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DEWA - Housing Fee shock

Sugarbeach23383

1566

Posts

EW EXPERT

Latest post on 26 October 2011 - 13:37

Ermm...The housing fee on my dewa bill is more than the actual usage charges, which excludes cooling for a 3BR apartment. :\:

Is this normal? And will I have to pay this amount of housing fee EVERY month, or is it a one off or a quarterly thing? TIA
<em>edited by Sugarbeach on 26/10/2011</em>

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2383

Posts

EW EXPERT

Latest post on 27 October 2011 - 08:55

@dibdab 1150 for a two bed. apartment seems very high. We have a big two bed. and, not including housing fee, haven't had a consumption bill over 200 dhs. There are only two of us and I must admit I am energy conscious, don't have a/c on in rooms that we are not using, always turn lights off, etc. Have you had your meter checked or do you know what other tenants in your building are paying ?

2043

Posts

EW EXPERT

Latest post on 27 October 2011 - 05:19

When I rented direct, I filled out all the registration forms for housing fee, but I was never charged it. It's all very hit and miss, some areas seem to get charged and others not. DEWA use the information gathered from when you sign up for your account - you have to present your tenancy agreement then and it is from that rent that the 5% is based upon. It makes not a scrap of difference who your landlord is - Emarati, local company or expat owner. We rented our villa initially in 2005 direct from Emaar and have always paid the 5%, right from the first DEWA bill we received - the one good thing is that we still only pay the rate that we started on and the rent is now substantially more - I just hope that they don't decide to review this!

1052

Posts

EW OLDHAND

Latest post on 26 October 2011 - 20:15

That really sucks the bills are already high enough with AC and Dewa i just paid over 4000 AEd for the 2 this month they just seem to be creeping up :(

263

Posts

EW NEWBIE

Latest post on 26 October 2011 - 19:55

About a year ago they put a letter in everyone's DEWA bill and informed tenants to register online with DEWA. If you have not done so then you might escape the charge for a while longer. It will not be back dated this has been confirmed quite a few times. What may happen is that if they should start charging you and you have not registered they will take the market value of the area you live in (as per the RERA index) and charge you 5% of that. That's means if in your area the average villa cost AED 100,000.00 they will charge you 5% of this which is AED 5,000 per year but if you only pay AED 80,000 for your villa you should only be paying AED 4,000.00. They went on to say in the letter if you don't register and they start to charge you the housing fee as per market value then you can't go down and argue to reduce it. You do so at your own risk. Although I registered in November 2010 they didn't start charging us housing fee till January 2011. I do sympathize with you all - my bill has more than double due to the fuel surcharge and housing fee. And yes it sucks :(

1052

Posts

EW OLDHAND

Latest post on 26 October 2011 - 18:22

I have been here for 2 years in the same property and was not given anything to fill in im confused :(

3804

Posts

EW MASTER

Latest post on 26 October 2011 - 18:17

When I rented direct, I filled out all the registration forms for housing fee, but I was never charged it. It's all very hit and miss, some areas seem to get charged and others not.

1052

Posts

EW OLDHAND

Latest post on 26 October 2011 - 18:10

I read this in Arabian Business last week.... http://www.arabianbusiness.com/all-dubai-expats-pay-housing-fees-by-june-425660.html Why wouldn't they be charged? How is that fair? Anywhere else in the world, this would be backdated. It's just like the Salik Fiasco... all those people that never bothered to get the tag and then they waived all the fines. The idiots that did get the tag, well I guess they are just idiots ( Me included) As far as I know it isn't something you are asked to register for - we don't pay housing fee at the moment and it is not that I have made any effort to escape it, it has just never appeared on our bill and we have never received any correspondence from DEWA about it - so why should I be charged a huge backdated fee? The only reason I even know about it is from reading on here so if DEWA have made no effort to claim it from me then I don't feel that it is my responsibility. And seeing as my DEWA bills seem to be skyrocketing for some unknown reason (1150 last month for a 2 bed apartment and this definitely isn't including a housing fee) then I am even more glad that I am not paying it yet. Having said that I do think it is unfair that some people pay and others don't - it should be everyone or no one. I will pay it without argument when DEWA finally catch up with me! Im muchin the same situation, we rent form union properties direct and i have never been asked to sign up for housing fee, as you i only know from these boards but i am slightly worried that they may change it to say its being backdated and you have to pay it>??? Is the housing fee different if rented direct from the developers??

