Property owners in Oman will be prevented from issuing eviction orders on tenants under a new rental law, an official said on Sunday.
A 7% annual rent cap will also be introduced under the new legislation, Khalil Bin Abdullah Al-Khonji, of the government rent committee told UAE daily Gulf News.
According to Al-Khonji, who is also head of the Oman Chamber of Commerce and Industry (OCCI), the committee had recommended “major” changes in the law in order to control rising rentals.
A minimum tenancy period of four years for residential and seven years for commercial properties had also been suggested, Al-Khonji said.
Proposals had been sent to ‘higher authorities’, and the law would take effect ‘soon,’ he told Gulf News.
Annual inflation in Oman accelerated for a seventh straight month to 8.29% in December, its highest in at least 16 years due to rising food prices and rents.
Rents rose 11.1% in the economy of almost $36 billion, steady against the rate of increase in November, the Ministry of National Economy reported in February.
According to Al-Khonji, government land on the outskirts of Muscat is to be handed to private developers to build “affordable residential property”, however the government would not directly intervene to provide housing, he said.
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