Nakheel hits back at Shoreline car park claim

Nakheel has hit back at claims it locked Shoreline tenants out of car parks in a bid to force homeowners to pay outstanding service charges. The state-owned developer denied reports that tenants in buildings one and two have been refused entry to car parks, but appeared to imply that landlords with outstanding service charges would not be given new access cards. “There is no truth in media reports claiming that we are blocking car park access. Nobody has been stopped from entering the car parks,” a spokesperson said in an emailed statement. “We are simply urging owners and long term tenants at Shoreline buildings one and two to collect their new parking access cards in order to pass through the new automatic barriers that have been installed in these buildings,” it added. But the developer appeared to infer that homeowners with outstanding service charges will not be given new access cards. “Car parks are not part of the sales agreement. We have the right to regulate car park access and will take all legal steps to do so. Owners who have paid their service charges and collected their cards have nothing to worry about,” it said. Nakheel’s statement follows anecdotal reports from tenants that they have been denied access to car parks. “I am now left in a position where I have paid [rent] for my apartment with two car parking spaces and I cannot use them,” a tenant told Arabian Business last week. The claim is the latest twist in a long running battle between the Palm Jumeirah developer and its residents, originally sparked after Nakheel banned homeowners from access to gym, pools and beaches for not paying service charges. Outstanding service charges have been a point of contention between Nakheel and Shoreline property owners. The developer in February said it was still owed half of the AED72m (US$19.6m) in outstanding service charges and would consider taking legal action against owners. “We will work with RERA (Real Estate Regulatory Authority) on this one… If that is the only way the owners want me to take,” Sanjay Manchanda, Nakheel’s acting CEO, said. “The legal resort is available. I don’t want to go there in all honesty. It is not the [route] we would want to take.” RERA has provided a statement in response to comments made by CEO Marwan bin Ghalaita to Arabian Business last week. You can read the response here.