Changes to Property Ownership in the UAE

Changes to Property Ownership in the UAEAs has been widely reported, the changes to the property ownership laws in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates to allow for the foreign freehold ownership of property in designated areas in the emirate have finally been ratified this year and are expected to be in place fully by the end of 2006.

The very latest news from the UAE is equally positive; the emirate of Umm Al Quwain ruled by His Highness Shaikh Rashid bin Ahmed Al Mualla has also changed its property ownership laws to allow expatriate purchasers and international property investors the right to own property within certain elected investment areas in the emirate.

In the thirteenth article of Law 3 relating to property ownership in Umm Al Quwain the Supreme Council Member and Ruler of the emirate allows UAE and GCC nationals the right to freehold ownership of real estate in the emirate and he now also allows non-GCC citizens the right to ninety nine year renewable leases on real estate (but not land) in specific developments in the emirate.

Many analysts see this as potentially the beginning of a softening of the laws across the United Arab Emirates relating to foreign ownership of property in the region as each emirate’s ruler views the economic prosperity and diversification that the change in property ownership rules have brought about in Dubai.

Dubai was previously economically dependent on its oil industry and when its forward thinking ruling family decreed that the emirate needed to diversify to build a sustainable future for Dubai no one could have predicted just how successful Dubai would become.

Nowadays Dubai is as famous for it tax free zones, tax free salaries and fantastic lifestyle as it is for its property market, its wealth of employment opportunity and the fact that it is continuing to set world records in its expansion and development achievements.  Underpinning the success of the emirate is the sustainability of all the economic sectors it is exploring.  The continued success of its property industry is likely as the emirate develops into one of the most critical business centres in the world, furthermore it is backed up by the fact that Dubai is rapidly becoming a leisure capital with the annual Dubai Shopping Festival and the creation of Dubai World – and so the rulers of all other emirates in the UAE must surely be watching and learning from Dubai’s exemplary example…

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