Measures for real estate owners to support World Cup 2022 unveiled

Doha: Director of Government Housing and Buildings Department at the Ministry of Administrative Development, Labor and Social Affairs, Mubarak Hamdan Al Arabeed, said that both the Department and the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy (SC) have welcomed the owners wishing to support the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 and cooperate through a programme to rent their properties.

The move is in accordance with the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between the Department and the SC recently to lease residential buildings to provide accommodation for visitors during the tournament.

Speaking to QNA, Al Arabeed explained that rental period will last for at least five years, which is the period of the contracts that will be concluded with the owners. The rented properties will be used for the requirements of the World Cup, and will later be used to accommodate employees through the government housing programme.

Work is currently underway to receive the requests of properties’ owners wishing to register in government housing, inspect the property, and sign contracts with the owners approved by the committee, he added. All properties are expected to be received between August 2021 to January 2022.

The Ministry of Administrative Development, Labor and Social Affairs and the SC signed an MoU in March aimed at providing more accommodation options and granting investment opportunities to real estate owners in the private sector by offering their properties to host visitors and fans during the tournament, and then getting the benefit in the long term through government housing.

The Director noted that the owners wishing to rent their properties can apply through the SC platform, whether it is for a residential building or a residential complex.

Pointing to the most important conditions required for the rented properties for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, Al Arabeed said that the housing units must be furnished with acceptable and integrated furniture, and must be ready in the required period.

In the framework of the joint team received recently a number of applications from the owners wishing to rent their properties. The team has studied and valued the applications, and has initially approved more that 150 properties including flats, towers, fully furnished residential complexes, thus providing 15,000 rooms.

SC Vice-Chairman for Operation Affairs, Fatima Fakhro said that Qatar promised the world to provide a unique, amazing and accessible experience for everyone during the World Cup Qatar 2022, and accommodations and their facilities constitute one of the pillars of this experience. Fans and visitors will be offered a variety of accommodation options.

Fakhro said that in light of the expectations that Qatar will receive about 1.5 million fans during the tournament, “we have been keen on diversifying accommodation options for fans and visitors coming to Qatar to attend the World Cup matches, including innovative accommodation options to ensure that all guests experience an integrated and comfortable stay.

These options include three to five-star hotel rooms all over Qatar, in addition to hotel rooms on board cruise ships floating in the waters of the West Bay, in the context of the agreement signed by the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy and the MS cruise ships company in November, to rent two ships during the tournament. The capacity of the two ships is about 4000 rooms.