Date : 27 Dec,2020

With the continued health isolation of some areas inhabited by expatriate workers in Kuwait, layoffs from government agencies and the private sector and wage cuts continued, the crisis of accumulating rents on hundreds of thousands of expatriates entered the dark tunnel, which prompted property owners to threaten to expel residents in the event of non-payment of rents. Late since the beginning of the emerging coronavirus crisis.

In an interview with Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, a Kuwaiti judicial source warned against ignoring the rent crisis of hundreds of thousands of expatriates, as thousands of cases will accumulate in the courts, which will overburden the judicial facility, especially in light of the delay of a large number of other cases due to the suspension of government business and activities during the past months.

The source, who refused to be named, stressed the need for the government and the Kuwaiti National Assembly to intervene to resolve the crisis between real estate owners and tenants, noting the need to regulate the relationship between the owner and the tenant during periods of force majeure or unexpected events such as the Corona pandemic.

Activists circulated pictures and video clips on social media sites showing the expulsion of residents from their homes, including the families of residents in isolated areas and other areas inhabited by expatriates due to non-payment of rents for 4 months, as well as some landlords cutting electricity and water from real estate to force residents to pay Rentals or vacating apartments.

For his part, Qais Al-Ghanim, Secretary of the Real Estate Owners Union, a "non-governmental organization", called on real estate owners and real estate companies to understand the exceptional circumstances that Kuwait and all countries of the world are going through and not to be arbitrary in dealing with the issue of rent delay, stressing at the same time that escalation and resorting to the courts will not Be the perfect solution.

Al-Ghanim said during a phone call to Al-Arabi Al-Jadeed that there are approximately 280,000 vacant apartments due to the Corona crisis, as thousands were forced to leave their homes, as well as tens of thousands leaving Kuwait during the past months due to residency violations or the termination of their services and their dismissal from their work.

A large number of companies and real estate owners took the initiative to exempt tenants or approve rent reductions of up to 50 percent, and some resorted to paying installments to residents late, while the majority of real estate owners refused to exempt tenants or reduce rents.

Members of the Kuwaiti National Assembly had submitted a proposal for a law dealing with the conditions of contracting parties using lease contracts during emergency circumstances, providing for an exemption from 6-month rents in emergency circumstances, and a 60% reduction in the subsequent six months' rent.

The proposed law also included that in all cases the landlord may not compel the tenant to vacate the leased property after the occurrence of emergency circumstances and throughout the year period determined for the exemption and reduction of the rent, as well as if the resulting effect continues according to decisions issued by the Council of Ministers for a longer period that prevents the use of the leased property.

On the other hand, Kuwaiti economic expert Marwan Salama confirmed to "The New Arab" that the rent payment crisis will result in major economic problems, stressing that the evacuation of real estate from residents who have defaulted on payment will complicate the real estate recession in Kuwait, pointing out that the real estate market recovery will pour out. In the interest of the economy.

Salameh added that the rent crisis has become a time bomb, at a time when the government has been very late in dealing with the file of rents in private housing, stressing the need to find solutions that understand the conditions of expatriates, and also real estate owners who have monthly commitments and installments that they pay to banks.