Moving to Dubai
 

Hi all,

I'm moving to Dubai in August to join Emirates. I had requested, and was due to join, company provided accommodation to make my life easy. However, with about a month to go before I fly out, I've been told that co-accomm is full and that I'll need to sort my own place out.

I don't really know much about Dubai, apart from some research on the different neighbourhoods via my Lonely Planet travel guide. I'd like to hear from people who have actually lived in Dubai, in the context of working for Emirates, ideally. Any thoughts on where might be a good area to live for a 27 y/o guy going out there by himself and wanting to save money on the 12,000AED accommodation allowance?

Cheers.

The rentals are crazy now, I believe you can look around business bay for some deals on bayut or propertyfinder you will get an idea. If you don’t mind asking which fleet are you joining on?

Look for property to rent on “Dubizzle” which is a good place to start for anything in Dubai, be it property, furniture, second hand cars etc.

Personally I like Uptown Motorcity, as it is one of the few places where you don’t need your car on days off. You can walk to restaurants, shops, liquor store, bar, coffee shops etc and it’s still only 15 minutes to the beach or thirty to the airport (or three hours in rush hour🤣). ButIm a bit older than 27…

Best thing might be to find a furnished studio somewhere like silicon oaisis for about 4k AED on a short term rental for the first month while you decide where you want to be before committing to a lease. But for 7k AED a month you should find a reasonable apartment.

Thanks guys. airbuspilot944 I'll be on the triple.

excrab Thanks for the suggestions. I was planning on not buying a car, and figured that basically anywhere in the city would be doable without a car on off days. You reckon it's not sustainable to keep using uber/careem or public transport? I was looking at downtown, or the marina. Pricier but nice looking and also within the allowance, so still basically free and then some.

You can survive without a car but you can place that in the same basket as those who carry pot noodle's on a layover so they can save on per diems. A good second hand car will cost you between 30k - 40k aed and you can sell it for only a small loss if you need to leave soon.

As has been suggested, go for the short term furnished accommodation until you find your feet.

Start with short term furnished accommodation in the Marina or Downtown to make sure you like the area. In either of those places you can manage without a car in the short term but you will definitely need one before long. Remember for rental you need to factor in the housing fee which is 5% of the annual rent payable to the government and an agent's fee of 5% - in Dubai the agents work for the landlord but are paid by the tenant. Don't expect to save much out of the 12K a month allowance if you want more than one bedroom in a nice area.

The insanity of the situation is that there is no company accommodation left after people were forced to move back in post Covid but we have single guys forced to live in four bedroom houses they don't want (and not allowed to move out unless they buy somewhere) while families joining now are having to sort their own housing out and finding the allowance won't cover the rent and bills on a house.

Thanks for the suggestions guys. A one bed will do me just fine, and will look for something tempo as suggested until I get a feel for the place. Isn't it mad that most places want 12 months rent in advance!? Especially since Ek give you a 6 months advance, and thats only a one off.

I'll wait a while before getting a car as with the work pick up and drop off and glut of ubers etc should be grand for a while. Plus I'll be so busy with the training I won't even have time to think about that for a few months :bored:

You will very quickly learn to loathe driving in Dubai so I strongly suggest you live as close to the airport as possible whilst maintaining quality of life.

As an immediate and unforgettable education in this respect, soon after arriving in Dubai take a taxi from Mall of the Emirates to the airport at 1800.

I’d disagree with that. As a young single guy the lifestyle of the Marina or possibly Downtown would be worth the drive to work. It’s really not that much further than other areas as most of the time you miss the traffic, plus if you are in traffic it’s not your problem if you’re late while you relax as the driver deals with it.

Would recommend Sharjah as the night life is better and very little traffic from Sharjah to Dubai in the mornings and vice versa in the afternoons.

You sound like a right plonker.

nimrodjoe cheers bud.

Aye I think marina and downtown are good shouts, will look there. Thanks for the insights!

In case you have to leave soon… :rolleyes:

When you undertake a new job in a new country, it is probably a good idea to make conservative decisions. Not everybody will like it here and some will leave. But you right - I should have added, "..or you decide to settle in for the long haul and upgrade to Porche or Tesla".

Maybe look at JVC or DSO, you should be able to find a studio or 1 BR apartment there that fits inside your budget. Good luck.

You must be one of those guys people avoid.