Qatar Real Estate News
Villa rentals in Qatar expected to plummet further
With the new regulation in place, wherein the nurseries, beauty parlours and health clinics operating out of villas in residential localities, have been asked to re-locate to commercial premises, the rentals of villas in Qatar are expected to plummet further.
Several villas in Qatar are currently being used as offices, and these are likely to remain vacant owing to the new regulation, thus adding to the already surplus supplies.
According to real estate experts, the villa market will receive a jolt by the year-end, and this spillover impact may be felt in the rentals of apartments, too. People currently residing in higher-end apartments, may move in to villas, thereby, resulting in drop in rentals in apartments too.
Several law and audit offices, engineering and architectural consultancies, are housed in villas in residential colonies. The government had allowed them to operate from villas, when there was a severe shortage of commercial space. But, with the commercial space now available in plenty, these offices have been asked to vacate from residential villas, effective November this year.
Abundant supply of commercial space has resulted in severe drop in rentals. For instance, the rental for towers in West Bay area, are in the range QR180 to QR200, from the previous QR400 per square meter.
But, the small offices operating from villas will have to pay three to four times the rent that they currently pay for villas, which would be a major expense for such offices.
The Ministry of Municipality and Urban Planning has already stopped issuing new licenses to consultancies seeking to operate out of villas. Henceforth, parlours, nursery schools and clinics will only be licensed to operate from such villas, depending on the necessity of such a facility in the residential locality.
Posted on 29/7/2010