September 04, 2026 | Ionut Marin | UAE | Property Management
Dubai is on course to hand over around 55,600 homes this year, with more than 160,000 further units due in 2027. As a delivery record, that is remarkable. But every home handed over also begins another, much longer cycle: looking after it.
Every property comes with cooling systems, water pumps, electrical infrastructure, waterproofing and finishes that need to perform year after year. In Dubai's climate, that responsibility is particularly significant. DEWA estimates that air conditioning accounts for 60% to 70% of household electricity consumption during the summer. That is not only an energy consideration; it also indicates how intensively some of the most important systems within a home are being used.
Dubai has become exceptionally good at building at scale. As its housing stock grows and matures, I believe the next opportunity is to bring the same level of attention to how those homes are maintained.
Four things will increasingly matter: proximity, accountability, prevention and the experience homeowners receive.
The conventional maintenance model is straightforward: operate from a central depot, maintain a large fleet and dispatch technicians across the city as requests arrive.
It provides coverage, but distance creates variables. A homeowner's appointment can depend on which technician is available, traffic conditions, how jobs have been routed and the number of outstanding calls elsewhere.
A community-based approach works differently. Engineers and supervisors are positioned within, or close to, the communities they serve.
Faster response is the obvious advantage, but familiarity may ultimately be more valuable.
Teams repeatedly working within the same neighbourhood begin to understand its properties. They learn how buildings are accessed, which faults tend to recur, how particular systems were specified and where common maintenance requirements emerge.
They also begin to know individual homes.
Over time, that knowledge means a technician can arrive with an understanding of the property's history rather than treating every appointment as an entirely new problem.
Ask homeowners what they value in a service relationship and consistency quickly becomes important.
A different technician on every visit can mean explaining the same issue repeatedly. Previous repairs may not be immediately understood, and information about a property's maintenance history can become fragmented.
This becomes increasingly relevant as Dubai's residential stock ages.
Homes that are 15 or 20 years old naturally require a different maintenance approach from newly completed properties. Waterproofing, ducting, electrical systems, plumbing, pumps and exterior finishes all develop histories of their own, and individual issues can become interconnected.
If an air-conditioning system has already required attention three times, the fourth visit should be understood as part of the same history rather than treated simply as another service ticket.
That is where continuity can create accountability.
The relationship moves from someone being sent to repair an individual fault towards a team taking greater responsibility for understanding the condition of the property over time.
Much of residential maintenance remains reactive: something stops working, the homeowner calls and a technician arrives.
In Dubai's environment, prevention deserves a larger role.
Cooling systems, pumps, water infrastructure, electrical components, exterior finishes and landscaping are exposed to demanding operating conditions. Waiting until equipment stops functioning completely can turn a relatively manageable maintenance requirement into a much larger disruption for the resident.
Preventive maintenance does not mean replacing equipment unnecessarily. It means inspecting properly, recording what is found and recognising changes before they become larger problems.
A pressure reading moving in the wrong direction, a new stain, declining cooling performance or an unusual sound may appear insignificant individually. Recorded and monitored over time, they can provide valuable early warnings.
For homeowners, the financial argument is equally relevant. Owners in older mid-market communities can spend around AED 3,000 to AED 5,000 per unit annually on servicing and repairs, with costs potentially increasing when maintenance requirements accumulate.
Prevention, therefore, should not necessarily be viewed as a premium addition to property care. In many cases, it can be the more efficient approach.
There is another part of residential maintenance that receives less attention: what happens inside the home during the visit.
Technical competence is essential, but homeowners experience much more than the repair itself.
Was the appointment window respected? Did the resident know who would be arriving? Were floors and furniture protected? Was the problem explained clearly? And was the property left in the same, or better; condition afterwards?
These details matter because working inside someone's home is fundamentally different from working on a construction site or inside a plant room.
The technician is entering a private space. Technical training therefore needs to be accompanied by an understanding of communication, professionalism and how to work respectfully within an occupied home.
For the homeowner, these details can shape their perception of the service just as strongly as the repair itself.
The second half of the experience is information.
Historically, maintenance has often been transactional: call, visit, repair, invoice.
That is becoming less sufficient, particularly for higher-value homes, investment properties and second residences.
Owners increasingly want to understand what was inspected, what was discovered, what work was completed and what may require attention in the future. Photographs, inspection records and service histories can create a much clearer picture of a property's condition over time.
That becomes especially useful in Dubai, where many owners may spend substantial periods outside the UAE.
If the owner is abroad, a reliable digital record may be the primary way they understand what is happening inside their property.
It can also provide greater transparency around expenditure. With service charges varying considerably between Dubai communities, owners naturally want greater visibility over the additional maintenance and repair costs associated with their homes.
Dubai's residential maintenance sector will continue to benefit from technology, scale and specialist expertise. But as the city's housing stock expands, I believe the part of the industry that homeowners actually interact with needs to become closer, more familiar and more accountable.
The number of vans a provider operates may matter operationally. For the resident, however, different questions are likely to matter more.
Who is looking after my home? Do they understand its history? What are they doing today that could prevent tomorrow's problem? And what information will I have once the work is finished?
Dubai has spent years demonstrating what is possible when real estate development operates at extraordinary scale.
As tens of thousands of new properties move from construction sites into people's hands, the next chapter will increasingly be about how well those homes are cared for after the keys are handed over.
That is where the residential property-care market is heading.
Ionut Marin is Founder & CEO of MAINTAINED, a residential property care company operating in Dubai and Abu Dhabi.
Source: Contributed article supplied to REM Times by Ionut Marin, Founder & CEO, MAINTAINED.
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Author- Mohammed Kaiser, Emaar Community Management L.L.C
