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New Sharjah tenancy law evokes mixed response

SHARJAH — The new tenancy law issued on June 6 by the Sharjah government has evoked mixed reactions from the residents of the emirate.

His Highness Dr. Shaikh Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, Member of the Supreme Council and Ruler of Sharjah, on June 6 issued law No. 2 of 2007, regulating relations between landlords and tenants.

As per the new tenancy law, the landlords cannot increase the rent before the lapse of three years since the commencement of the contract, and every two years afterwards.

Most of the residents Khaleej Times spoke to, hailed the Sharjah government’s initiative to impose a control on the landlords who resort to increasing the rents erratically, almost every year. However, some others stressed on the immediate need for a rent cap, rather than preventing the landlords from hiking rents before the lapse of the three years from the signing of the tenancy contract.

Residents and tenants of commercial units in the emirate have complained that the new law does not provide any ceiling on the current rents, so the landlords can hike rents by even more than 100 per cent. Landlords and real estate companies, on the other hand, have pointed out that the new tenancy law is in line with the new developments in the emirate, and will serve the interests of both landlords and tenants.

Speaking to Khaleej Times, Hafiz Al Huairis, a resident of Sharjah whose tenancy lease is slated for renewal on June 16, said the new law would encourage his landlord to announce a steep hike in the rent. “I am expecting my landlord to hike the rent from Dh30,000 per annum to Dh60,000, something which I will not be able to afford. A fixed rent cap should be stipulated by an additional Article in the law,” noted Huairis.

Samira Mohammed Al Hasan, a tenant of a commercial unit in Sharjah, said the landlord of her shop had earlier requested her to vacate the unit as he had another tenant ready to pay a reasonably higher rent. “Now, Article 12 of the new law will not allow the landlord to force me to vacate the property before the expiry of a three-year period. But he can use the same law to hike the rent by an amount that will be impossible for me to pay and I shall be forced to vacate the shop in case I am unable to pay the new rent. If there is a rent cap, a tenant is protected and is prepared to pay the hiked amount,” she said.

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