Dubai’s High Cost of Living Drives Out Expats, Brings in Millionaires
As billionaires snapped up villas in Dubai and the city bulged with new bankers and executives, Ghida was evicted. The landlord had seen a way of doubling the roughly $3,000-a-month rent she and her husband were paying.
The couple were asked to leave their home after being told the owner wanted to move in with his family. He then advertised it for $6,000 a month. She’s now suing him for breaking rental rules. “I am hearing they have a staggering backlog of other tenants with similar situations to mine, said Ghida, who wanted to be identified by her first name as the dispute continues.
It’s a story similar to dozens of others in Facebook groups, cafes and workplaces, and reflects Dubai’s latest incarnation: an enduring land of opportunity, though with a barrier to entry that just got significantly higher.
Fees for the private schools that are mandatory for expatriate children have climbed, a weekly shop of groceries at upmarket British supermarket chain Waitrose is costing ever more and an Uber ride at rush hour in a city built primarily for cars can now set you back the same as a New York taxi.
The average annual rent for a villa — single-family houses — in the emirate jumped 26 percent in the year through to February to reach 295,436 dirhams ($80,436), according to real estate adviser CBRE Group Inc. Average apartment rents soared 28 percent to almost 100,000 dirhams.
