No rule denying flats to single women

The Sharjah Municipality has denied a newspaper report (not KT) on lack of residential houses for single women in the emirate. A senior official said Sharjah makes no distinction between women and men in leasing accommodation and the report which appeared on June 4 is ‘‘incorrect and unverified’’. It said there are no legal or binding directives that prevent the leasing of apartments to single women in the emirate. Sultan Al Mualla, Director-General of the Sharjah Municipality, said no law has ever been issued in Sharjah that differentiates between women and men, and targets women specifically, with regards to housing rentals. He said single women in Sharjah can continue to rent apartments. The Director-General confirmed that no complaints or reports have been received to date from women regarding landlords’ refusal to lease apartments or the lack of clarity in the law of leasing for singles. He said no official from the Sharjah Municipality has so far received any inquiry from the newspaper on the subject. ‘‘If an official was indeed contacted, it would have been appropriate for the newspaper to mention the name in order to establish credibility of the news reported,” he said. Shaikh Sultan bin Ahmed Al Qasimi, Chairman of the Sharjah Media Corporation, said the Sharjah Media Centre, the communications arm of the Government of Sharjah, is always open to answering any queries from the media on behalf of governmental departments, institutions or agencies in Sharjah. Many owners and managers of real estate offices in Sharjah conveyed their full understanding of the law of lease for singles, which does not differentiate between women and men. However, he pointed out that there have been cases when people seek to lease an apartment for investment purposes and then sub-let the rooms to a larger number of people than what is authorised by the municipality. In such cases, the real estate group does not permit the leasing of apartment to the concerned party.