With the first lot of the low-rent housing units of Barwa Real Estate company all set to be handed over to the tenants, some real estate agents say the project may not have the expected impact on the market since a good number of the beneficiaries will be moving into the new houses from shared accommodation. Delivery of Barwa’s 992 apartments in Mesaimeer is expected to be completed by the end of March. The company has announced that a majority of the houses will be handed over on February 1. “The project would have a major impact on the market if an equal number of houses are being vacated and released to the market. This is not likely to happen since many of the beneficiaries would be coming from shared accommodation. We have not seen any of our existing tenants moving to a Barwa house,” a representative of a leading real estate company told The Peninsula yesterday. There is also a possibility that some of the Barwa tenants may keep their present house and rent it out at the existing rate or even at a higher rate. So, the project may not necessarily result in a fall in house rents, which are already falling. “While releasing the apartments, Barwa should make sure that the tenants will return their old houses to the landlords,” the representative of the real estate company said. Meanwhile, despite repeated assurances by Barwa officials, several tenants feel the houses may not be handed over on February 1, as scheduled. “Earlier, I was told that I would get the keys of my apartment after January 20. When I went to the office two days after the said date, I was informed that the house will be ready for occupation only by mid-February. They said the delay was due to some technical problems,” said a concerned tenant. A senior Barwa official, however, said yesterday that he was not expecting any delay in handing over of the houses. “The keys will be handed over to the tenants on February 1, the date when the lease contract will take effect. They can move in soon after that,” he said. http://thepeninsulaqatar.com/Display_news.asp?section=Local_News&subsection=Qatar+News&month=January2009&file=Local_News2009012534127.xml

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