Maintenance Fees

[Howsbuya]

When Nakheel is no longer responsible for the maintenance fees, how will this huge city continue to be maintained? Surely there must be some government agency responsible? Are they just going to walk away?

Published: November 14, 2008


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Owners to pay maintenance: Flat fees
By Derek Baldwin, Senior Reporter

Xpress: News | Owners to pay maintenance: Flat fees

International City residents are worried property standards will fall and costs will rise as Nakheel hands over maintenance to flat owners.

The chief concern is that Nakheel’s exit will leave a lot of independent owner committees to oversee an uncertain future for the residential development located in the Al Warsan area along the Dubai-Hatta Road.

A Nakheel spokesperson confirmed with XPRESS that it "is only responsible for maintenance for the first 14 months after properties are transferred to owners".

The spokesman said: "There are 413 buildings in International City and 387 have already been completed and handed over since the handover began in 2006."

What law says

With the last 26 buildings going up on the 800-hectare development, Nakheel said it will "take responsibility for the roads between the clusters in International City".

Under the proposed Strata Title Law that was to be introduced in October, the clusters, common areas and 413 buildings will become the responsibility of individual owners who will, in the long term, continue to pay for services such as maintenance of roads, security and landscaping. It’s still unclear how each building committee will tap into a general master community reserve fund. Sanjay Rajl, 39, who owns a one-bedroom flat in the England cluster, is pensive.

Takeover fears

"Yes, we are worried about the maintenance when Nakheel is gone. We have everything now, but what will happen when building owners take over? There will be a lot of owner committees doing different things and the place could change very quickly," said Rajl.

He pointed out that five years after construction began, landscapers are only now planting grass, palm trees and bushes throughout the development. Greenery costs are expected to climb in future.

"This will cost more later on for labour and irrigation," he said. Residents pay about Dh12 per square foot per year for maintenance service charges, which in his case amounts to about Dh8,600 per annum.

Money trail

Service fees charged by Nakheel cover the following at International City:

Waste management
Road and car park sweeping
Pest control in common areas
Landscape and irrigation
Security patrol services
Janitorial services in common areas
Maintenance of streets, pavements, playgrounds
Streetlights, storm-water drains
Sewerage system
Building maintenance for mechanical and electrical works
Source: Nakheel