Strict deadline announced for villa evictions

Thousands of people could be forced to find new homes as Dubai Municipality launches a new crackdown on families sharing villas.

Municipality chiefs announced a 30-day deadline on Sunday for residents sharing villas to vacate them.

Omar bin Abdul Rahman, head of the Building Inspection Section at the Dubai Municipality, told UAE daily Khaleej Times that landlords must ensure that only one family lives in their villas.
If they failed to comply with the new rules within the deadline, the municipality would slap fines up to $13,500 on them, the official said.

The new deadline comes as officials aim to prevent the sort of overcrowding that cost several labourers their lives after a villa blaze in Naif early this month.

Abdul Rahman told the paper: “They (the landlords) need to evict the families and others sharing villas. If a villa still houses more than one family, bachelor or labourer after one month, the landlord would face fines in addition to the disconnection of water and electricity supplies."