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Erring Tenants will be Fined

DUBAI - Both the tenant and the landlord who refuse to comply with regulations covering ‘shared’ villas could be fined up to Dh50,000, the Dubai Municipality said on Sunday.

Omar Mohammed Abdul Rahman, the head of the Building Inspection Section at the municipality, said: “The notice was directed towards landlords who were required to ensure that their villas were not shared by more than one family and the accommodation did not have illegal partitions.

“The violators are liable for penalties of up to Dh50,000. However, the fines will not be restricted to villa owners. The tenants who refuse to comply with our regulations will also face fines.”

The official said the authorities will now begin disconnecting the water and electricity supply to villas housing more than one family without more notices.

“After conducting inspections, we had given notices to the families staying in villas telling them about the one-villa-one-family rule.

“As per the notices, the Dubai Electricity and Water Authority will now be cutting water and electricity connections as the notice period has come to an end. The one month deadline was the final notice to all,” he said.

“Our inspectors have already conducted inspections in different areas and found that there are violations. Now inspections are all over and it is time for action. “All partitions made without Municipality permission should be removed. No extra rooms or bathrooms or structures constructed without permission, will be allowed. All of them need be demolished now,” the official added.

The municipality also clarified the issue of relatives sharing a single villa.

“Cousins, uncles, etc don’t come under the definition of family. A family means father, mother and children,” he said.

“If anybody complains about big number of families staying in a small area in a single flat creating social problems to the neighbours, the municipality will conduct an inspection and take necessary action. So far, we have not started any campaign against flats being shared by families. But then partitions are not allowed in flats as well,” he said.

The civic authorities also started a campaign against bachelors staying in family residential areas in 2005.

“As part of that campaign, families sharing villas were also issued with warnings for illegal partitions giving rise to a serious health issue and accident risks,” the official pointed out.

“Service amenities like water, electricity and sewage are provided according to the plan of the buildings. When the residential unit is used by more families against the plan, it becomes difficult to manage resulting in the accumulation of waste, affecting public safety and environment.”

“The Municipality had notified the building owners and real estate companies not to rent out these premises to bachelors and to allow only one family to stay in a single residential unit. We had also informed them that all services would be disconnected and the future transactions with them would be stopped,” Rahman said.

joy@khaleejtimes.com