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Law on Sharjah Property Transactions Under Study

SHARJAH - A new draft law is under study in Sharjah for streamlining land and property transactions as well as brokerage activities in the emirate, according to a senior official.

Director of Property Registration Department (PRD) Hamed Al Abdooli said, as per the bill, which is being prepared by the legal department for His Highness Shaikh Sultan Bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, Member of the Supreme Council and Ruler of Sharjah, only nationals of Sharjah shall be entitled to practise brokerage activities in the emirate.

“However, they shall not be involved in any other activity,” Al Abdooli said while answering the queries of the members of the Sharjah Consultative Council on Thursday.

Elaborating, Al Abdooli said as many as 821 property brokerage licenses have been issued in Sharjah. “Half of these licenses are inactive while the other half is being run by expatriates,” he added.

Observing that freehold is still banned for expatriates in Sharjah, Al Abdooli said that certain exceptions are given to Arab residents of the emirate as per a decree from the Crown Prince of Sharjah.

Al Abdooli then disclosed that the registration process of ten residential towers have been suspended for violating freehold regulations. “Power supply has been cut from 61 apartments owned by expatriates for failing to comply with the set rules. They have been instructed to amend their situations with the bodies concerned,” he said.

In reply to a query, Al Abdooli announced that the PRD in Sharjah was not very immune from the global financial crisis. “A drop of 36 per cent has been registered in the department’s income in October 2008. The plunge has risen up to 73 per cent in past November and 88 per cent in January 2009,” he said without giving figures.

With regard to Emiratisation, Al Abdooli affirmed that the Department is following a strict localisation mechanism achieving high records.

“As many as 70 of the 75 staff employees in the Department are UAE nationals,” he revealed.

Meanwhile, Al Abdooli said that a new branch for property registration shall be opened in Kalbaa. “The number of property transactions carried is basically considered when opening a new branch as is the case with the Office recently opened in Khor Fakkan,” he said, noting that the move is aimed to ease applicants’ suffering, save time and effort, and expedite registration procedures.

Commenting on a query about property mortgage, Al Abdooli stressed that transactions on granted lands are no longer permitted.

Observing that some documents and data were registered according to old systems, Al Abdooli announced a new electronic mechanism to be soon implemented for updating the information of both properties and owners.

“The new ID cards shall be considered the main reference in this regard, and no transaction will be approved without the ID card” he said.

“The PRD, in collaboration with the Geographical Information Centre, Planning Department and Electricity and Water Authority are working on a project whereby a live display of the properties registered shall be provided upon request,” he said.

· ahmedshaaban@khaleejtimes.com