DOHA: The Advisory Council wants to reduce the percentage by which owners of shops and other commercial space can increase the rent annually.
The Council recommended yesterday that the Cabinet’s decision (Number 8 of 2015) that allows owners of shops and offices to increase the rent annually by a fixed percentage, be reduced.
The Council, at its weekly meeting, also recommended to the government that the validity of the Cabinet decision which is due to expire next month, be extended, reports QNA.
The Council, however, didn’t specify the duration by which the validity of the Cabinet Decision is urged to be extended.
According to the Council, once the validity of the Cabinet decision is extended, the legal validity of all the rent contracts that are signed within its framework are also to be automatically extended.
The Advisory Council has likewise asked state-owned companies that own real estate which is given on rent or companies in which the government has stake and which own real estate, to also review their rent prices and sign fresh rent contracts with their tenants.
These companies must ensure that the rents they take from their tenants are not unjustifiably high, noted the Council, saying this was necessary to ensure so as to keep the general price rise under check.
During a debate on the issue of escalating rents, Fahad Al Khayareen, Secretary-General of the Council, referred to the address of Emir, H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, at the opening session of the Council in which he expressed concern at what he said was unjustified rise in rents and which he said were negatively impacting individuals and society as a whole.
Earlier, the Council discussed the issue of rising rents, both residential and commercial, and said the trend must be checked as it was affecting the prices of goods and services and adding to inflationary pressures.
In its recommendations, the Council also urged the government to conduct studies to assess the feasibility of giving on ownership shops it owns and has rented out to nationals.
And nationals should be increasingly encouraged to invest in real estate, said the Advisory Council.
For this purpose, the government must develop land with necessary infrastructure and simplify and quicken building licensing procedures.
The Council has specifically asked nationals to build residential complexes to help end housing shortages in the country.
The government has also been urged by the Council to instruct the authorities concerned to develop Commercial Streets with all the required facilities in different parts of the country.
And more significantly, the Council has emphasized the importance of vertical urban development to end housing and commercial space shortages by allowing buildings with more heights in different areas of the country.
The Council has recommended to the government to allow reconstructing old buildings with more height and provide the necessary backup and services in those areas.
According to Qatar News Agency, the Services and Public Amenities Committee of the Advisory Council met four times last month (December 2015) and studied and discussed at length the rising rent and other issues of immense public concern and gave its suggestions to the Council.
The Peninsula
