United Arab Emirates » Rental Market

Tenants in Dubai apartments and houses pay charges for their utilities such as water, electricity and gas. Council tax is also being collected from tenants via utilities. Almost all rents are expressed exclusive of utility charges. Most utilities are billed once a year. Tenants pay regular utility deposits. Utility bills typically remain in the name of the landlord.

Service charges or Common charges cover the cost of maintaining the shared parts of a building between 5-10% depending on the service. Rental return in recent years is between 15-25% annually. The capital appreciation in recent years has risen between 15-25% annually.

With utility bills having increased for all, landlords of centrally air-conditioned properties who previously did not charge tenants for air conditioning have now slapped an additional couple of thousand dirham to the rents.