Khalaf Al Habtoor, the chairman of Al Habtoor Group, urges developers not to take money from buyers. Antonie Robertson / The National
Khalaf Al Habtoor, the chairman of Al Habtoor Group, urges developers not to take money from buyers. Antonie Robertson / The National

Off-plan property sales must be stopped, says chairman of Al Habtoor



The chairman of the Al Habtoor Group has called for an end to off-plan property sales as ­Dubai housing completions reach their highest levels in almost four years.

Khalaf Al Habtoor, who runs one of the country’s biggest conglomerates, urged authorities to prevent property developers from taking money from investors before construction was well under way on new homes.

“You should not take people’s money,” he said in an exclusive interview with The National. “You should sell when the building is more than 30 or 40 per cent completed. I would recommend to stop [off-plan sales] completely.”

Rampant off-plan property development during Dubai’s boom years was blamed as one reason property prices collapsed in late 2008 and construction work on thousands of homes ground to a halt.

However, the subsequent introduction of mortgage lending caps aimed at limiting the scope for speculation and future boom and bust cycles has led to developers offering extended payment schedules – allowing for small down payments.

Some analysts see this as one explanation for the apparent paradox of booming off-plan property sales at a time of static or falling prices for completed homes.

“If I want to buy something, I want to buy something I can see, that I can touch. I don’t want to see something on a plan,” said Mr Al Habtoor.

“Imagine you are paying money now and receiving it in 10 years. This is not right.”

The scale of current development is reflected in data released by the property broker JLL yesterday.

It shows more homes were completed in Dubai in the past three months than in any quarter in almost four years.

The completion of 5,400 residential units during the third quarter of this year was the highest since the fourth quarter of 2012, when about 6,200 units came to the market, it said.

As many as 11,000 units are due to enter the market in the final three months of the year with some 2,500 of them located in the Akoya project by Damac. Not all are likely to be delivered as scheduled, according to JLL.

Mr Habtoor, whose business interests include a global hotel empire, car dealerships and real estate, is developing the vast Habtoor City project in Dubai.

But not all analysts see the off- plan model as a negative.

“The most conservative payment plan observed to date included a 75 per cent payment at handover,” said Jesse Downs, the managing director of Phidar Advisory.

“This is more in line with off-plan sales strategies and policies in developed markets. It shifts some of the risk away from the investor and toward the developer and their debt and equity sources.”

scronin@thenational.ae

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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
Founder: Areej Selmi
Based: Gaza
Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: ARDH Collective
Based: Dubai
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Sector: Sustainability
Total funding: Self funded
Number of employees: 4
Jigra
Director: Vasan Bala
Starring: Alia Bhatt, Vedang Raina, Manoj Pahwa, Harsh Singh
Rated: 3.5/5
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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COMPANY PROFILE

Company: Bidzi

● Started: 2024

● Founders: Akshay Dosaj and Asif Rashid

● Based: Dubai, UAE

● Industry: M&A

● Funding size: Bootstrapped

● No of employees: Nine

The specs
Engine: 77.4kW all-wheel-drive dual motor
Power: 320bhp
Torque: 605Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh219,000
On sale: Now
The specs
Engine: Long-range single or dual motor with 200kW or 400kW battery
Power: 268bhp / 536bhp
Torque: 343Nm / 686Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Max touring range: 620km / 590km
Price: From Dh250,000 (estimated)
On sale: Later this year
Cricket World Cup League 2

UAE squad

Rahul Chopra (captain), Aayan Afzal Khan, Ali Naseer, Aryansh Sharma, Basil Hameed, Dhruv Parashar, Junaid Siddique, Muhammad Farooq, Muhammad Jawadullah, Muhammad Waseem, Omid Rahman, Rahul Bhatia, Tanish Suri, Vishnu Sukumaran, Vriitya Aravind

Fixtures

Friday, November 1 – Oman v UAE
Sunday, November 3 – UAE v Netherlands
Thursday, November 7 – UAE v Oman
Saturday, November 9 – Netherlands v UAE

A%20QUIET%20PLACE
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The%20specs
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Getting%20there%20and%20where%20to%20stay
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
 
Started: 2020
 
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
 
Based: Dubai, UAE
 
Sector: Entertainment 
 
Number of staff: 210 
 
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
Company%20Profile
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Scores

Bournemouth 0-4 Liverpool
Arsenal 1-0 Huddersfield Town
Burnley 1-0 Brighton
Manchester United 4-1 Fulham
West Ham 3-2 Crystal Palace

Saturday fixtures:
Chelsea v Manchester City, 9.30pm (UAE)
Leicester City v Tottenham Hotspur, 11.45pm (UAE)

The five pillars of Islam

1. Fasting 

2. Prayer 

3. Hajj 

4. Shahada 

5. Zakat 

Company%20Profile
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Thank You for Banking with Us

Director: Laila Abbas

Starring: Yasmine Al Massri, Clara Khoury, Kamel El Basha, Ashraf Barhoum

Rating: 4/5

RACE CARD

5pm: Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 1,400m
5.30pm: Handicap (TB) Dh70,000 1,000m
6pm: Maiden (PA) Dh70,000 2,000m
6.30pm: Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 2,000m
7pm: Maiden (PA) Dh70,000 1,600m
7.30pm: Al Ain Mile Group 3 (PA) Dh350,000 1,600m
8pm: Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 1,600m
 
Amith's selections:
5pm: AF Sail
5.30pm: Dahawi
6pm: Taajer
6.30pm: Pharitz Oubai
7pm: Winked
7.30pm: Shahm
8pm: Raniah

THE SPECS

Engine: 3.5-litre supercharged V6

Power: 416hp at 7,000rpm

Torque: 410Nm at 3,500rpm

Transmission: 6-speed manual

Fuel consumption: 10.2 l/100km

Price: Dh375,000 

On sale: now 

Company%20profile
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Artist: Coldplay

Label: Parlophone/Atlantic

Number of tracks: 10

Rating: 3/5

APPLE IPAD MINI (A17 PRO)

Display: 21cm Liquid Retina Display, 2266 x 1488, 326ppi, 500 nits

Chip: Apple A17 Pro, 6-core CPU, 5-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine

Storage: 128/256/512GB

Main camera: 12MP wide, f/1.8, digital zoom up to 5x, Smart HDR 4

Front camera: 12MP ultra-wide, f/2.4, Smart HDR 4, full-HD @ 25/30/60fps

Biometrics: Touch ID, Face ID

Colours: Blue, purple, space grey, starlight

In the box: iPad mini, USB-C cable, 20W USB-C power adapter

Price: From Dh2,099

If you go

Flights

Emirates flies from Dubai to Phnom Penh with a stop in Yangon from Dh3,075, and Etihad flies from Abu Dhabi to Phnom Penh with its partner Bangkok Airlines from Dh2,763. These trips take about nine hours each and both include taxes. From there, a road transfer takes at least four hours; airlines including KC Airlines (www.kcairlines.com) offer quick connecting flights from Phnom Penh to Sihanoukville from about $100 (Dh367) return including taxes. Air Asia, Malindo Air and Malaysian Airlines fly direct from Kuala Lumpur to Sihanoukville from $54 each way. Next year, direct flights are due to launch between Bangkok and Sihanoukville, which will cut the journey time by a third.

The stay

Rooms at Alila Villas Koh Russey (www.alilahotels.com/ kohrussey) cost from $385 per night including taxes.


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