong regulatory compliance.
  • Store funds in hardware wallets as opposed to online exchanges.
The Settlers

Director: Louis Theroux

Starring: Daniella Weiss, Ari Abramowitz

Rating: 5/5

PREMIER LEAGUE RESULTS

Bournemouth 1 Manchester City 2
Watford 0 Brighton and Hove Albion 0
Newcastle United 3 West Ham United 0
Huddersfield Town 0 Southampton 0
Crystal Palace 0 Swansea City 2
Manchester United 2 Leicester City 0
West Bromwich Albion 1 Stoke City 1
Chelsea 2 Everton 0
Tottenham Hotspur 1 Burnley 1
Liverpool 4 Arsenal 0