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Satyendra Pathak
Doha
Several licensed real estate brokerage firms in Qatar have hailed the government's move to bar people from engaging in real estate brokerage business through social media websites and other platforms without valid licences.
The decision will go a long way in reducing the number of rental disputes in the country, a manager at Doha-based realty firm Apollo Real Estate said.
"Qatar has been witnessing a steep rise in rental disputes for the last several years. Most of these disputes arise out of the involvement of unlicensed players in the market. The rent agreement between owners and renters made through such brokers are not legal. After taking commission from renters - and in some cases from the owners - they disappear leaving them in lurch in case of any dispute," the manager said.
Once only licensed players are allowed to operate in the market, such disputes will almost disappear, he said.
The move will also have a very positive impact on the business of licensed real estate brokerage firms in the country, the manager pointed out.
With the mushrooming of many small unlicensed realty brokerage firms in the country, he said, the business of licensed firms have gone down.
"Unlicensed players lure clients with discounts in commissions as they don't have to meet expenses like having an office, staff and fees to get government licences. They are operating in the market without any establishment cost. They might be cheaper compared with established firms, but one cannot rely on them in cases of dispute. Once such players are out of the market, there is no doubt that our transactions will increase manifold," the manager said.
An official of Al Asmakh Real Estate Company echoed the same view saying the measure was long overdue.
There is no doubt that licensed firms are losing their clients to unlicensed firms and unauthorised individual players in the market, the official said, adding that the move to drive such players away from the market will make the realty brokerage sector more organised in the country.
"Qatar has been witnessing a real estate boom after the 2006 Asian Games. This was the time when many real estate brokerage firms opened their offices in Doha.
œWhile most firms took licences in the beginning to operate in the country, a number of them didn't renew it to save operating cost. Officials of such firms started to operate from their houses. They are not only harming the licenced firms, but also the government by operating without paying for the licence, ? a Doha-based real estate expert said.
The expert said that the move will also result in better monitoring of the residential market in the country as licenced firms and the government will have a proper mechanism to exchange the vital demand and supply numbers. The government cannot share such data with unlicensed players, the
expert said.
Once the new real estate brokerage law comes into effect, the expert said, œWe might see residential rents going down from the current levels as unlicensed brokers managed to inflate rents to make profit. Licenced firms will not be able to do so as they will be directly under the supervision of
the government. ?
