With thousands of expats moving to Qatar and building new lives here, the vivacious city is bursting with residential properties to accommodate its increasing population. If you are looking to rent an apartment in Doha, make sure you are doing it right to avoid any problems. Here is your guide to help you rent a property in Qatar.

Before moving into the details of the procedures and laws, it is important to understand some common terminologies to ensure complete regulation clarity. Two such terms are the "lessor" and the "lessee"; the lessor refers to the party renting or leasing out the property, whilst the lessee refers to the tenant.

What to look for?

• The first thing you should know about renting a house, villa, or apartment is to check if the lessor's house is registered and is located in the residential area designated by the government. The constitution has a very important provision on this as stated in Part 1 Article 2 of the Property Leasing Law.

• Public ownership records are important. There are so many ways to check on the background of the potential lessor before even signing a lease. You can go to the Ministry of Municipality and Urban Planning, The Committee of Settlement of Rental Disputes at the Ministry and Real Estate Lease Registration Office to verify pieces of information regarding the history of the owner and other details. When you think you have enough information available, decide whether you will lease or not.

• Beware of foreclosure orders of properties. Would be best to check on the status of the property in the Real Estate Lease Registration Office to ensure full transparency regarding the property and the lessor. Just in case the said property is forclosure, documents are readily available, just be cautious and always be alert.

• Accessibility to essential locations is what should also ideally be considered when renting a house. Markets, hospitals, police stations, places of worship, malls, parks, and other leisure places are always on a typical list.

Contracts / Terms and conditions

The constitution related to renting is highly strict in terms of contracts that the lessor and the lessee undertake. Both parties should be protected equally in accordance with the laws as clearly stated in Article 3 (Part 1 )of the Property Leasing Law.

The law states the following:

• For leases governed by the present law, everything should be written on paper and should be submitted to the Real Estate Lease Registration Office.
• The lessor should be responsible for all registration of pre-existing leases within one year.
• The lessee may make use of any type of evidence in proof of his/her lease of the premises.
• All applications regarding the lease of the lessee shall be submitted to the Real Estate Lease Registration Office as amended in accordance with Article 2 of Law No. 20 of 2009.

Rights and duties of the lessor and the lessee

When everything is set and done in terms of the authentication of various documents, and the legality of the property & contracts, then you should also be aware of the rights and duties of both the lessor and the lessee. To make it simple and easy to understand, we break down the articles 4-14 stated under Law No. (4) of 2008 Regarding Property Leasing.

Here is what you need to know:

1) The lessor shall turn over to the lessee the leased premises or the house in the condition for which it is intended for (renting), in accordance with the terms and conditions agreed upon in the contract.

2) It is the responsibility of the lessor to maintain the leased premises in a fit and usable condition. If the lessee reported something to be repaired and the lessor failed to act upon it, the lessee has the right to obtain permission from The Committee for Settlement of Rental Disputes to carry out and repair it by himself at his own expense and deduct the cost from his rental payment.

3) The right of the lessee to revoke the lease, reduce the rental payments, cease paying the rent, or extend the tenancy, shall be deemed to be waived if such lessee, without reasonable excuse, occupies the leased premises for thirty days from the date that such maintenance works are undertaken without resorting to the Committee.

4) The lessor can not charge the lessee for more than two months in rent for a security deposit.

5) The lessee is responsible for maintaining the leased premises but is not allowed to change or repair anything without written consent from the lessor. If the lessee failed to ask the consent, the lessor may request the lessee to return everything in its original condition.

6) The lessee should pay all water, electricity, telephone charges, and any other charges from the start of turnover unless otherwise agreed.

7) The lessor can not increase rent due under leases already in force or concluded from the date of the implementation of the present Law, except in accordance with rules, terms, and rates determined by a decree issued by the Council of Ministers upon a proposal from the Minister.

8) The lessee by law should pay the rent on time and not later than seven days from the due date. If the lessor refuses to provide an official receipt of payment, the lessee within seven days can notify the lessor by a registered letter that the payment should be received in seven days. Failure of the lessor to do so, the lessee should deposit the payment to the Treasury Committee as soon as possible.

9) The existing lease shall form part of the title of a new owner even if such a lease is not specifically dated on a date preceding the conveyance of such title unless it is proven that the lease is null or void.

10) A new owner shall, by registered letter, notify the lessee and the Office of the conveyance within thirty days starting from the day following the date of registration of title under the new owner’s name, and a copy of the title deed shall be enclosed with the notification or any document to the same effect.

11) The lessee may not sub-let or assign all or part of the lease to third parties, except with the written consent of the lessor.

Termination of lease

The lease shall be terminated immediately at the end of every contract as specified during the signing. Just in case the lessee decides to continue or extend the contract and the lessor expresses no objection, the contract will be renewed for a similar term under the same terms and conditions.

However, in other instances, the lease shall not be terminated by the death of one of the parties to the lease. But if the heirs of the lessee decide to terminate the contract, the law allows them to do so. In addition to the death of the lessee, if in case the immediate family wants to continue the lease, they shall assume all the lessee's rights and duties. If on the other hand, the lessee sells all the rights from the lease of the premises, then all the rights and duties shall be transferred to the purchaser.

Are you looking to rent an apartment? Did you know about these regulations before? Do let us know in the comments below. Do share this article - it keeps us going!

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Arvin Garcia

Content Writer

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