New benefits for building citizens’ residential villas

The Ministry of Municipality and Environment (MME) held a workshop yesterday for accredited engineering consultancies on latest developments in the building permits systems and the new conditions for developing residential villas according to the country’s comprehensive urban plan.Hassan al-Adhami from the MME Building Permits Complex said that the new conditions comprise a number of benefits regarding residential villas, QNA reported.These include an increase in the percentage of construction area on a villa roof, from 35% to 70%, as this will lead to an increase in the number of rooms there as well as the total space of the villa while satisfying all necessary requirements to ensure the privacy of neighbours.The new regulations are meant to ease the rules for residential property developers and maximise the benefit from designated land plots in addition to accommodating more inhabitants, the MME said in a statement.The roof construction “setback” (described as the minimum distance that a building or other structure must be set back from a road, façade etc) should be of 3m from the façade, the rules stipulate.However, it can have a zero “setback” from the other sides and the rear part of the building.In the event of overlooking neighbour’s property, windows should be made of fritted glass or a screen has to be erected between the two buildings.The new regulations allow construction on an increased plot ratio, from 1.2 to 1.65, to maximise the benefit from using the land.Meanwhile, the height of the lounge (majlis) adjacent to the villa’s outer wall has been raised from 3.5m to 4.6m.Also, the minimum space required for each villa within a complex has been decreased from 285sq m to 250sq m in medium-density areas.