Tenants lose out in new Abu Dhabi law

Abu Dhabi rents slide up to 20 pct in Q4




Abu Dhabi sets 5 pct rent cap in new law



DUBAI - Abu Dhabi is introducing a new law that will give more powers to landlords to evict tenants if they do not accept a rent increase, the National reported on Thursday.



Landlords will be able to have their properties back after giving tenants a two-month notice vacate when the law is implemented in November, taking away the automatic right of tenants to renew leases, the newspaper reported.



The government has imposed an annual limit of five percent on rent increases, but the new law may allow landlords to simply get rid of their existing tenants and lease their property to someone else willing to pay more, tenants interviewed by the newspaper said.



"The rent cap is not being touched but the automatic right of renewal of the leases is being removed. Before, you knew you could call unilaterally for an extension after the term of the lease, for up to five years, even if the landlord wanted you to leave," David Nunn of the law firm Simmons and Simmons told the paper.



"It sounds like a nightmare. Tenants are going to have a lot less protection," Graham Bentley, a British expatriate who rents a villa, told the paper.



Abu Dhabi has one of the highest house rents in the region and faces a shortage of residential units.



The UAE capital saw rents decline some 20 percent since in 2009, according to consultants.



Property services firm Asteco said in December Abu Dhabi apartments were still 20-40 percent more expensive than in Dubai.