My Own Home: Family of five love life in Dh980,000 two-bedroom Reem Island apartment

My Own Home takes you inside a reader-owned property to ask how much they paid, why they decided to buy and what they have done with it since moving in

Hotel sales manager Soniya Sharma Rajwani and her husband Imran Rajwani, a strategy and planning manager, bought their Abu Dhabi dream home after one year of renting in the emirate.

They moved to the UAE two years ago, having lived in Muscat for 11 years, and now live in the 34th-floor apartment, which they bought for Dh980,000 in the City of Lights on Reem Island.

They live there with Imran’s parents and their four-year-old son, Vivaan. It has two bedrooms, as well as a living room and separate dining area, open-plan kitchen, laundry room and three bathrooms.

It might get a little crowded at times, but they wouldn’t change a thing – and plan to live there for years to come.

The National takes a tour.

Please tell us about your home

Soniya Sharma Rajwani: It's very nice. It has a very small, cute balcony, which has a little plant garden.

Imran Rajwani: It's a corner flat, it has a curve, so a lot of natural light comes in. And we are on 34th floor, so the view is quite good.

How is it with five people living together?

Soniya: It gets crowded, but it is nice. We get to spend more time together as a family. Our dinners are always together, and during our weekend all our meals are together.

Why did you decide to buy a property?

Imran: We bought the house last year, in November. We were renting a house when I moved to Abu Dhabi and we were staying on Reem Island, but after one year we realised that rent is increasing. Our landlord was asking us to move out because he was getting a better deal.

At first we thought we’d move somewhere else, but then we did our calculations. We looked at a lot of flats and then we found this one, it’s the perfect one. It was in our budget, we could arrange a down payment and were able to quickly get the loan from FAB Bank.

Because we have a kid and my parents are staying with us, it’s the right decision. It’s very difficult to move from one place to another place every year, taking all your stuff.

My wife also loves to decorate and I always stop her, because we were always going to move, but now we can really invest in the house.

Soniya Sharma Rajwani and her husband Imran Rajwani love their home on Reem Island. Victor Besa / The National.

What renovations have you done?

Imran: We invested a little on decorating, improving the laundry room, storage area, kitchen and the dining room. We haven’t done any full renovation.

Soniya: We might do more later on when our son grows a little. We are planning to convert the living room into a bedroom and maybe upgrade the kitchen area, to close it off, if required.

We’re an Indian household, so we do a lot of cooking.

Why did you choose this neighbourhood?

Soniya: Reem Island is beautiful. It’s quiet, it’s away from the city’s everyday hustle and bustle.

There’s a bridge that connects you directly to Reem Island and you don’t have to go through a lot of signals.

In the City of Lights there is a nice, decent crowd, it’s surrounded by the creek, there is a lot of beach area where we can go easily for morning and evening walks. There are a lot of gardens around and kids’ play areas.

It was also a very, very fair deal, compared to what else you can find in the UAE, even in Reem Island. Somehow we got just so blessed to get this apartment at that rate.

Imran: One thing we were looking for was a house with a balcony. We also wanted both bedrooms to have en suite bathrooms.

There is also a lot of mangrove plantation around.

What facilities do you have access to?

Imran: You have a very huge swimming pool, there is a huge gym available, there is a kids’ play area and Reem Central Park is quite nearby.

Sky and Sun Tower Garden area is also quite nearby. We have two malls, Reem Mall and some boutiques.

A place should feel like you want to come back to it after office hours, so this is the perfect place for me.

How long do you plan on staying?

Soniya: I was thinking that I'll get retired the moment I go into my forties. But the day we bought our house, I realised that now, even if I take retirement, this is still our home.

The best part is our parents love the house. When we were in Oman, it was a little slow-paced, they wanted to go back home because they miss the people, but from the time we moved to Abu Dhabi, they are loving it.

They say, “If you want to go, go, but we are not going anywhere.”

Ten tax points to be aware of in 2026

1. Domestic VAT refund amendments: request your refund within five years

If a business does not apply for the refund on time, they lose their credit.

2. E-invoicing in the UAE

Businesses should continue preparing for the implementation of e-invoicing in the UAE, with 2026 a preparation and transition period ahead of phased mandatory adoption.

3. More tax audits

Tax authorities are increasingly using data already available across multiple filings to identify audit risks.

4. More beneficial VAT and excise tax penalty regime

Tax disputes are expected to become more frequent and more structured, with clearer administrative objection and appeal processes. The UAE has adopted a new penalty regime for VAT and excise disputes, which now mirrors the penalty regime for corporate tax.

5. Greater emphasis on statutory audit

There is a greater need for the accuracy of financial statements. The International Financial Reporting Standards standards need to be strictly adhered to and, as a result, the quality of the audits will need to increase.

6. Further transfer pricing enforcement

Transfer pricing enforcement, which refers to the practice of establishing prices for internal transactions between related entities, is expected to broaden in scope. The UAE will shortly open the possibility to negotiate advance pricing agreements, or essentially rulings for transfer pricing purposes.

7. Limited time periods for audits

Recent amendments also introduce a default five-year limitation period for tax audits and assessments, subject to specific statutory exceptions. While the standard audit and assessment period is five years, this may be extended to up to 15 years in cases involving fraud or tax evasion.

8. Pillar 2 implementation

Many multinational groups will begin to feel the practical effect of the Domestic Minimum Top-Up Tax (DMTT), the UAE's implementation of the OECD’s global minimum tax under Pillar 2. While the rules apply for financial years starting on or after January 1, 2025, it is 2026 that marks the transition to an operational phase.

9. Reduced compliance obligations for imported goods and services

Businesses that apply the reverse-charge mechanism for VAT purposes in the UAE may benefit from reduced compliance obligations.

10. Substance and CbC reporting focus

Tax authorities are expected to continue strengthening the enforcement of economic substance and Country-by-Country (CbC) reporting frameworks. In the UAE, these regimes are increasingly being used as risk-assessment tools, providing tax authorities with a comprehensive view of multinational groups’ global footprints and enabling them to assess whether profits are aligned with real economic activity.

Contributed by Thomas Vanhee and Hend Rashwan, Aurifer