I am a tenant, not a landlord. I am asking for the approach a landlord would want me to take in my situation. I hope this post is not against any forum rules.

I split my time between my home city and where I work overseas. I have an apartment overseas that I rent. The apartment would most likely be classified as a condominium in the US; individual owners and renters of single family homes/units in a multi-story, multi-unit building, with security, facilities, and common areas.

To the point: My landlord has informed me he is raising the rent by 8.5% upon contract renewal in October, but read on.

Dubai has government regulations concerning rental increases. I rent an apartment in an area that forbids apartments from asking above a certain amount for rent this year. This amount is below what I pay now; however, this rule does not apply to "hotel apartments," which is my apartment classification. My apartment is identical to non-hotel-apartments in the same building, but was classified as a hotel apartment upon purchase by the owner. Due to this, my rent could legally be raised, or at least is in a gray-enough area that I wouldn't want to raise the legality as an issue.

I am considering leaving my apartment and landlord at the end of my lease, and moving to an identical non-hotel apartment in the same building. My rent would be approximately 30% cheaper in the new place, before the increase. As a landlord, how would you want me to approach you about this?

The building is not even close to 100% occupied, so apartments are easily found and rented. I like my landlord just fine and there are zero issues on either side concerning payments, repairs, upkeep/cleaning, or anything else. I stayed in my last apartment for 8 years before moving to the current apartment, and had zero issues with that landlord. I feel I am a good tenant; I always pay on time with "post dated checks" already in his possession. This is typical for Dubai. I care for the property almost like it were my own.

In all honesty, this rental increase in a depressed area makes me wary that future increases will be more unreasonable and more extreme, and I should "get while the gettin's good."

Dubai, Emirate of Dubai

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