<a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/tags/my-dubai-rent/"><b>My Dubai Rent</b></a><b> takes you inside a reader’s home to have a look at what they get for their money, how much they pay in rent and asks them what they like and don’t like</b> Escalating <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/weekend/2025/02/09/dubai-property-prices-and-rents-set-to-keep-rising-for-next-few-years-amid-sustained-demand/" target="_blank">rents</a> forced Heather Clayton to move from her home in Dubai's <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/uae/uae-at-50/2021/10/28/uae-then-and-now-from-tracts-of-desert-to-the-metropolis-of-downtown-dubai/" target="_blank">Downtown</a> almost two years ago. However, she has not looked back since moving into her one-bedroom apartment in the city's Al Hudaiba area, near Satwa, where the teacher/writer pays Dh57,000 a year in rent. She invited <i>The National </i>into her home to show us exactly what makes it so special to her. I live here because, a couple of years ago, I was moving out of Downtown because of the soaring rent prices and needed a place I could afford. I was looking all over and I stumbled upon this building in an area I'd never visited before. I liked the space and I just had good vibes when I came to check it out. I feel like it's got a lot of space. There's enough space for a dining table. To have a place where I can have friends over was important. It has an outdoor balcony where I can go to get fresh air. People tend to stay in this building for a very long time, and I think that's very reassuring, especially in such a transient place [Dubai]. Our maintenance guy has been here for 22 years. Everyone in the building is like his family now. There's a real community feel. It's nice to see a familiar face when you're going to your apartment or have people who actually say hi to you. I didn't get much of that in other buildings I lived in. There's tonnes of restaurants here. There's a cafeteria behind my apartment where I can get a Dh5 falafel from when the paycheck's thin. There is definitely a variety, as there's a Korean chicken place, there's pizza and there's a barbecue place, too. I've definitely decorated. I come from the US in the south, and us southern women tend to put a lot of decorations out. I have my art that I've collected from my time in the UAE. I have my own photography that I've done. I've got pictures from the US that I bought while shopping with my mom. She's never been here, but it's like she's here because there are so many things that I've brought from the US. I would say the main disadvantage is that it's an old building, so it doesn't have the shine or sheen of a new building. There are two things that I would change. One is the tub. It's a very small tub. I would like a nice soaking tub. The other is our parking situation, in that there is one parking spot for each unit, but it's not assigned. So if I get here at a certain time, I'm left with that parking space that no one wants.
