My Dubai Rent takes you inside a reader's home to have a look at what they get for their money, how much they pay in rent and asks them what they like and don't like
Flower preservation artist and former cabin crew member Racheal Nathaniel moved to Dubai last year when her husband took a job as a captain with Air Arabia, in Sharjah.
After leaving Gujarat, India, the 30-year-old was looking for somewhere with enough space to run her emerging business, Resinara, designing and creating jewellery from flowers preserved in epoxy resin.
Ms Nathaniel, her husband Dennis, 54, and their dog, Shadow, initially lived in the Mirdif area, but to moved to another part of the district at the end of this summer when a newly-built villa came up for rent.
They pay Dh130,000 annually.
Ms Nathaniel took The National on a tour.
What can you reveal about your home?
This is a three-bedroom, four-bathroom villa. One bathroom is a powder room, the other three are en suite.
There's also a laundry room attached to the kitchen and the house has an L-shaped, open-plan living room.
We have a wraparound yard with a small patio and a portable cabin in the garden that I have turned into my studio and workshop.
Our home is on a plot with two villas. We took the larger one for ourselves and there is a common wall connecting the two, with a very high boundary wall.
Where did you live before?
Still in Mirdif, less than 15 minutes away. But that was closer to a street which was too busy.
Plus, it was on the approach path for aircraft [into Dubai International Airport] so we had planes landing all the time. It was very noisy.
We were looking for a villa in the Shorooq community, but there wasn’t a single villa free.
We ended up with an old villa for Dh110,000. But the main problem with living in an old UAE villa is cockroaches. That house was really bad.
It was not connected to the main sewage line so the drain kept flooding, maybe that’s why there were a lot of roaches.
We don’t have any of those problems in this house. We are the first ones to live here and it’s amazing.
This place also receives a little bit of the plane noise, but not too much.
It is generally silent, so it was a good decision to move here.
What drew you to the property?
We were really looking for a place like this. It is a brand-new villa. The minute I saw it I said I wanted this.
The owner was happy to give it to us immediately because we had to vacate the other place.
When we moved in here, the yard was still under construction. Inside, the cabinets were still being made.
So we did not modify it but we did request what we wanted the yard to look like: the placement of the portable cabin and how to shape the lawn and keep the central space free of grass.
The owner wanted to have a pool instead of the lawn, but we said we didn’t need it. We had a pool in the previous house – we didn’t use that most of the year.
Instead, we wanted some nice greenery around the house. Because we have a dog, he can enjoy the lawn more than he would a pool.
Why choose this area?
We were looking to live in a villa right from when we came to Dubai because Shadow needs space to run around.
In India we had a huge apartment but we missed having a yard. It’s uncommon in India to rent out a villa, but coming here knew we could have that luxury and this house has huge garden space.
Dennis takes the E311, which is nearby, so it’s super easy for him to get to work. And I never hit the traffic when I head to markets such as Arte, where I have a pop-up shop.
Do you feel you get value for your rent?
Absolutely. We are paying more here, but it comes with a lot of benefits. I think it is a great deal for this house.
What facilities do you have nearby?
It is very close to Arabian Centre and to Mushrif Village. Mushrif Park is the best part about living here because there is a cycling and walking track. Every night around 10pm we take Shadow and go for our 7km walk, unhindered by traffic.
Mirdif City Centre and Uptown Food Court are pretty close. I’m not sure if there is a community swimming pool but we are not looking for that any more.
And this place is very pet-friendly. You see a lot of people out in the evening with their dogs. I like that. Plus lots of vets and pet stores around.
Is it a sociable neighbourhood?
Everybody’s doing their own thing, busy behind high walls.
The only downside about living in a stand-alone villa is that you are alone, so you barely go around socialising with people. It’s a very quiet part of Mirdif.
Have you personalised aspects of the home?
We covered an area of the garden with a gazebo-type thing to give a shaded area, just by the patio.
We designed a space in front of the patio for when we host guests and have a barbecue. On either side is a garden area.
I have just moved my Resinara workshop into the cabin, customised it a little with floral wallpaper and blinds. I usually work at night – no disturbance, no Shadow running around getting fur into my projects.
Do you plan to stay in the villa?
We still feel like the space is a little less than we need.
I still feel that we could have had one extra room which we could turn into a storeroom. Dennis has one as his gym. We had a lot of stuff and really downsized when we came from India.
Initially we wanted to buy a town house in Villanova, but had a sudden change of mind.
Fixtures
Wednesday
4.15pm: Japan v Spain (Group A)
5.30pm: UAE v Italy (Group A)
6.45pm: Russia v Mexico (Group B)
8pm: Iran v Egypt (Group B)
if you go
The flights
Fly direct to Kutaisi with Flydubai from Dh925 return, including taxes. The flight takes 3.5 hours. From there, Svaneti is a four-hour drive. The driving time from Tbilisi is eight hours.
The trip
The cost of the Svaneti trip is US$2,000 (Dh7,345) for 10 days, including food, guiding, accommodation and transfers from and to Tbilisi or Kutaisi. This summer the TCT is also offering a 5-day hike in Armenia for $1,200 (Dh4,407) per person. For further information, visit www.transcaucasiantrail.org/en/hike/
FULL%20FIGHT%20CARD
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Essentials
The flights
Whether you trek after mountain gorillas in Rwanda, Uganda or the Congo, the most convenient international airport is in Rwanda’s capital city, Kigali. There are direct flights from Dubai a couple of days a week with RwandAir. Otherwise, an indirect route is available via Nairobi with Kenya Airways. Flydubai flies to Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo, via Entebbe in Uganda. Expect to pay from US$350 (Dh1,286) return, including taxes.
The tours
Superb ape-watching tours that take in all three gorilla countries mentioned above are run by Natural World Safaris. In September, the company will be operating a unique Ugandan ape safari guided by well-known primatologist Ben Garrod.
In the Democratic Republic of Congo, local operator Kivu Travel can organise pretty much any kind of safari throughout the Virunga National Park and elsewhere in eastern Congo.
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
Company%20Profile
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Results
2pm: Maiden (TB) Dh60,000 (Dirt) 1,200m, Winner: Mouheeb, Tom Marquand (jockey), Nicholas Bachalard (trainer)
2.30pm: Handicap (TB) Dh68,000 (D) 1,200m, Winner: Honourable Justice, Royston Ffrench, Salem bin Ghadayer
3pm: Handicap (TB) Dh84,000 (D) 1,200m, Winner: Dahawi, Antonio Fresu, Musabah Al Muhairi
3.30pm: Conditions (TB) Dh100,000 (D) 1,200m, Winner: Dark Silver, Fernando Jara, Ahmad bin Harmash
4pm: Maiden (TB) Dh60,000 (D) 1,600m, Winner: Dark Of Night. Antonio Fresu, Al Muhairi.
4.30pm: Handicap (TB) Dh68,000 (D) 1,600m, Winner: Habah, Pat Dobbs, Doug Watson
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
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