Family or individual shared housing: the rules on rooms, space and bathrooms

Dubai's shared-housing rules split homes into two kinds: housing for individuals and housing for families. Which kind a building is decides who can live there and how the rooms must be set up.

This is a plain-English summary of official sources. It is not legal advice.

One building, one category

The Dubai Municipality circular (point 10) says shared housing in a whole building or villa is limited to one category, either individuals or families. The two cannot be mixed in the same building or villa. The technical guide (section 5) says the same at unit level: each residential unit is for one category only.

Article 14 of the law lists the groups shared housing can be allocated to: families, individual women, individual men, female students, male students, and staff of government bodies and companies. It says the criteria for each will be set by a later decision.

What the two categories mean

The technical guide (section 3.2) defines them:

• Individual housing: individuals sharing a unit, or a single room, to live in, and sharing facilities such as the kitchen, dining room, bathrooms and outdoor areas.
• Family housing: more than one family sharing a unit, and sharing facilities in the same way.

Bedroom space: at least 5 m² per person

From the technical guide (section 4.1):

• Each occupant must have at least 5 m² of space in the bedroom.
• In individual housing, a bedroom can hold more than one person, up to the maximum occupancy allowed and within the health and technical requirements.
• The living room may be reallocated as a bedroom.

As a worked example, a 12 m² bedroom gives 6 m² each to two people and 4 m² each to three. So under the 5 m² minimum it holds two people, not three.

Families: a bedroom and bathroom each

Also from section 4.1 of the guide:

• A unit in family housing can be shared by more than one family, as long as each family has its own bedroom.
• Each family's bedroom must have its own en-suite bathroom.

Kitchens

From section 4.2 of the guide:

• Kitchen space must be at least 1 m² per occupant of the unit, as a minimum.
• In new individual-housing buildings, shared kitchens can be provided on each floor. In apartments, kitchens can be inside the unit. Either way, size and equipment must match the number of occupants.

Bathrooms

The guide (section 4.2) gives two options:

• Full bathrooms (sink, toilet and shower in one room): at least one for every 4 occupants. This applies to both individual and family housing.
• Separate toilets and showers: at least one toilet per 4 occupants and one shower per 6 occupants. This option is for individual housing only.

Extra facilities in individual housing

Buildings for individuals must also have:

• multi-purpose halls for dining and recreation, furnished for the number of residents
• laundry facilities, including washing basins and a place to dry clothes

(technical guide, section 4.2)

Roads that are family-only

Land on vital tourist and commercial streets cannot house individuals. Shared housing there is for families only. The guide names Bani Yas Street, Sheikh Zayed Road, Jumeirah Street and Al Wasl Road, among others (sections 3.3 and 5).

What this means for you

If you are looking for a room:

• A "men only" or "women only" home should be in a building that is entirely for individuals. A family room should be in a building that is entirely for families.
• If a room obviously gives each person less than 5 m², or a family room has no private bathroom, it does not meet the guide.

If you run a building:

• Pick the category for the whole building before you design the layout. The permit application includes the room areas, the resident categories and the occupancy (circular, point 4).