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I am currently renting a 1 bed apartment in Dubai Marina. My tenancy started on Oct 2006 and I re-newed in Oct 2007. When I re-newed, my landlord stated that he wanted to increase the rent. I told him that there was a rent cap in place and he could not increase anyway as the municipality stated that you cannot increase in the next year due to large increases the year before. We called the municipality and they confirmed this - so no rent increase for Oct 2007 to Oct 2008.

My landlord was back in town this weekend and we met for a quick coffee. We discussed the renewal for Oct 2008 and he is happy to renew but he wants to increase the rent. I advised him of the 5% rent cap currently in place and told him I would be happy to increase it in line with this.

He then told me that his maintenance fee (which he pays for as stated in the contract) will increase and treble in price for the remaining years he owns the property. He has now stated that if we renew he wants me to pay all of this on top of the 5% increase.

I'm not happy with this and this will mean a change in the contract as it states he pays it.

* Can anyone tell me what my rights are here?
* Can he change this from our agreed contract when renewing?
* Surely this is just a blatant increase and against the rules?
* What can I do? I have tried to contact the rent committee and cannot get through?
* Should I just sack him off and find another apartment? The price that he wants to increase to including the maintenance fee is too high for the apartment as there is a noisy building site opposite and I could get a marina or sea view for the same money in another building?

Thing is I don't want to just leave and let him get away with it?
Can anyone advise or what I should and can do?

Rent Committee in Dubai is pro-tenant as per my understanding.You will not have a problem. In fact you can get away with the 5% rent increase if you're renewing the lease for the second year though this is case to case basis. For renewal, do not accept other terms & conditions other than the conditions stated in your first lease. If your Landlord is insisting for more rent, you can deposit the rent cheques (inclusive of the 5% increase) in the rent committee. Let the Landlord collect the cheques from them.

In some emirates like Ajman, No rent increase from 1st - 3 years.

The head of the rent comittee has urged on the radio that people show up in person because they get way too many phone calls to be able to handle it. So just go there and ask them for advice.

Your landlord is out of line by asking to charge you the service charges, those should be paid by him. 5% on the previous years contract is the only thing allowed. Don't give in to the landlord's BS and in many cases just telling him you are intending on filing a case with the committee will have him back up as he knows for sure he will lose.

good luck !

Thanks for the replies. The annoying thing is he knows nothing about the laws here as he lives in Iran. He thought the rent cap was still 7% here and hasn't bothered to look into the laws at all and just thinks he can dictate to me.

If I will file a case against him he will probably turn around and say that he does not want to renew the contract with me. The contract states that the renewal is at the discretion of the landlord but I think this is pretty standard.

If he does do this then am I right in saying that he cannot do this and rent it out to someone else?

If he is an absentee landlord, I doubt he would want the hassle of the rent commitee. These guys need to get clued in. If he did not read the fine print and the developer is sticking him with maintenance increases, that is tough shit for him. Not your problem.

To get you out if you file a case would take a great deal of his time and he would probably lose anyway. You cannot boot someone out to increase the rent. Rents are being negotiated DOWN, not up. The 5% is fair enough, he is just being a greedy jerkoff.

Fight the power. (unless you want that Marina view?!)

XPClone wrote: If I will file a case against him he will probably turn around and say that he does not want to renew the contract with me.

If your landlord insists and giving you a hard time, please proceed to the rent committe. Tell him, you will meet him in the rent committee. Bring copy of the lease, your passport copy with signature specimen and cheques (be it PDCs or current depending on your rent due).

Do not be intimated by this clause in the contract. True, landlord has the discretion not to renew the contract, but it should be with reasons not contradicting Dubai Municipality Laws.

XPClone wrote: The contract states that the renewal is at the discretion of the landlord but I think this is pretty standard.

XPClone wrote: If he does do this then am I right in saying that he cannot do this and rent it out to someone else?

So long you're a good tenant, meaning you didn't violate any covenant and obligations as a tenant to the Landlord, then you are fine. It is in fact difficult to vacate tenants even with succeeding bounced cheques. But I am not suggesting anyone to default their rents.