New regulations will scrap ‘hidden’ charges

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Developers will no longer be able to add ‘hidden charges' to the cost of buying a property, under a new regulation planned by the Real Estate Regulatory Agency (Rera).

Charges for building maintenance and cleaning, insurance and property registration are among those that will be scrapped as part of the regulation.

Rera has formed agreements with masterdevelopers, including Nakheel, stipulating that property transactions fees will only be registered by the Land Department.

"Some developers are charging for things such as cleaning, insurance and building maintenance - even for buildings where construction hasn't even started or been completed," said Marwan Ahmed Bin Ghalita, CEO, Rera.

"But from now there will be no ‘hidden fees' collected. We've signed an agreement with all developers that no transaction would be done outside of the Land Department's system.

Rera was established by the Government of Dubai last year in a bid to regulate the emirate's property market and crackdown on malpractice.

Developers were given until 1 January this year to register with Rera; so far 420 have signed up.

Companies who fail to sign up will face fines, imprisonment and being ‘named and shamed'.

"We need to be straight with developers," added Bin Ghalita.

"We will not allow anyone to be a bad sportsman in Dubai - it's not good for the brand or the country. When things go wrong - such as with the recent heavy rain - everyone blames the RTA or Dubai Municipality - but we can't always blame them.

"We want to work alongside developers, we don't want to be an obstacle. Investors have faith in the market. We want to make sure projects are secure.

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