66

Posts

EW NEWBIE

Latest post on 26 October 2011 - 16:13

Emirati are exempt. One of my previous landlords was an Emirati and he specifically said he wanted to have the DEWA bill on his name, so we did not have to pay the housing fee :). Because if it would be on our name, we had to pay!

379

Posts

EW EXPLORER

Latest post on 26 October 2011 - 16:01

It isnt an ex pat tax as my current and last LL are Emirati and i pay it. [u'>When i signed up for DEWA with my current lease[/u'> there is a part at the bottom which you have to fill out for Housing Fee Emiratis are exempt from paying. http://www.emirates247.com/news/not-paying-housing-fee-you-have-6-months-2011-01-31-1.349343 [u'>The housing fee has been imposed on all residents, except citizens.[/u'> Leasehold occupants (tenants) pay five per cent of the annual rent as housing fee, while freehold property owners need to pay five per cent of value as per the Rera rent index for that specific location.

460

Posts

EW EXPLORER

Latest post on 26 October 2011 - 15:41

I read this in Arabian Business last week.... http://www.arabianbusiness.com/all-dubai-expats-pay-housing-fees-by-june-425660.html Why wouldn't they be charged? How is that fair? Anywhere else in the world, this would be backdated. It's just like the Salik Fiasco... all those people that never bothered to get the tag and then they waived all the fines. The idiots that did get the tag, well I guess they are just idiots ( Me included) As far as I know it isn't something you are asked to register for - we don't pay housing fee at the moment and it is not that I have made any effort to escape it, it has just never appeared on our bill and we have never received any correspondence from DEWA about it - so why should I be charged a huge backdated fee? The only reason I even know about it is from reading on here so if DEWA have made no effort to claim it from me then I don't feel that it is my responsibility. And seeing as my DEWA bills seem to be skyrocketing for some unknown reason (1150 last month for a 2 bed apartment and this definitely isn't including a housing fee) then I am even more glad that I am not paying it yet. Having said that I do think it is unfair that some people pay and others don't - it should be everyone or no one. I will pay it without argument when DEWA finally catch up with me!

1575

Posts

EW EXPERT

Latest post on 26 October 2011 - 14:57

I read this in Arabian Business last week.... http://www.arabianbusiness.com/all-dubai-expats-pay-housing-fees-by-june-425660.html Why wouldn't they be charged? How is that fair? Anywhere else in the world, this would be backdated. It's just like the Salik Fiasco... all those people that never bothered to get the tag and then they waived all the fines. The idiots that did get the tag, well I guess they are just idiots ( Me included)

3863

Posts

EW MASTER

Latest post on 26 October 2011 - 14:43

It isnt an ex pat tax as my current and last LL are Emirati and i pay it. When i signed up for DEWA with my current lease there is a part at the bottom which you have to fill out for Housing Fee

Sugarbeach23383

1566

Posts

EW EXPERT

Latest post on 26 October 2011 - 13:56

It's an expat tax.

576

Posts

EW GURU

Latest post on 26 October 2011 - 13:55

Hmmm....its sucks that we will have to pay it, but its a relief to read from the report that it wont be backdated! Phew!!

683

Posts

EW GURU

Latest post on 26 October 2011 - 13:52

I read this in Arabian Business last week.... http://www.arabianbusiness.com/all-dubai-expats-pay-housing-fees-by-june-425660.html

Sugarbeach23383

1566

Posts

EW EXPERT

Latest post on 26 October 2011 - 13:47

thanks dd. From paying no more than AED500 per month for a 4br apartment to nearing AED1200 a month for a 3br purely due to housing fees is quite a shock and seems a bit random. How come some properties are charged housing fees and others aren't?

460

Posts

EW EXPLORER

Latest post on 26 October 2011 - 13:39

As far as I am aware the housing fee is 5% of your rent - so this would mean that your rent is AED 173,760 - if that is correct then yes that amount for your housing fee is correct and it is paid each month.

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