Choosing your perfect rental home in Dubai

If you’ve landed your dream job in Dubai, the wrong decision as to where to live in the city might just result in motoring nightmares!

Choosing your exact location in Dubai is essential for your stress levels, especially if you’re accompanied by your family and/or your pets. Tying together work hours, school hours and commuting times whilst allowing enough time to walk the dog is challenging at the least and debilitating at worst. As a result, choosing a location which suits your lifestyle is essential.

Dubai’s rush hours are between 7 to 9 am with the inevitable traffic jam running north to south, and 5 to 7 pm when the congestion is from south to north. The traffic snarl-ups are the result of an increase in residents moving to Sharjah and working in the Jebel Ali sector of town, with the school run thrown in for good measure. Choosing to live in an area with at least limited traffic between work and home will help, as will the continuing road improvements across the city.

These days, landlords don’t insist on the traditional one year's rental in advance and are becoming flexible enough to accept between two and four payments during the 12 month period. Even so, one year’s suitably dated cheques must be handed over, meaning the cash will need to be in your bank on the due dates. This arrangement will cost you a slightly higher annual rental bill, but it’s a better option than starting out with a bank loan or heavy credit card bills.

Your most important decision is between an apartment and a villa – with the latter unaffordable by many newly-arrived expats. It’s not just the rent, it’s electricity, water and other expenses linked to a larger property as well as the need to hire a maid as an alternative to spending your free time cleaning house. Apartments are easier to maintain, cheaper and benefit from 24/7 security. Noise can be an issue but, balanced against a swimming pool and a fully-equipped gym, can become bearable. If the family dog is an essential part of your relocation, it’s a villa or nothing as pets aren’t allowed in apartments.

Popular expat districts include Arabian Ranches, Palm Jumeirah, Dubai Marina, Jumeirah Lake Towers and the new apartment buildings around the Dubai International Financial Center. The first four developments are set along the coastline, but the tempting ocean views don’t come cheap and the gated communities can sometimes feel like an extension of the Stepford Wives movie. The DIFC towers are perfect for singles and younger couples for their decent restaurants and lively ambience as well as their walking distance to the fantastic Dubai Mall.