Villas should be registered before being leased out, said a Tawtheeq official.
When a permit is granted for villa construction, it is usually designed for a single family.
"It's impossible and logically not possible that you divided without taking proper permission and leased it out to multiple families and individuals," said Ali Khaled Al Hashmi, project manager for Tawtheeq.
Now, a new occupancy law has been implemented that strictly controls the number of occupants in a family living in a single residential villa.
"If I have a permit for a villa for one family, then why should I divide it and lease it out commercially," he said, adding that in such case, the landlord cannot register with Tawtheeq
He hopes that educated renters will help the enforcement against partitioned villas.
"The idea is that the market will filter itself," he said. "For example if you come to know that the villa is not registered, you will be reluctant to move in, sense that there is something wrong with this villa."
There is a Dh1,000 fee for registering a property, and Dh5-Dh100 fee to get a contract attested by the municipality. Per the decree, the registration fee must be paid by the landlord.
anwar@thenational.ae
