Lands Department warns against charges

(DENNIS B MALLARI)   

The Dubai Lands Department (DLP) has called on developers to commit to a law that prevents them from charging fees for property registration.

Some developers had been charging up to three per cent of the price of a property for each transaction. Article nine of the property registration law states that properties must be registered only with the DLP.

All transactions that create, transfer, change or demolish a property should be registered. And transactions will go ahead only after they have been recorded in the DLP’s property register.

“The DLP has told property developers to obey the law and not charge any fees from investors or buyers of properties or land for registration or documentation,” said Director General Sultan Batti bin Mijrin. “The only body responsible for registration is the DLP. Developers and investors should register their properties at the DLP otherwise their registration procedures are illegal.

“The large size of the real estate market and its rapid development hampered the implementation of the law a little bit. But now the situation is transparent and organised and all steps must be taken to help maintain confidence in the market.

“Any modifications to a property, whether through partitioning or merging units, must be registered. The law stipulates that the DLP shall issue title deeds related to property rights.

“We will attempt during the next phase to make people in the market aware of the legal requirements. We have contacted all developers and investors in the real estate market along with brokers and those who have registered at the Real Estate Regulatory Agency.

“We confirmed to them the legality of ownership contracts, since the DLP is a party via the process of registration and documentation.

“The real estate sector is now organised in terms of legislative and regulatory structures. It requires the DLP to be stricter when it comes to dealing with issues that affect confidence in the market,” he said.

Derar Hattab, CEO of Sokouk Real Estate, said: “The application of article nine of the law is important and regulates the real estate market. Hidden expenses applied by some developers were raising the price of properties.

“It is natural that buyers of properties register their properties with a government body and pay registration fees of one per cent to the government. It is illogical that a developer gets two per cent of the value of a property in each transaction.

“It is also important to unify the registration body to support transparency in the real estate market.”

Ahmed Al Abdullah, CEO of New Dubai Real Estate, said: “The foreign investor feels safer when he deals with one registration body. Buying and selling transactions are carried out with full transparency. This enhances confidence. Some developers were charging up to three per cent of the price of property for registration, which was completely wrong.”