Tuesday, February 13, 2007

The meeting at the Greens

Thank you to everyone who attended the 'Meet your neighbours' get together at Al Ghozlan a few hours ago. We appreciated the suggestions given and have tried to ensure that we cover the interests of all residents, both those that wish to remain as tenants and those that would consider the offer to buy.

Those we spoke to who had experience of the Rent Committee and the government of Dubai made clear to us that the leaders of this Emirate genuinely care deeply about the lives of the expatriates who come here to live and work. One gentleman had taken matters to the Rent Committee on several occasions and received judgement in his favour every time. The measures taken by the government, under the leadership of His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Makhtoum, Vice President, Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, are making a real and significant contribution to protecting tenants and ensuring the continued competitiveness of the Dubai economy. They prove that our leaders do care and have taken active measures to address the problems faced by Dubai residents.

We hope that our suggestions will be seen as reasonable and constructive and that given time, an outcome will be achieved which is in the interests of all the parties involved.

Thanks again for your support. We will keep you informed of any developments.

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Dear Friends,
Thank you very much for all efforts you have done regarding the meeting and follow-ups.
I would like to inform all our esteemed neighbors, the tenants who are interested to buy their apartments at the offered rate to do more research and consulting with some real estate advisors, to see how the situation is.
As I did my research, you can find more reasonable options in the market with the lower interest rate and better prices...
I actually do not understand who where interested to buy these apartments with such an offer which let the Emaar to claim this as a great opportunity for its tenants which they offer it based on tenants request!!!!
Best Regards
Your Neighbor

Anonymous said...

Comrades,
First, thanks to the guys who organised last nights meeting. Your efforts are greatly appreciated.
I am upset by the rampant greed coursing through Dubai at present and hope the effort of residents prevent this continuing. I believe the Greens is an affluent, middle class community of expatriates - if we are being priced out of the rental market, who else is likely to come in and replace us?
Regarding financing packages I think its worth noting to residents that the variable interest rate on offer from ALL lenders, not just Amlak, is extortionate and is very likely to increase a minimum of 1/2 a point in six month. As an example, the best deal I have been able to find will take my monthly rent from 7000AED up to a monthly mortgage repayment of 11,800AED!!!! And even then this amount is only g'teed for 6 months.
Good luck !

Anonymous said...

I think you can also argue that the prices you see for apartments in greens in the classifieds and the prices people are actually paying may be different.

There is also little doubt that we are at the top of the market, so anyone buying now could get into trouble.

Anonymous said...

Thank you all for organizing this get together, and thanks to our neighbors who were there, i am full of confident that a reasonable solution will come out of our efforts, but we have to keep on going, we might not hear back immediately from Dubai Government, but that doesn't mean that we should stop trying, there are many other positive approaches that we can follow.. People who don’t let their guests down still exist, especially in this part of the world...

Anonymous said...

Dear "organisers",
thanks for the iniciative of yesterday's meeting, it was indeed very useful.
I have signed up and I would appreciate to see the letter you wrote, as I did not have a chance to read it yesterday. Is it possible to "upload" it on this website? Thanks!
Regards,
Al Ghozlan 3 Neighbor

Anonymous said...

I have heard at yesterday meeting that Emirates Today published an article mentioning that every tenants in Greens was happy about EMAAR / Hampton decision. Can anyone give me the name of the journalist who wrote this? I 'd like to contact him to correct this misinformation. Maybe we can send him a petition reflecting our real feeling about that matter?

TC

Omar, Al Ghozlan 4

Anonymous said...

The Emirates Today journalist at the meeting last night told me his name was Adrian Murphy. It was he who wrote the original article suggesting Greens residents were "over the moon", "delighted" and were "dancing with joy" with the decision of Emaar to sell homes from under the feet of good, honest people. Mr Murphy also penned today's masterpiece in Emirates Today suggesting there were only 60 people at the meeting and he once again peddled the lie that this is a golden opportunity for people in the Greens. Unless a golden opportunity is having to take out massive loans at ridiculous interest levels just to secure a roof over your head the reporter in question may have muddled the facts somewhat.
The Emirates Today switchboard say Mr Murphy can be reached at 050 2280762.

Anonymous said...

Is there any chance to see a copy of the letter you are sending and also a list of the intended recipients?
Maybe we should send a copy to that charlatan at Emirates Today.
Seems like 7Days are behind us. Would be good to push our story to some international media.

LJS said...

Dear Greens neighbours

There is a very strong rumour that the residents of the Lakes community are about to join your plight. With this there will be hundreds more families who will be potentially homeless. For the majority the option of purchasing is out of the question as the diffence between the current rent enjoyed and the mortgage payments is particularly significant for these properties. I can see that you have already taken good steps to deal with this issue and I urge you to make it as public as possible (I am sure the international press would be interested).

A worried Lakes resident

Anonymous said...

and thank you 7 days!!!

Off course the article is not fully detailed and can bring confusion to many. I suggest tomorrow's meeting could be good to try to ask 7 Days to develop in details


http://www.7days.ae/en/2007/02/13/dubai-the-clock%e2%80%99s-ticking.html

DUBAI - The clock’s ticking

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Permanent link | 4 responses | Published on: Tuesday, 13th February, 2007

Residents of The Greens met last night to discuss Emaar’s decision to sell their apartments and to try and formulate a plan of action. Around 200 tenants affected by the decision gathered to air their views on the way the developer has handled the proposed sale and possible ways they may be able to improve the situation facing 344 families.
Residents living at three apartment blocks owned by Emaar received a letter last weekend, stating that, as a result of several enquiries by tenants, it had decided to sell a number of buildings. Tenants were given a 14-day deadline to decide whether they wanted to purchase the homes or leave when their tenancy contract ends.
The group has drafted a letter to Emaar and the Ruler’s Office, asking the developer to stop the sale of the apartments or at least offer tenants preferential property prices. They will be attaching a petition of signatures collected last night highlighting all the issues faced by current tenants. One resident said: “We believe Emaar will try and look after its current tenants with good will like we have looked after their properties.”
Residents hope the developer will deduct their previous rent from the sale price, wave the proposed transfer, processing and administration fees and also offer them a preferential interest rate on mortgages by finance provider Amlak - now around 8.25 per cent. One angry resident, who had been considering buying his one-bedroom apartment for dhs924,000, said he has been forced to reconsider after a call to AMLAK revealed the mortgage they would lend him would leave him having to find dhs125,000 within just three weeks.

Anonymous said...

id like to thank the organizers of the gathering and hope that their efforts dont go to waste .. i assume the letter has now been sent to the concerned and hope to see resulsts soon .. for those who are thinking of buying think 4 times before you do .. the proposed prices, rates and the situation is not favorable at all .. i asked people in properties and they advised me not to .. i guess emaaar will do the same to all its developments its a matter of when .. and i wouldnt be surprised if they re-buy the properties under a different entity just to get around the rent cap .. hope we get enough media attention and support to stop this from happening!

fingers crossed

Abdulla - Alka 3

 
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