Tenancy agreement fee hiked in all Oman governorates

Muscat: After Muscat, the municipal fee for all the tenancy agreements has been increased from 3 per cent to 5 per cent in Dhofar and the rest of the country. In a ministerial decision, the Governor of Dhofar has asked the landlords pay 5 per cent of the lease value as fee.
Ahmed bin Abdullah Al Shuhi, Minister of Regional Municipalities and Water Resources, also issued a ministerial decision for the landlords of residential, commercial and industrial properties stating that the fee for rent contracts has been raised to 5 per cent.
The decision also mentioned that either the landlord or tenant can pay the fee. The move was expected as the Muscat Municipality had already announced a hike as a part of measures taken by the Ministry of Finance in the 2016 State Budget to shore up non-oil revenues.
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The fee had been fixed at 3 per cent for all lease contracts since 1998. This rate now stands amended. Real estate agents, however, welcomed the decision to collect 5 per cent of the land value as fee on specified registrations in Dhofar and other areas of Oman. “A lot of things will be legalised with this new move,” said a real estate agent.
He added that many real-estate owners preferred not to go for legal and approved rent contracts, allowing them to control the situation, and they could then also get the tenants to vacate the property at any time. The government is currently struggling with unapproved contracts and the number of such contracts is quite high, according to Salim Al Ghammari, a municipal council member.