Angela McKillop, who runs a marketing and online sales agency with her husband, moved from Arabian Ranches a few weeks ago to the new development Tilal Al Furjan West.
They used to pay Dh360,000 ($98,000) a year for a three-bedroom house in Arabian Ranches, but now have a four-bedroom villa with a private pool for an annual Dh430,000 per year.
Ms McKillop said this was a “really good deal” because of the amount of space you get for your money.
The long-term plan is to buy their own property and renovate, as they previously owned a home improvement and construction business. For now, however, they’re just testing different communities and are in love with their new neighbourhood.
The National takes a look around.
When did you move in?
We moved in just over a month ago, We'd decided we wanted a newer home, because where we lived in the UK, the houses were always very modern.
I think when you come to Dubai, because you’re renting it’s quite difficult to get a newer model. So we looked at this area and we just fell in love with it. Everything is brand new, the space is great and we wanted to level up, which is what we’ve always done.
Tell us about the property
This house has a pool, it’s got bigger living areas. We work from home, so it’s important that we have those separate spaces. We also have a son who’s doing distance-learning right now, so it’s important to have the space and the noise cancellation.
It has four bedrooms and a maid’s room, a sort of living-dining area and then another separate living area.
I’ve never experienced this before, but it’s also got what’s called a show kitchen and then an actual kitchen, the dirty kitchen, in another room.
Why did you choose this neighbourhood?
We are definitely planning to stay in Dubai long term, and I've heard so many people who rent just stay in the one area and then they don't really know any different.
We are planning to buy at some stage, so we wanted to experience different areas so we can see what communities we like.
What do you like about this area?
This is really silly, but we love the fact that we can walk to the local coffee shop and bakery and local Geant. That's something that's really important for us. We just love to get out and walk to our favourite places.
We like the fact that everything is brand new. The trees and everything are really tiny at the moment and I just love to be part of that, to actually see the area flourish.
It’s very, very central. We absolutely love the beach and there's an area on the Palm that we love, and we're now only 16 minutes away from that, so that's ideal.
How much do you pay in rent?
We pay Dh430,000 a year. In Arabian Ranches, the house was smaller. We had a three-bedroom there and paid Dh360,000.
We actually were looking in the Ranches, but we realised in Tilal Al Furjan, because the area is up and coming, you definitely get a lot more for your money. If you wanted this size of house with a pool and a big garden in Arabian Ranches, you would definitely pay a lot more, so we feel that we've got the best of both worlds, having the new house, an area that's central and a lot more for our money.
What’s your plan in terms of buying?
We definitely love Arabian Ranches. We were so happy there, but this is very new. We do love the area and the easy access, so I think we'll just need to play it by ear.
Because we come from a home improvement and construction background, we definitely would be open to buying a property that needs renovating and getting a team of people in to upgrade it, because we like new things.
We haven't set ourselves on an area yet, but I can definitely see us doing a bit of a project rather than buying off-plan and brand new.
How have you made this place feel like home?
I am such an outdoors person. I am that person in June who says it's fine and has coffee outdoors. When we looked at this house, the agent said to us that the only problem is it's mainly in the shade for most of the day. This was a huge benefit for me. We have a very shady garden, the pool’s in the shade, so I'm thinking that's a space we're probably going to use throughout the summer, because we can chill by the pool.
I really had the outdoors in mind. We have the garden furniture with the shaded umbrellas and things like that, so the outdoor space is definitely really important for me.
We’re still at the planning stage. We're getting to see how we live in the house as a family. Where do we like to work in the house, for example? We've now decided that upstairs, there's a separate living space, but we're going to turn that into an office because it really suits our routine.
How would you describe your interior design?
I love space. I do not like clutter at all. I am a huge believer that it really does affect your mindset, so everything from my wardrobe organisation to my little office space, everything has a place.
We definitely approach the interiors with that sort of minimalistic look. And I don't like too much colour. I like neutrals.
I love lots of windows. This house has so many windows, so I love the fact that the light gets in 24/7.
Is there anything you'd change?
I think coming from a home improvements background, there's always room for improvement. The show kitchen could definitely be laid out a little bit better. But again, I think when we have our bar stools, we're probably going to use that space.
Honestly, the layout of this house and what we're using it for, there's nothing else I would really change.
What facilities do you have?
We have a Reformer Pilates gym. We have the community gym and a central souq, which is very similar to everywhere else across Dubai, so it has the coffee shops, supermarkets, the barbers, the chemists.
We have our own pool, but we also have the community pool, which we can actually see from our window. Then, just five minutes from us, we have a bigger area, which is in Tilal Al Furjan East, down the road, where we have our Spinneys and some restaurants. Everything is very, very handy in terms of the community.
How long will you stay for?
Well, we've signed up for a year, so that will take us to February 2027 and then we'll just take it from there. I'm looking forward to seeing how we enjoy this area and making the house a bit more of a home.
