Government freezes rents for shops around Qatar
Amid growing concern over inflation, Qatar has decided to freeze rentals at current levels by extending the leases of non-residential properties until February 15, 2017.
This means shop tenants need not have to shell out additional money when their contracts come for renewal next month. The directive does not apply to office space, which might anyway see some softening due to low demand in the market. The residential sector also remains out of the ambit of rental control – a topic that has been debated for some time.
In a statement released after the cabinet meeting this month, HE the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs Ahmed bin Abdullah Al Mahmoud, stated, “Under the provisions of this decision, leases of premises and parts thereof that are leased for non-residential purposes, governed by the provisions of Law No. 4 of 2008 Regarding Property Leasing and are in force on February 14, 2016, shall be extended for one year from February 15, 2016.”
It could be noted that the Advisory (Shura) Council in its recent meetings had raised the issue of significant increase in property rates across Qatar, and was debating whether some sort of rental control should be brought in to deal with the situation. However, the Council is understood to have not pursued with that recommendation, and rather suggested the government to unlock more parcels of land in order to encourage new project development in Qatar.
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