Blacklisting evaders of housing fee is an option

Dubai Municipality could blacklist evaders of housing fee although no such proposal is currently on the table, a senior official told Emirates 24|7.

"We have the right to take legal action against anyone giving false information to us. We haven't decided what legal recourse we may take... maybe blacklisting property owners would be an option," said Abdulla Hashim Abdulghafoor, Head of Housing and Marketing Fees at the Dubai Municipality.

Abdulghafoor told this website earlier that a Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa) connection was the only requirement for the municipality to charge housing fee.

Notices are being served to residents by Dewa since May and those failing to register on the municipality’s website after receiving the final (second) notice will be charged housing fee using the Rera index.

For the benefit of freehold property owners, Dubai Municipality changed the fee structure from 0.5 per cent of the property purchase price to five per cent of the rent/Rera rent index for the specific location, as the case may be.

“The change was incorporated a year back and reduces the burden on the owners. Now they are paying comparatively less than before,” Abdulghafoor said.

Leasehold occupants (tenants) will continue to pay five per cent of the annual rent as housing fee.

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