New Property Law... Will 3rd Party Developer Projects Get Freehold?
The new property law is gradually being heralded by an increase in articles addressing the subject. The concensus view is that unlike Abu Dhabi's property law issued last year, foreigners will be able to own property and land--however, for all but GCC nationals, this will be limited to designated areas.
Gowealthy.com presents a spate of new commentary:
The law is expected to be rather comprehensive, although there will be only "five areas where foreign ownership is allowed." The five areas are not specified in any of the news reports although presumably they would be specified in the new law.
Will Dubai Marina be among the five specified areas? The answer is, of course... ABSOLUTELY. Dubai Marina was one of, if not the first development project in Dubai to target expatriate and other foreign buyers.
If there is any remaining ambiguity, however, it is on the question of whether all projects within a given development, like the Dubai Marina, will qualify as freehold. This ambiguity exists as there have been repeated suggestions that it is only the developments of the three largest developers--Emaar, Nakheel and Dubai Holdings (all semi-governmental entities)--which will be granted the authority to sell freehold properties.
What happens in the case of a third party developer having developed a plot within a community which has one of the three major developers as its master-developer? An AME Info report, perhaps unintentionally, amplifies the lack of clarity on this point. In New draft property law as expected, no surprises (26 Feb 2006), the writer states,
On reading this one inevitably has to turn to semantics to try to get a clearer understanding of what is being said. The new law, it says, "will cover properties of the major freehold developers: Emaar, Nakheel and Dubai Properties." So then, will the many towers being built in the Marina by 3rd party devolopers be considered properties of the master-developer? The language would suggest that these towers are in fact not properties of the major developers but rather properties in or within said developers' master-planned communities.
The apparent semantic ambiguity is in what is being reported about the new law. It is doubtful that the new law itself, once published, will suffer from the same ambiguities--certainly one would hope not. Presumably it has been the ironing out of just such details that has caused the formulation of the new law to take so long. As an investor in Marina property myself I would not hesitate to "hold my breath" in anticipation of full freehold ownership being bestowed upon all Dubai Marina properties, including those of 3rd party developers.
Go to DM Blog latest posts, Dubai Marina Communities or MAG 218 Community homepage.
Gowealthy.com presents a spate of new commentary:
- New property law to hasten Dubai real estate growth, 27 Feb 2006.
- Dubai Property Law to allow foreign ownership only in select areas, 6 Mar 2006.
- New Property Law to bring in a second wave of fresh investments in Dubai, 6 Mar 2006.
The Dubai property Law which is supposed to be a 40-article law will be different from the landmark Abu Dhabi property law by giving foreign flat owners collective ownership of the land.
The law is expected to be rather comprehensive, although there will be only "five areas where foreign ownership is allowed." The five areas are not specified in any of the news reports although presumably they would be specified in the new law.
Will Dubai Marina be among the five specified areas? The answer is, of course... ABSOLUTELY. Dubai Marina was one of, if not the first development project in Dubai to target expatriate and other foreign buyers.
If there is any remaining ambiguity, however, it is on the question of whether all projects within a given development, like the Dubai Marina, will qualify as freehold. This ambiguity exists as there have been repeated suggestions that it is only the developments of the three largest developers--Emaar, Nakheel and Dubai Holdings (all semi-governmental entities)--which will be granted the authority to sell freehold properties.
What happens in the case of a third party developer having developed a plot within a community which has one of the three major developers as its master-developer? An AME Info report, perhaps unintentionally, amplifies the lack of clarity on this point. In New draft property law as expected, no surprises (26 Feb 2006), the writer states,
A sub-clause allows foreigners to own properties with 'The Ruler's consent' which will cover properties of the major freehold developers: Emaar, Nakheel and Dubai Properties.
On reading this one inevitably has to turn to semantics to try to get a clearer understanding of what is being said. The new law, it says, "will cover properties of the major freehold developers: Emaar, Nakheel and Dubai Properties." So then, will the many towers being built in the Marina by 3rd party devolopers be considered properties of the master-developer? The language would suggest that these towers are in fact not properties of the major developers but rather properties in or within said developers' master-planned communities.
The apparent semantic ambiguity is in what is being reported about the new law. It is doubtful that the new law itself, once published, will suffer from the same ambiguities--certainly one would hope not. Presumably it has been the ironing out of just such details that has caused the formulation of the new law to take so long. As an investor in Marina property myself I would not hesitate to "hold my breath" in anticipation of full freehold ownership being bestowed upon all Dubai Marina properties, including those of 3rd party developers.
Go to DM Blog latest posts, Dubai Marina Communities or MAG 218 Community homepage.
posted by B.D. at
Tuesday, March 07, 2006
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home