Sorouh building towards houses you can afford

Sorouh Real Estate, the Abu Dhabi-based master developer, is working on a plan for middle-income housing, a senior company executive has revealed.

“Plans for middle income housing are in progress,” Gurjit Singh, Chief Operating Officer, Sorouh Real Estate, told Emirates24|7 without giving any further detail.
“We are focused on delivering its exciting pipeline of existing developments,” he added.

In November 2010, Sorouh had said it was actively investigating options to develop middle-income housing on Shams Abu Dhabi, as outlined by the Abu Dhabi Urban Planning Council (UPC), in conjunction with various third parties.

UPC said in July last year that all major residential property developments in the capital will have to set aside rental options for the middle-income group. According to the policy, the rents will be set between Dh25,200 and Dh88,200 per annum, or 35 per cent of total annual household income.

In its recent report, CB Richard Ellis said although Abu Dhabi had become more affordable for its residents as rents remain under deflationary pressure, concerns still linger about affordable housing.

“The issue of “affordable housing” is still something that has yet to be fully addressed with the current inventory of ongoing developments targeted mainly towards high end markets,” the real estate consultancy said.

Accommodation at the lower end of the price scale, are typically devoid of suitable facilities and amenities and often have no connectivity with suitable transport nodes. Any plans for delivering affordable housing must consider the availability of wider transportation options and the proximity to key services that currently act as a deterrent to living outside central areas.

In September, Craig Plumb, Head of Research Mena, Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL), told this website that only a few developers in the capital had announced affordable housing projects, despite the UPC diktat.

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