Rapid rise in Dubai rents rattling expatriates

[DUBAI] Sarah El-Said is relocating for the fourth time since coming to Dubai from New Jersey in 2008. The mother of two and her husband will pay 43 per cent more for a similar-sized apartment, moving their children away from friends after disagreeing with their landlord over terms of a new lease.

"This is insane," said Ms El-Said, who pays 8,750 dirhams (S$3,000) per month for an apartment on the Palm Jumeirah man-made island. "It's like you have to move house every two years. You feel no stability in where you live and you're always at the mercy of landlords whose sole interest is making more money."

Rent increases and the conflicts that go with them are climbing in the city of about 2.2 million, rattling a workforce that's mostly foreign, as a rebounding property market and a surging economy embolden landlords. Buying a home has become more difficult after the central bank damped lending for mo…