Strata law registration ready

The "Mollak" (or owners in Arabic) system for registration of owners associations in Dubai will become operational by month-end with the Strata Law regulation set to be announced soon, a top government official said.

"Developers and owners will now have to register the owners' association using this online system, which will help us keep a tab on their annual budgets, maintenance charges etc," Real Estate Regulatory Agency (Rera) Chief Executive Officer Marwan bin Ghalita told Emirates Business in an exclusive interview.

According to the Rera chief executive, regulations for implementation of Law No27 of 2007, concerning ownership of jointly-owned properties (Strata Law), were ready and will be announced "very soon."

"This is a new system in Dubai and so we want developers to get ready and have a mindset for it."

The Mollak system follows the earlier launch of the online registration system called "Oqood" through which the Dubai Land Department has registered 130,000 off-plan units. Although Ghalita said the 2009 will be a tough year for the world, in Dubai it was time for co-operation for sustainable development of the property sector.

"For the sector to succeed, the government, master developers, developers, banks and the investors have to co-operate. There is need for proper planning and we are working on a new plan."

He urged investors to register their properties with the Dubai Land Department, which will then enable them legal protection.

Besides, Rera is also reviewing the number of developers and believes the number could come down, as only "serious" players will stay back.

"We need to distinguish between developers and investors, who actually bought land for speculation. We will now see serious players staying while speculators exit the market."

According to Ghalita, new developers, who have made 100 per cent payment for land, can only sell their properties off plan, but those wishing not to sell off plan can pay for land purchases in instalments.


Account 'a must'

Every completed building will have to have a bank account prior to handover and establishment of an owners' association of the building, a property management company has confirmed.

"For every building that we manage, there is a separate account that we have opened and all the service charges for that building will go into that account," Saeed Bushalat, Salwan Chief Executive Officer, told Emirates Business.

"The establishment of a separate account is part of the Law No 27 of 2007 concerning ownership of jointly-owned properties," he said. (Anjana Kumar)

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