Abu Dhabi offers 20% rent refund to restaurants in the emirate

The Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development (ADDED) announced on Wednesday that it would offer a 20 per cent rent refund to restaurants and F&B outlets, as well as tourist and entertainment facilities within the capital emirate as part of its economic stimulus package.

.@AbuDhabiDED announces 20% rent refund for restaurants and F&B outlets, as well as tourist & entertainment facilities. The resolution follows measures announced under the #AbuDhabi Economic Stimulus Package. pic.twitter.com/SkHajYGN1v

— مكتب أبوظبي الإعلامي (@admediaoffice) April 15, 2020

This refund applies to contracts signed between Oct 1, 2019 – March 31, 2020, or renewed between April 1 – September 30, 2020.

Read: Abu Dhabi suspends all rental evictions for two months

Several public and private entities have offered similar rent relief packages to commercial tenants across other emirates within the UAE during the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.

Nakheel announced a Dhs230m package that includes free rental periods for retail and hospitality partners which operate within its malls in Dubai, including at Ibn Battuta Mall, Dragon Mart 1 and 2, and The Pointe, among others.

Read: Dubai developer Nakheel announces Dhs230m relief package, offers rent waivers

Nakheel will waive administration charges across various services for three months, and will also reduce district cooling charges by 10 per cent for three months for commercial and residential customers.

UAE-based conglomerate Al-Futtaim Group pledged a Dhs100m fund to offer up to three months’ worth of rental relief to eligible tenants across its malls in Dubai including Dubai Festival City Mall and the Festival Plaza mall.

Read: UAE’s Al-Futtaim to provide mall tenants three-month free occupancy

Sharjah Asset Management, the investment wing of the Sharjah Government, decided to waive the rent for tenants of Haraj and Jubil markets.

Read: Sharjah issues three-month rent waiver for commercial tenants

All shops within these markets will be exempted from paying rent for three months, it said in a statement on March 22.

Meanwhile, the Dubai Land Department (DLD) through its regulatory arm, the Real Estate Regulatory Agency (RERA), also announced that it was working on measures geared towards the cancellation of fines for 2019 and 2020, the provision of flexible instalment to pay service fees, the reduction of service costs, and also offering a flexible payment option for air conditioning services.

Both Abu Dhabi and Dubai have also temporarily suspended all rental evictions.