The high cost of rents in Qatar continues to add to the financial burden of some owners of small businesses here, who failed to recover “not even 50%” of their losses after the Covid-19 pandemic caused worldwide economic disruptions last year, it is learnt.
“Last year’s lockdown and closure of different types of businesses adversely affected revenues.
"Even with the steady opening of markets and gradual lifting of Covid-19 restrictions, many establishments are barely making it and could hardly break even,” a business owner lamented.
He said that commercial enterprises have to contend with various economic factors.
And given the current circumstances, it is “economically challenging to meet financial obligations with only a small income,” he emphasised.
The high cost of rents was among the main reasons why small businesses in Qatar, such as barbershops, hardware stores, tea stalls, restaurants, and grocery stores, have folded up this year and in 2020, according to the business owner.
At the height of the pandemic last year, some enterprises got a three-month respite from paying rents.
Some tenants even had to haggle with their landlords and settled for discounted rents also for three months, revealed the business owner, who, at that time, was paying QR22,000 as rent for his restaurant in Ain Khalid, which eventually shut down sometime last year due to poor sales.
However, one of the barbers working along Matar Qadeem’s commercial strip complained that he and employees of other enterprises there were required to pay rent even if shops remained closed prior to the announcement of Phase 3 of the gradual lifting of Covid-19 restrictions this year.
He said there were several barbershops and other small establishments that ceased operations or converted to other businesses, such as tea stalls, after failing to cope with the absence of customers because shops remained closed.
“In order to survive, shop owners had to adapt to the needs of the market and shift to other types of businesses. Rather than cutting hair, food services seemed to be a more viable enterprise during this period,” the barber noted.
In Najma Street, another business owner also aired his grievances over rising rent rates in his locality, saying that some landlords, especially along Najma’s busy commercial areas, declined to give tenants cheaper rents or offer discounted rates.
As one of the pioneering tenants of the building, his current monthly rent stands at QR14,000. But he said one of his neighbours, who had recently shifted there to open a hardware store, is paying a staggering QR23,000 as monthly rent.
“Some landlords do not give any consideration to their tenants who are struggling to keep their companies afloat because business is still crawling at a snail’s pace. At the rate of how things are going, how can a tenant pay rent, not to mention employees’ wages and other expenses, if there is no income coming in?” he complained.
At the Industrial Area, a garage owner revealed that he and other service providers of similar establishments there are, likewise, struggling to sustain monthly operating costs, which include rent prices as high as QR30,000 for a semi-open space garage. To Page 12
From Page 1
Responding to the economic impact of the pandemic, the Qatari government announced a QR75bn stimulus last year to help the private sector cope with financial burdens.
Qatar Central Bank (QCB) also directed the banks to postpone loan payments and its interest/profits for those from the affected sectors covered by the decisions of the Supreme Committee for Crisis Management for a period of six months, as well as additional liquidity to banks operating in the country.
Qatar Development Bank (QDB) was directed to postpone the instalments of all borrowers for a period of six months. Government funds also increased their investments in the stock exchange by QR10bn.
However, rent prices, across a variety of segments in Qatar’s real estate sector have remained a pervasive challenge in the market, stated a Doha-based realtor.
In January this year, stakeholders in the country’s real estate industry anticipated a break in the pandemic lull and hoped that the end of the Gulf crisis would stimulate Qatar’s property market.
“Qatar’s real estate sector has yet to benefit from these developments, including a successful nationwide vaccination programme and declining numbers in Covid-19 infection cases; but the market is looking forward to a much-needed rebound in different areas like in the residential and retail segments, among others,” the realtor said.
He said rent prices, particularly in The Pearl and Lusail “remain competitive with abundant options though a significant few, such as the branded ones, still hold a premium.”
Though residential rents have fallen, the rates continue to be high.
The realtor noted that the Class C market “remains critical” with only a few residents spending “25%” of their combined household income on “decent family accommodations” (two bedrooms for a family of four). However, the average spend is still at around “30% to 35%,” he said.
“Most of those from the Class D market (with a net salary of QR2,500 to QR3,000) either spend no less than 30% of their income on high density bed space or up to 40% on a small single room, and sometimes on even just a partitioned room,” he pointed out.
On the commercial property sector, he said serviced offices “remained resilient to survive the pandemic” by offering office organisation systems like ‘hot desking’ and fractional office leases, in addition to smaller office spaces “despite high rents.”
According to a study by UK-based price comparison website, money.co.uk, citizens of Qatar spend 43.73% of their monthly outgoings on rent, the third-highest percentage spent on rent in the world.
The research looked at the average cost of rent for a three-bed property in over 50 developed nations around the world and compared it to other costs of living for a family of four, including food shopping, utilities, transportation, and leisure among others.
According to the study, the average monthly rent in Qatar (three bedrooms) costs £1,705 or QR8,613.46, while the estimated monthly living costs for a family of four amounted to £2,194 (QR11,083.83), corresponding to total monthly outgoings of £3,899 (QR19,697.30).
Hong Kong topped the list of countries with the highest monthly spend on rent followed by Singapore.
