Out of the box
Local Area Real Estate Laws
Ismail Al Hammadi
09 May 2023
62% growth rate of real estate sales, 12% growth rate of the number of new investors entering the Dubai real estate market, and 25% growth rate of non-resident real estate investors. Dubai's real estate sector recorded different growth rates during the first quarter of this year compared to the same period last year, according to an official market report.
The largest share of these figures came in favor of new investment areas or freehold areas in the absence of the old areas or local areas in the emirate (outside the freehold areas), which are located within the scope of Deira and Bur Dubai. These areas, which are the main asset and pillar of the real estate sector and the investment environment in general, due to their unique value and advantages thanks to their location on the emirate's map.
The absence of these areas from quarterly real estate sales reports and from the real estate investment transaction arena is not because they are not attractive for investment, but as a result of the law applicable to them.
About a year ago, I touched on the subject of old local areas, and the silent laws that prevent real estate owners from freely disposing of them, as is the case with freehold real estate areas, and the situation is still the same until now, and I still insist today on my point of view towards them, and towards the law that discourages real estate owners from benefiting from the momentum that the real estate sector is currently witnessing.
A law that has not changed and has not been amended to this day, and this is what has been lost and continues to waste real investment opportunities and rewarding gains for owners in local areas and the real estate sector in general, considering that these areas represent a real value for the sector, even if the law allowed them the freedom to dispose and sell real estate in them, the balance of real estate sales in Dubai would have doubled, due to the size of its weight on the real estate map of the emirate.
Gains in the millions, even billions, that local real estate will add to the sector's overall real estate transactions, and a special appeal that these properties will add to the investment environment in Dubai, if the law allows it.
The most expensive and valuable lands in the Emirate of Dubai are located in the old areas, and if the law currently imposed on them is updated, these areas will become the other side of investment in the real estate sector in Dubai, and one of the best investment destinations in other areas in it.
Precious opportunities are buried by the laws applicable to local real estate, and it is time to dust them off and revive them again by reviewing and amending these laws.
"A special attraction that local real estate will add to Dubai's investment environment if the law allows it."
@ismailalhammadi
Ismail.alhammadi@alruwad.ae
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