Back to school for dubai developers
In an attempt to rebuild investor confidence in the property sector, a new system which grades developers in Dubai according to their financial liquidity, experience in the market, the number of projects and the added value they give to the community, is being introduced...
The Dubai property sector has been boiling over in recent years, fuelled largely by foreign investors desperate to get a slice of the action in one of the world's fastest growing markets.
But add the global credit crunch into the mix and investor confidence in the emirate fell faster than you could say ‘I'll take that one.'
Now, in a bid to boost consumer confidence, the Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA) in Dubai is to rank property developers using a series of criteria.
The rankings will be awarded after each developer's financial stability and market experience has been taken into consideration.
Marwan bin Ghalita, the Chief Executive of RERA, said, "We are evaluating all the developers in Dubai. All will be graded according to their financial liquidity, their experience in the market, the number of projects and the added value they give to the community.
"So, before people invest in a project, they will see what the rating of the developer is and will be able to base their decision on that," added Mr bin Ghalita.
As well as attempting to boost confidence, the new system is also aiming to reduce the number of developers which are currently saturating Dubai's market.
RERA believes there are over 100 developers and they need to be reduced to a more manageable level.
The vast numbers of developers has shaken investor confidence as it is difficult for them to work out which projects to go for and to know which developers are trustworthy.
Mr bin Ghalita added, "There are too many developers.
"We need to make the number smaller so we can control them more and they can serve the market better."
Keen to improve the overall image of property development in Dubai and to make it a transparent industry, RERA also has further regulation introductions in the pipeline.
One will require each developer attempting to register off plan projects to fully own the land first. Another new regulation will ban freelance property agents from operating in the emirate and all brokers will have to take a RERA training course and be certified by the Dubai Police.
Picture by babasteve