Out of the box

They are required to reconsider the maintenance system

Ismail Al Hammadi

05 May 2022

To complement our efforts to shed light on the gray spots that afflict the real estate sector and try to draw attention to them, whether by those responsible for setting laws and regulating the sector or by developers and various companies that are active in various real estate fields, we return today to the service and maintenance costs gap.

Recently, there were reports that some real estate owners in some neighboring areas abandoned the periodic maintenance of buildings, arguing that rent prices had decreased, and maintenance fees had risen, so that the amounts earned by the owner from the property are no longer sufficient to cover maintenance expenses.

The high maintenance costs in return for the low rates of real estate occupancy is the obstacle facing investors today in the sector, in addition to the rest of the other costs that are paid annually. For real estate, the costs will double in the future on the investor and the financial burdens will increase him.

Landlords are forced to reduce rents and make concessions to tenants to maintain the occupancy level and keep pace with changes in the market due to increased competition and high supply. However, maintenance service providers must adapt to these developments in order to ensure fair levels of costs and profits for all market participants.

The concerned bodies should also intervene and reconsider the matter and treat it in a technical way that guarantees the full rights of investors and property owners on the one hand, and limits the phenomenon of inaction or laziness in the maintenance of real estate on the other hand, so that these properties do not lose their value over time, the property owner, whether his unit is occupied or No, he is required to pay the costs of annual services and maintenance, which increases the cost of investing in him.

In Dubai, for example, after numerous claims, the competent authorities have found ways to reduce these fees, but so far they have not reached the required level at which they balance the scale of the annual rental return.

When it comes to creating an attractive and transparent investment environment in the real estate sector, we have to look from all angles contributing to this, and the angle of service and maintenance costs is an important angle in this case in terms of supporting transparency and maintaining the quality of the real estate environment.

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