أسئلة وأجوبة
Consequences of increased area of property on handover
I invested in a Dubai property in 2007. It was completed in 2016. In my handover notice was included a size increase letter which says my property size has increased by 50% and I now need to pay an extra 463,000 AED.
"Any area in excess of the net area of the sold Real Property Unit may not be taken into consideration. Unless otherwise agreed, the developer may not claim the value of such extra area."
The developer is saying because I agreed to pay for any increase in my SPA which I signed in 2007 I have to pay for the increase. I am saying since the law came out in 2008 and decree 6 came in 2010 they would have to agree the increase with me again.
Can you please advise.
Dear Sir/Madam,
Please note that my response to your question will be purely from an academic point of view based on the limited preliminary information that has been provided. Therefore, it should not be treated as a legal opinion for the want of adequate knowledge and review of relevant documents when read with the applicable laws.
Article 12 of Law No. 13 of 2008 clearly states that if there is an increase in the area of the property, the developer may not claim any increase in the price in consideration for such increase. However, Article 13(2) of Executive Council Resolution No. 6 of 2010 states that any area in excess of the net area of the sold property may not be taken into consideration, unless otherwise agreed. This means that if it is agreed in the SPA that you would pay for any increase in the area, then it is likely that the clause would have to be complied with.
Nevertheless, the SPA will need to be reviewed to analyze if the developer has been given the right to ask for an increase in the purchase price if the area of the property has increased on handover. In addition, along with the SPA, the Initial Contract of Sale and Title Deed would also need to be reviewed to evaluate the area(s) specified and if there was any such increase in the area of the unit.
In order to share our opinion on the set query, we will need more information and so we invite you to write to/call us to further discuss this matter.
We look forward to hearing from you.
