BY MOHAMMED SHOEB
DOHA: According to the latest statistics, the average monthly rents for fully furnished apartments in the Al Sadd, Najma, Bin Mahmoud, Airport Road, Muntaza and Mansoura areas are QR5,300 for a one-bedroom unit, QR7,300 for a two-bedroom one and QR8,600 for a three-bedroom unit. Rents for high-end apartments in West Bay and The Pearl Qatar range between QR14,500 and QR15,000.
Until March this year, monthly rents for three-, four- and five-bedroom villas ranged from QR11,000 to QR18,000, while high-end villas in West Bay and other localities ranged between QR18,000 for a three-bedroom unit to QR23,000 for a five-bedroom one. The near- to medium-term outlook on house rents remains strong, according to Tanween Quarterly Real Estate Market Report Q1 2013, in the backdrop of the exponentially increasing population.
Following the launch of big-ticket metro rail, road and other projects, demand for furnished housing is growing, raising rents beyond expectations. Private companies are finding it increasingly difficult to provide accommodation to their senior staff, while many others, instead of providing housing facilities, prefer to pay an allowance to their junior white collar workers, ranging from QR3,000 to QR5,000.
“My company pays only QR3,500 as house allowance, and until I managed to find a cheaper house I had to pay QR4,300 for eight months,” said Saqib Asghar Amani (not his real name), an electrical engineer working for an Indian company.
“I took up this job in Qatar leaving Saudi Arabia with the hope of saving some more money as I was offered a better salary here compared to the previous company… I was aware that housing is relatively expensive in Qatar, but I didn’t know it would be so expensive that by the end of the month I would not be able to save even what I was doing in Saudi,” he added.
He added that until he found shared accommodation for QR3,200, he was planning to return to his former employer in Riyadh or go back to Delhi as he was unable to save enough money.
It was believed that once some well-known housing projects were completed the problem of affordable housing would be largely addressed. However, the situation continues to be a cause of concern for the authorities as well as private companies as more and more expatriates are arriving in the country following the launch of big projects.
Some companies claim to provide affordable housing with attractive offers that include ‘rent holidays’ for up to six months, but given prerequisites such as advance cheques and formalities involving one’s employer, the situation for individual tenants remains indifferent. Real estate firms prefer to rent houses to companies for hassle-free business rather than deal with individual customers, which increases their overheads.
Municipal rules such as those segregating residential areas for families from those of single workers and specified areas where only villas can be built, are also obstacles to increasing housing stock.
“Demand for shared accommodation has become stronger, pushing monthly rentals up 15-20 percent compared to rents early this year. The rent for a one-room set with no dining space has increased from QR1,800 to QR2,200,” said a person involved in the subletting business, requesting anonymity.
He added: “Day by day, demand for and rents of compound villas are going up, which will continue till 2022. Usually, during summer vacations, I used to struggle to rent out vacated flats, but this year there are no such problems. In fact, I am getting calls from people for houses but am unable to supply as this business has become very competitive due to large players and various other factors, and legal complications and risks involved.”
Even labour camps have become very expensive, he said. “Places like Sanaiya, which lacks facilities such as markets and places to hang out, are high in demand. People lease out plots in square metres to build makeshift labour camps.”
Another real estate developer, who is in the business for over 25 years, said rents for one-bedroom flats, which are now available for QR3,000, may go up to QR4,000 or more in the coming days.
THE PENINSULA
