I’ve been looking for somewhere to live for a while, now but have been having lots of problems. I can’t afford to put down the six months’ deposit that so many landlords insist on in one-bedroom apartments, so I started looking at partitioned rooms in villas instead. I’ve been offered one for a cheap rate, and am tempted to move in, but I heard this might not be legal. Have you got any advice on whether or not I should chance it?
In all honesty, it’s not worth the risk. Abu Dhabi Municipality is really cracking down on illegal tenements across the capital at the moment. Basically, if the room you’ve been offered is inside an unauthorised construction, there’s every chance that it will be inspected sooner or later and you’ll be turfed out – in which case, you’ll have to find somewhere new to live anyway. If that happens, the usual procedure is that inspectors will give you a month’s notice before the power is cut. After that, the building could be taken down, and the homeowner has to pay for the demolition costs. For example, at the end of last year, five villas in the Al Bateen neighbourhood were partially demolished, and officials said it was likely more would be destroyed this year.
So, first of all, how can you tell if the place is legal or not? You’ll have to use common sense. If the room you’ve been offered has been subdivided with partitions, or built on to the back of an existing villa, it’s very likely that it is not legal. If it looks hastily erected or done on the cheap, again it probably hasn’t been built with planning permission. You can always ask the landlord for documentation to show that it’s been approved if you’re unsure. Also, some suburban areas of the city are allocated for families, and if you are a bachelor it’s illegal for you to live there, so make sure you check this out before moving.
The reason the municipality is cracking down on these residences is threefold. Firstly, the risk of fire caused by the landlord having to rewire electric mains and divert gas pipes to all the extra rooms in the house – there have been a number of serious fires caused by shoddy workmanship in partitioned villas. Secondly, all the extra energy needed to cool and light additional rooms, and the extra water used by each tenant is putting a strain on the city’s resources. As these rooms are not registered, the municipality cannot monitor how much energy is actually needed for the city. Thirdly, the building of extra rooms is having a detrimental impact on the appearance of neighbourhoods, making neat suburban areas look messy.
Although the crackdown hasn’t been as strict as in nearby Dubai, where thousands of tenants have been evicted from shared villas over the past two years, the government is beginning to clamp down on it in Abu Dhabi. So, although you may pay a bit more for your own apartment, you’re not going to be suddenly kicked out of your home, and surely you can’t put a price on peace of mind?
