Inayat-ur-Rahman

Dubai Land Department (DLD), through its Real Estate Regulatory Agency (RERA), announced that it will continue to provide all support services to its customers and ensure business sustainability in the current exceptional circumstances.

These services guarantee continued work in the real estate sector at its usual pace, confirming its importance in driving the national economy, and providing support for the construction sector, which was exempted according to the decisions issued by the competent official authorities, in conjunction with the National Sterilisation Programme that is being implemented as a result of the global outbreak of COVID-19.

During the past five weeks, business in the escrow account continued electronically and 126 real estate developers benefited from RERA’s services, helping these companies continue construction on off-plan sales projects, with 1,508 disbursement procedures that having been implemented for 342 companies as well as disbursement procedures for doing business accounts in off-plan real estate projects under development.

Khalifa Alsalfa, senior director of the escrow account department at DLD, commented: “The process of following up on the off-plan real estate development process is completely electronic, which helps us serve all real estate developers and approve the disbursement of their payments through the electronic escrow account application. We are also implementing all real estate development procedures in the Emirate electronically and remotely through the approved systems in the department. Customers can submit requests for credits and disbursement through the electornic escrow account application account linked with the managers of the project development’s escrow account.”

Under the current circumstances, the smart applications in force at RERA played a fundamental role in the success of our mission by facilitating the workflow of all parties in real estate development projects in full compliance with the remote working systems and in line with the guidelines issued by the competent official authorities.

Alsalfa concluded: “Investors and buyers in these projects can also follow up on the construction operations of their projects through Dubai REST by visiting the ‘Mashrooi’ service that provides them with integrated data on the development of construction on project sites.”

Meanwhile, Dubai Land Department (DLD), through its Real Estate Regulatory Agency (RERA), announced the launch of a new CSR initiative called ‘Together,’ in cooperation with a number of jointly owned property (JOP) management companies in Dubai. The new initiative, which aims to provide support for tenants and landlords, confirms the solidarity of all efforts in the UAE, within the framework of national initiatives, in light of the current conditions resulting from the global outbreak of COVID-19.

Accordingly, RERA and its partners will provide the necessary life supplies free of charge to those in need and affected in many projects and freehold areas across the Emirate, confirming the commitment of the various parties regarding their social responsibilities to support groups eligible for care in these exceptional times. The list of materials to be donated includes food, medicine, sterilisation materials, gloves, paper napkins, and face masks. Companies are also showing their willingness to provide emergency maintenance and sterilisation services within residential units and complexes.

Eng Marwan bin Ghalita, CEO of RERA, commented: “In these exceptional global circumstances, everyone is expected to show solidarity and cooperation to meet the call of our wise leadership to combat the global epidemic and join the initiatives adopted by our institutions to mitigate the effects of COVID-19. JOP management companies and developers seek to show the highest degree of care and understanding of the current situation and the consequences that may result from it that burden people. DLD — led by its top management, represented by its director general, Sultan bin Mejren — was a pioneer in proposing charitable and humanitarian initiatives and applying its social responsibilities to contribute to mitigating the effects of emergency conditions on society. We take pride in our ability to attract a large number of supporters of this initiative to relieve the owners of freehold areas, provide the necessary needs and distribute them, and conduct the necessary maintenance by companies that volunteered with us.”

The parties supporting the initiative announced more steps and procedures, including the cancellation of fines for 2019 and 2020, the provision of flexible instalment service for service fees, the reduction of service costs, and the provision of a flexible payment option for air conditioning services.