Ajman's Department of Municipality and Planning has begun piloting a new scheme to classify and regulate bachelor and shared accommodation inside residential buildings, department director Mohammed Abdulwahab Mustafa announced this week.
The trial phase covers five areas of the emirate — Al Nuaimiya, Al Rashidiya, Al Nakheel, Liwara and Al Rumaila — and will be evaluated before officials decide whether to expand or refine it further. Mustafa said the goal is to set out a clear framework for residential occupancy that balances the needs of different segments of the community with the requirements of urban planning.
Under the framework, the department has defined specific conditions governing when bachelors may be permitted to live in a building, alongside a clearer definition of what counts as shared housing. Officials say the aim is to give owners, tenants and real estate companies a transparent, standardised methodology for classifying buildings, rather than leaving the matter to informal arrangements that can vary from one building to the next.
To prepare the market for the change, the department held a workshop bringing together real estate companies operating in Ajman, briefing them on the initiative's goals and priorities and clarifying the approved requirements and conditions for allowing bachelor tenants into residential buildings.
Bachelor and shared housing has long been a sensitive planning issue across the UAE. Many single workers and employees prefer to split rent with flatmates, a practice that can sit uneasily with rules designed for family-occupied buildings and sometimes draws complaints from residents. By limiting the first phase to five areas, Ajman appears to be testing the policy's practical effects on the ground before committing to emirate-wide rules.
If the pilot proves workable, the Department of Municipality and Planning is expected to extend the scheme to additional areas across Ajman and issue final regulations covering all residential buildings in the emirate.