Wednesday marked the end of an era as far as property investors in the Middle East are concerned. It marked the end of an era of waiting with the emergence of a law governing how joint properties are handled within the Emirate of Dubai.
This law, known as The Condominium Law, will resolve disputes regarding the relationship that exists between the developer of a specific piece of property, the landlord of the same piece of property and any tenant that might be staying on the land.
It also states clear regulatory rules regarding the ownership rights and privileges of developments within Dubai, things that are also sometimes referred to as being joint properties.
This law, which is set to start being enforced April 1st of this year, only applies to joint properties as they are defined by the Dubai government. According to the government, any property that is either composed of multiple units (i.e. apartment buildings and condominiums) or has multiple land plots (i.e. non-detached residential units) counts as a joint property.
The primary stipulation in the law regarding these properties is that they must have an owners' association, which has to be set up as soon as any part of the property is sold. The owners' association is only valid under the law if it counts amongst its membership every single owner in the property as well as the group primarily responsible for the development of the property.
The primary purpose of the owners' association is to act as a legal entity and provide the owners with protection against incursions by landlords and tenants as well as protection from developers should they do substandard work. The law itself covers areas ranging from gas and electricity all the way down to structural work and essentially makes it a lot safer for someone to own property in Dubai from a legal point of view.
