Suryatapa Bhattacharya
There seems to a general bias against bachelorettes in this city, especially when it comes to housing.
The idea that a one-bedroom apartment will actually be inhabited by a single girl is likely more frowned upon than a mere inquiry about its existence.
For Abu Dhabi is a city of two and three-bedroom apartments, and lavish villas (or hotel apartments). And to demand anything less not only means to pay more, but face prejudices about being single.
Or so I found when accompanying my friend on one of the most frustrating apartment-searches in this city.
She was renting a studio space in a villa that had been converted into multiple residences. And only recently, after frequently being without electricity or water in the scorching summer months and facing hostile neighbours, did she realise that she was occupying an illegally partitioned villa.
Which would explain our own version of the Amazing Race when it came to looking for an apartment AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.
However, there was a slight statistical problem we were only vaguely aware of: Abu Dhabi’s occupancy rate stands at 99 per cent.
And thanks to inflation, rental prices have shot up dramatically in the past six months. So my friend was reluctantly looking at paying an extra Dh20,000 a year over what she was already paying for something that was less than sub-standard.
The process of trying to interact with a real estate agent was equally dicey. If they weren’t completely vague about pricing, location and municipality approval, then they busied themselves by being disapproving of my friend’s single status.
What is so gravely wrong in being an ambitious young woman, who can easily relocate in order to experience life in the Middle East? And not just any other country, but the UAE — with its standards of living and safety, and popularly known as the Switzerland of the Middle East.
Yet, the first week was downright depressing. We were shown cubby holes in villas that were in the process of being converted into apartments, in spite of the municipality’s crackdown on illegally partitioned villas. In one instance, we were shown a one-bedroom apartment in what should’ve been the villa guard’s station.
Her budget wasn’t frugal either. She was willing to fork out anything between Dh80-90,000 for a year’s lodging.
In another case, we ended up driving 45 minutes out of the city and into the heart of Khalifa City to look at a place that was simply advertised as being “before” Maqta Bridge.
“Why do they lie about location?” I asked my friend. “It’s not like we are going to take the place without driving to see it first.”
Even if the city actively discourages building residences for single people, mostly workers forced to be single because they are not permitted to bring their families over, they should consider that a large number of their expat work force is made up of highly educated, qualified individuals who are young and ambitious, much like the country, and are looking to get ahead and make a difference.
But without a place to live here, we are forced to look elsewhere. Like Dubai.
I'm an American, caucasian, single, 33 year old male, and I'm considering moving to Abu Dhabi for a very nice pay increase. A few questions:
1) How is dating for singles in Abu Dhabi?
2) what about having a girl over at your apartment? - would I be arrested? Will I have to be a monk for my entire stay in Abu Dhabi?
3) do single males experience the same kind of discrimination that you are saying single females experience when looking for an apartment?
4) Should this be considered a families only city?
Posted by: Jon | March 22, 2010 at 08:10 PM