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Mixed reaction to DM's 'bachelor' housing rule

DUBAI — With the Dubai Municipality now stating that the bachelors can live in all localities in Dubai except in villas, the reaction has been a mixed one among the bachelors.

While a majority of them are happy, there are those who feel that the housing problem is far from over as the number of accommodations is far less than the demand and rents much higher than in other Gulf states.

The civic body has made it clear that bachelors were free to live anywhere they liked, except in the villas.

Earlier, the Municipality had said that the bachelors could only stay in some earmarked areas like Satwa, Hor Al Anz and localities on Dubai's outskirts.

Shivansh Thakkar from the First Gulf Bank, who has been living in Dubai for a year, said, "The decision is a relief for us. Earlier, we knew that we could not live in most of the better locations in Dubai. This was giving us nightmares as living in far-off areas would have added to our problems. But then this decision is welcome. Now we can stay in any locality which means that conveyance will not be a problem anymore. The municipality should make arrangements to inform the landlords, too, so that they don’t evict us on this pretext," he said.

Naresh Ahooja, who works in the same bank, agreed. "Unless the municipality publicises this decision, things will not improve. A landlord tends to evict a tenant, mostly bachelors by giving many excuses. The most common among them being 'bachelors are not allowed'," he said.

But Arijit Sikidar, an engineer living in the Bur Dubai area, differed. "The municipality has said that we cannot live in the villas. The problem is that in Dubai, the number of villas is more when compared to flats in certain localities. Areas like Jumeirah, Rashidiya, Airport Road etc have just villas. The Karama area and Satwa also have many villas. Only the Deira area has got more flats. This means that we cannot live in these areas at all. So, the decision will not be of any advantage to us. But then we thank the civic body to have given us the freedom to live anywhere," he pointed out.

Ninnan Samuel, who works in du, said there should be some villas in each area for bachelors.

"The cost of renting out a flat is very high. A one-bedroom hall can cost you anything between Dh45,000 and Dh50,000 a year. Rooms in shared villas can come at a much lower rate. The municipality must earmark at least some villas for bachelors in every area. There should be some arrangement in this connection. Otherwise the conditions would only worsen," opined Karan Sehgal Roy, an employee with the Emirates Bank.

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