Dubai Forums Dubai Expat Forums Dubai Expat Help Forum

Hello,

I know its a bit cheeky to post a question on here without making friends first, but I'm hoping you can offer some advice.
I am considering a job in Dubai, which pays about the same as I get in the UK (but obviously tax free). Out of this pay (US$60k) $10k is removed at source and used to rent a 2 bed apartment at The Gardens - Jebel Ali. Is this a fair deal? Are the Gardens okay (browsing the web, it seems to descibed as 'cheaper', 'value' etc accomodation). The job is in Jebel Ali port and I have a 4 month old son, so I won't be living a 'trendy' lifestyle, but do want to experience some of what Dubai is famous for.

Any thoughts greatly appreciated.

10 k annually at the gardens jebel ali sounds about right...ok here's my prespective on the gardens...they are lovely...and much better than the greens in my personal opinion...and they are really affordable...in fact right now if you get a place in the gardens is the same as winning a lottery...next to impossible!!...at 10 k annually you would not get anything anywhere near decent in dubai now a days...i have a lot of friends living in the gardens and have been to thier place...and it is really nicely laid out and much better ambience than the ridiculously over priced greens...and the IBN battuta mall is at a stones throw to cater to all your needs..as well as jebel ali port is near by...i would personally jump at the chance...no rent increase/no greedy landlords/no hassles of looking around for accomodation...and in the long run you will end up saving heaps on accomodation....the gardens is far from being a cheaper value accomodation...it's intention at the begenning was to be an affordable housing complex...but its hardly done up that way and is in fact a lot greener than the greens...hope that helps!

ok thats about £40k pa salary less £6.5k rent leaves you with approx £33.5k pa = 18500 Dhs per month.

Thats ok and you should be able to save money. Just check out for car/travel expenses, child care costs and medical insurance.

If these are not included then your package isn't so attractive.


Cons has given you a very accurate summary regarding the rental and area situation.

Thanks for that- sounds really good. Is it quite far from the main hub of Dubai (Jumeirah etc)?

not far at all, imho the whole area is the best place to be in DXB, many others here will also agree, in fact the majority of us live in the same FZ area.

WilliamJ wrote:Thanks for that- sounds really good. Is it quite far from the main hub of Dubai (Jumeirah etc)?

the main hub or down town or deira or bur dubai...is far off...but once you are on the sheikh zayed...takes you 20 mins if no traffic...or 1 hour if there is an accident or congestion...
but jumeriah is half ways between jebel ali and downtown...so half the time...and if you have your own car and can maintain your own time...nothing is that far...but if you are paying for cabs out of your own pocket...going 10 kms is relatively expensive...i am guessing you are going to get a car?...and already have an international licence...

Okay, I'm getting excited now. Not too sure about the other allowances yet, but hopefully the standard stuff. Unfortunately the weak dollar means $60000 = £33000 (and dropping!).

Goodluck finding a place in the gardens.... Its next to impossible with their 2 year waiting list...

liban
i think the company is providing him with the accomodation...i am guessing its a company owned flat...william...if the company is taking care of the apprtment then no worries...but if they have told you that aan appartment in the gardens is 10 k and you can rent it by yourself...then you're in trouble...make sure the company is taking care of getting the said appartment and paying for it...
cheers

Yes, that's right. The company take 10k and provide the accomodation ie they already have it, not my resposibility to try to find it. My understanding is that 2 bed apartments there normally rent for about 60,000dhs a year, which is about $16k, so $10k looks like a good deal.

Thats perfect.

i stay in the gardens, i was one of the first tennants in there. my rental increases have been marginal over the last three or four years. i think it is about 36k (aed) pa at the moment for a 2 b/r. i agree with most of the other comments its cheap and not a bad place to stay - compaired to bur dubai where i used to stay. travelling to jumeriah is against the flow of the in and out bound traffic in the morning and evening, abr the odd accident.

the only comment i have is that they slapped a 500 aed district cooling fee to my dewa bill every month, which inflates it to about 800 per month - but still cheap in the broader context of rentals in dubai.

unless you have a company organised appartment (in the gardens) already in the bag, you stand more chance of getting pregnant - last i heard the waiting list was over 7,000 people and counting.......

Thanks everyone. Pardon my ignorance, but what is a dewa bill and why has it gone up so much?

dubai electricty and water.

the gardens adminstration has added a 500 aed levy for the running of thier district water chilling plant, this is added to the dewa bill at the end of each month, basically a sly way of collecting the fee on their behalf, if you don't pay it they cut your electricty.

to run a normal central a/c in the appartment would cost about 300 aed per month, with moderate usage

I would also put my money on the company subsidising accomodation costs seeing as they are only deducting 10k. Basically the same as what my company does. The company saves on accomodation expense/allowance and you get a decent place to stay at almost half the cost. Like Liban said - perfect!

dbxsoul wrote:dubai electricty and water.

the gardens adminstration has added a 500 aed levy for the running of thier district water chilling plant, this is added to the dewa bill at the end of each month, basically a sly way of collecting the fee on their behalf, if you don't pay it they cut your electricty.

to run a normal central a/c in the appartment would cost about 300 aed per month, with moderate usage

I didn' see any mention of the fairly new Housing Fee that is added to the DEWA Bill, calculated at 5% of the annual rent spread over 12 months, at the moment only being applied to new account holders.

true... but i haven't seen any hint of it either .... i assume they'll lump it together and back-date it at some point