Qatar ranked fourth place in the list of the most expensive countries to rent a three-bed property. Topping the list is Hong Kong (£2,760 per month) followed by Singapore (£2,253), and Switzerland (£1,900).
"Even with the steady opening of markets and gradual lifting of Covid-19 restrictions, many establishments are barely making it and could hardly break even,” a business owner lamented.
He said that commercial enterprises have to contend with various economic factors.
And given the current circumstances, it is “economically challenging to meet financial obligations with only a small income,” he emphasised.
The high cost of rents was among the main reasons why small businesses in Qatar, such as barbershops, hardware stores, tea stalls, restaurants, and grocery stores, have folded up this year and in 2020, according to the business owner.
At the height of the pandemic last year, some enterprises got a three-month respite from paying rents.
Some tenants even had to haggle with their landlords and settled for discounted rents also for three months, revealed the business owner, who, at that time, was paying QR22,000 as rent for his restaurant in Ain Khalid, which eventually shut down sometime last year due to poor sales.
However, one of the barbers working along Matar Qadeem’s commercial strip complained that he and employees of other enterprises there were required to pay rent even if shops remained closed prior to the announcement of Phase 3 of the gradual lifting of Covid-19 restrictions this year.
He said there were several barbershops and other small establishments that ceased operations or converted to other businesses, such as tea stalls, after failing to cope with the absence of customers because shops remained closed.
“In order to survive, shop owners had to adapt to the needs of the market and shift to other types of businesses. Rather than cutting hair, food services seemed to be a more viable enterprise during this period,” the barber noted.
In Najma Street, another business owner also aired his grievances over rising rent rates in his locality, saying that some landlords, especially along Najma’s busy commercial areas, declined to give tenants cheaper rents or offer discounted rates.
As one of the pioneering tenants of the building, his current monthly rent stands at QR14,000. But he said one of his neighbours, who had recently shifted there to open a hardware store, is paying a staggering QR23,000 as monthly rent.
“Some landlords do not give any consideration to their tenants who are struggling to keep their companies afloat because business is still crawling at a snail’s pace. At the rate of how things are going, how can a tenant pay rent, not to mention employees’ wages and other expenses, if there is no income coming in?” he complained.
At the Industrial Area, a garage owner revealed that he and other service providers of similar establishments there are, likewise, struggling to sustain monthly operating costs, which include rent prices as high as QR30,000 for a semi-open space garage. To Page 12
From Page 1
Responding to the economic impact of the pandemic, the Qatari government announced a QR75bn stimulus last year to help the private sector cope with financial burdens.
Qatar Central Bank (QCB) also directed the banks to postpone loan payments and its interest/profits for those from the affected sectors covered by the decisions of the Supreme Committee for Crisis Management for a period of six months, as well as additional liquidity to banks operating in the country.
Qatar Development Bank (QDB) was directed to postpone the instalments of all borrowers for a period of six months. Government funds also increased their investments in the stock exchange by QR10bn.
However, rent prices, across a variety of segments in Qatar’s real estate sector have remained a pervasive challenge in the market, stated a Doha-based realtor.
In January this year, stakeholders in the country’s real estate industry anticipated a break in the pandemic lull and hoped that the end of the Gulf crisis would stimulate Qatar’s property market.
“Qatar’s real estate sector has yet to benefit from these developments, including a successful nationwide vaccination programme and declining numbers in Covid-19 infection cases; but the market is looking forward to a much-needed rebound in different areas like in the residential and retail segments, among others,” the realtor said.
He said rent prices, particularly in The Pearl and Lusail “remain competitive with abundant options though a significant few, such as the branded ones, still hold a premium.”
Though residential rents have fallen, the rates continue to be high.
The realtor noted that the Class C market “remains critical” with only a few residents spending “25%” of their combined household income on “decent family accommodations” (two bedrooms for a family of four). However, the average spend is still at around “30% to 35%,” he said.
“Most of those from the Class D market (with a net salary of QR2,500 to QR3,000) either spend no less than 30% of their income on high density bed space or up to 40% on a small single room, and sometimes on even just a partitioned room,” he pointed out.
On the commercial property sector, he said serviced offices “remained resilient to survive the pandemic” by offering office organisation systems like ‘hot desking’ and fractional office leases, in addition to smaller office spaces “despite high rents.”
According to a study by UK-based price comparison website, money.co.uk, citizens of Qatar spend 43.73% of their monthly outgoings on rent, the third-highest percentage spent on rent in the world.
The research looked at the average cost of rent for a three-bed property in over 50 developed nations around the world and compared it to other costs of living for a family of four, including food shopping, utilities, transportation, and leisure among others.
According to the study, the average monthly rent in Qatar (three bedrooms) costs £1,705 or QR8,613.46, while the estimated monthly living costs for a family of four amounted to £2,194 (QR11,083.83), corresponding to total monthly outgoings of £3,899 (QR19,697.30).
Hong Kong topped the list of countries with the highest monthly spend on rent followed by Singapore.
Qatar ranked fourth place in the list of the most expensive countries to rent a three-bed property. Topping the list is Hong Kong (£2,760 per month) followed by Singapore (£2,253), and Switzerland (£1,900).
