# London 2 Dubai



## London_to_Dubai (Sep 4, 2011)

Hello all

Eid Mubarak! I hope you all had a refreshing break. I am moving to Dubai around end September and will be working for a consulting firm in the downtown area. I was hoping to find a studio around there as I wouldn't be driving and don't want to spend a lot of time commuting (I'm going to have crazy work hours!). My living allowance is 5K/month (housing, furnishing, transport etc...)

A friend however suggested that I should look at Bur Dubai as it is fairly cheap and convenient when it comes to access to supermarkets and other local amenities. 

Areas such as Dubai Marina, JBR, Tecom, Greens etc... are probably out of the window due to the long commute to downtown. Following my research so far (googling) I am looking at Downtown vs Bur Dubai. I have looked at some developments in Downtown (8 bouleward walk, lofts, burj views) but don't know anything about Bur Dubai. Most of the studios I've looked at come unfurnished and rent payments are required to be settles in one or cheques. 

Is it easy to find a place without the help of estate agents i.e. approaching the landlords directly? From my understanding most landlords charge a fee of 3K.

I'd like to get your thoughts on the above and any other places you might recommend me to stay. I will have 2 weeks of temporary accommodation when I get there so hoping to find something within that time. 
Any help would be much appreciated. 

Imran


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## Mr Rossi (May 16, 2009)

I had a few friends living in Bur Dubai, it's not as cheap as people think it is but there are some nice sizable apartments there and it's an interesting part of town. However 60k per year isn't going to go that far in Dubai once you factor in furniture, food, DEWA, internet etc. 

Have you thought about looking for a flat share? That way you can keep costs down, not commit to anything straight away and there is the possibility of making new friends. Most UK people do tend to gravitate towards the Marina end of town but the Metro from Downtown to JLT or the Marina is very easily done.

Check out dubizzle for both lets and flat shares. As for the cheques, if you are taking on the lease yourself then the number of cheques and actual amount paid is negotiable and you should haggle. If you are taking a room of a shared house you should pay monthly but not bargain on the rent too much unless you want to get off to a bad start with your new housemates.


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## London_to_Dubai (Sep 4, 2011)

Thanks very much for your message, I highly appreciate your willingness to help me. 

I will definitely look for flat share and other developments in the Dubai Marina / JLT areas. My total salary including living allowance is just over 165K/ year (14K/month), although it is far from extravagant I was under the impression that it would be sufficient for some one living alone. 

Some of the developments that I came across in Downtown (8 bouleward walk, lofts etc...) have studios ranging from 4K to 5K. Factoring in bills, agent fee etc; that should come out to be 6K a month. 

I'd just like to get your thoughts on the above. 

Regards


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## /dev/null (Aug 25, 2011)

I am also moving from London to Dubai but my flight is going to be twice as long!


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## London_to_Dubai (Sep 4, 2011)

Good luck mate! are you travelling via Canada?


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## Mr Rossi (May 16, 2009)

London_to_Dubai said:


> I was under the impression that it would be sufficient for some one living alone.


Fair enough, I assumed the inital amount was the total you had and was factoring in food etc. This obviously gives you a bit more to play with. It's surprised me that Downtown studios are available for 4-5k per month but then you are doing the research I suppose.

I would still think about sharing for at least 2-3 months while you are finding your feet here and seeing how your job is re hours. I would also still think about the Marina end of town, although it seems further on the map, it's one straight line from Downtown and easier/faster to get to. The traffic in Bur Dubai is pretty congested most of the time.

You might also want to look at apartments in the Oud Metha area, this is nearby your work and an established older area of Dubai.


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## TallyHo (Aug 21, 2011)

The sad reality is that 14K doesn't go far in Dubai, especially if you want to have your own apartment. 

I'm guessing you're in your early 20s? The sensible option is to find a flat share or villa share with other young expats. If you're working in DIFC or near there, there are seemingly thousands of apartments in the buildings along Sheikh Zayed Road near metro stops that would be convenient for you. 

A young fellow in our office had a large furnished bedroom and private bathroom in a shared apartment on Sheikh Zayed near the Dubai Mall and he paid about 3500 AED a month, which included maid/utilities/TV/Internet. Some flat shares are boisterious parties, others are people living in their bedrooms and only sharing the kitchen, which would be little different from living in a studio. 

If you want your own place, in addition to the rent which will be paid 3-4 times a year (unless you bargain for monthly or bi-monthly cheques) you need to pay a 5% agent's fee, a 5% deposit, a 1,000 AED deposit to DEWA to hook up to the water/electricity, then there's the monthly DEWA bills and the monthly tv/internet package can be quite expensive. Then you need to buy furniture. It all adds up. 

The Dubai Metro can be handy but to best utilise it you need to carefully consider the proximity of the metro stop to your office and look only at apartment towers within a few minutes' walk of a metro stop. Most buildings in Downtown Burj Khalifa other than the Burj Lofts aren't close to a metro stop (keep in mind that a 15 minute walk to the metro stop is fine in London, but not in Dubai when the intense heat six months of the year guarantees that a short walk leaves you dripping with sweat and you will arrive at the office nearly soaked).


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## London_to_Dubai (Sep 4, 2011)

*Thank you for all your help!*

I would like to thank you both for the extremely important info. I am much more inclined to go for a flat share now, will be spending a lot of time on Dubizzle. I will be working in Emaar Square which is approx. 100 to 200m away from the Burj Khalifa Metro station. 

Hopefully once I am settled in, after a year perhaps I can look for my own place and depending on the pay rise may even lease a car  

Just a quick question on Business Bay, what are your thoughts on the developments there? From my understanding 1000sq feet stuidos in the executive towers could be leased for as little as 40K/year. 

Regards


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## Felixtoo2 (Jan 16, 2009)

It`s been a couple of months since I was last through Buisness bay and it was still a bit of a building site with bery little in the way of infrastructure. If you haven`t got a car you might be better to look for somewhere near a metro stop as not only will you have the metro you`ll also have a ready supply of taxis.


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## Canuck_Sens (Nov 16, 2010)

/dev/null said:


> I am also moving from London to Dubai but my flight is going to be twice as long!


Another fellow Canadian! Anything you need let me know. 

it is going to take 13 hours and you will have a stop in London if travelling with Air Canada.


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## Canuck_Sens (Nov 16, 2010)

Hi Man,

I went through your posts and I think that you might need to consider sharing with a roommate if your budget is 60K. you can rent good places in bur Dubai or even close to DIFC with 120K budget (2 bedrooms). It is not going to be easy but it is "doable".

The other hint given to live close to the subway is spot on! RTA is about to inaugurate the green line. Have a look at the Dubai Metro site along with google maps for your search.

Good luck!


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