Law No 1 of 1964 for the Establishment of a System of Public Housing (Repealed)

Law Summary Record Type: LawNumber: 1Date: 18/01/1964 Corresponding to 04/09/1383 HijriNumber of Articles: 22Status: Canceled
Official Gazette :Issue: 1Offcial Journal Issue Publication Date: 01/01/1964 Corresponding to 16/08/1383 HijriPage from: 684
طباعة
 



We, Ahmed bin Ali Al-Thani, Ruler of Qatar,
Having perused law No. 1 of 1962 regulating the senior administrative structure of the government,
Law No. 8 of 1963 on the Department of Labor and Social Affairs,
The proposal of the Deputy Ruler,
Hereby promulgate the following law: 

Part 1: public housing for low-income citizens

Article 1

 A system for the erection of public housing for limited-income citizens shall be established based on the following two main pillars:
(1) The government shall grant to the beneficiary of the provisions of this Law, and in accordance with these provisions, the land needed to build adequate housing for such person.
(2) The government shall allocate for the beneficiary of the provisions of this Law, and in accordance with these provisions, a loan to build a house for such person commensurate with the number of his family members and his income level.

Article 2

 By means of a decree, lands, whether owned by the State or not, suitable for the establishment of public housing, shall be specified, based upon the submission of a committee, comprising the relevant directors of government departments, formed for this purpose.
The relevant authorities shall carry out the procedures for expropriation of land not owned by the State, and allocate the same for public interest, provided that the price is determined based on the price at the time of the expropriation decree.

Article 3

 (As amended by Decree-Law No. 23 of 1966; Law No. 9 of 1968; Decree-Law No. 23 of 1972; Decree-Law No. 23 of 1973 and Law No. 2 of 1973):
The following conditions must be found in the beneficiary of the provisions of this Law:
1 - He should be a Qatari citizen in accordance with the first and seventh articles of the Qatari Citizenship Law No. 2 of 1961 amended by Law No. 19 of 1963 and Decree-Law No. 17 of 1966.
2 - He should belong to the category of limited-income individuals whose total income is not less than (400) riyals and not more than (1800) riyals on the date of application.
3 - He should not be younger than twenty years and not older than fifty years of age.  
4 - He should be married or the head of a family that has no other breadwinner.
5 - He should not be the owner of any immoveable property by himself, and should not have disposed of the same to his wife, by one of the methods of transfer of ownership, whether in exchange of compensation or not, after the effective date of  Law No. 1 of 1964; or the dwelling which is owned by him should be uninhabitable in terms of health, according to the Department of Medical Services and Public Health in the Ministry of Public Health; or its collapse should be imminent and there should be fear of its collapsing without there being any point in trying to repair it, according to the Department of Engineering Services in the Ministry of Public Works.
 
6 - He should not be able to build adequate housing for himself.
7 - He should undergo a medical examination conducted by a government medical committee to determine the soundness of his health and his ability to work.
8 - If the applicant was the owner of a house and disposed of it by means of a sale, then it is required that the transaction should have taken place after the publication of this law, and at least five years before submitting the application. It shall also be required that he establishes proof that the transaction was genuine and that this transaction be registered at the Real Estate Registration office.
9 - He should not have been the beneficiary of another housing project from any other body.
 

Article 4

 Applications related to public housing shall be submitted to the Department of Labour and Social Affairs on a special form issued by this department after obtaining the approval of the Minister of Finance.
If there is more than one request for a specific piece of land, preference shall be given to individuals with limited income whose homes or lands were expropriated to implement public projects, then to the category of employees, and thereafter to citizens that are not employees, taking into account the social situation of the applicant, the number of his dependents, the state of his residence, and the level of his income at the time of the application.
In the event of there being equal justification for the applications within any of the categories listed, preference shall be determined according to the earliest date of application within this category.

Article 5

 The Department of Labour and Social Affairs shall examine the applications as soon as they arrive. It shall present its proposals in this regard to the Minister of Finance, after taking the opinion of the Government Property division, taking into account the rules outlined in the second paragraph of the preceding article, within the limits of the funding reserved for the construction of public housing for limited income individuals in the annual budget.

Article 6

 The utilization and repayment of loans reserved for the beneficiaries of this Law shall be subject to the following rules:
1 - The government shall pay the value of the loan, reserved for the beneficiary, to the contractor chosen to carry out the construction of the house, on behalf of the beneficiary, according to the conditions established by the Minister of Finance.
2 - The repayment of the loan shall take place as follows:
(a) If the beneficiary is a limited-income individual who earns less than seven hundred rupees, the repayment of the loan shall take place within a maximum period of twenty-five years.
(b) If the beneficiary is a limited-income individual who earns seven hundred rupees or more, the repayment of the loan shall take place within a maximum period of twenty years.
3 - To ensure repayment of the loan, the government shall have a lien on the land and building erected thereon until the repayment of the loan takes place completely.

Article 7

 Until the fulfilment of the loan granted for the construction of public housing, the government shall insure the same against fire. One insurance policy may include more than one public dwelling.

Article 8

 The relevant government departments shall have full supervision over the drawings and designs related to public housing, the announcement of tenders and the granting of bids, as well as full control over the construction work.
The beneficiary may not make any change to the construction of the dwelling or add any new permanent sections except after obtaining the approval of the Department of Labour and Social Affairs, which must take the opinion of the Department of Civil Engineering.

Article 9

 No person may benefit from more than one public dwelling, and no person may be granted land in application of the provision of the first paragraph of the first article of this Law if he has previously been granted land from that owned by the State with the proviso that the applicant for benefit who has previously been granted land from that owned by the State may seek to replace it with another piece of land in the area on which public housing is being erected. If he had disposed of the piece of land granted to him previously, he may be sold a piece of the new land for the normal price.

Article 10

 (a) The ownership of the land of a public dwelling that was not free and the building erected thereon shall transfer to the beneficiary as per the provisions of this Law, after the payment of all loan instalments due from him or if the payment thereof is waived for him or his heirs in accordance with its provisions. Registration shall be in his name, and the title deed shall be handed over to him in accordance with the provisions of the Real Estate Registration Law.
(b) This ownership must be restricted by a condition that prevents disposal, exploitation, lease, mortgage or other transactions that transfer ownership or give rise to a personal right or a primary or secondary tangible right in exchange of compensation or otherwise, and by the provision that the property may not be attached.
This condition shall apply for a period of (15) fifteen years from the date of the handover of the non-free public dwelling to the beneficiary. This must be included on the title deed and shall then be deemed to be public and shall serve as a proof before all, including creditors of the beneficiary and his heirs.
(c) The condition that prevents disposal shall terminate by law as soon as the period stipulated in the preceding paragraph expires, and the ownership of the public dwelling shall be transferred to the beneficiary or his heirs completely and free of this condition.
The heirs may dispose of it to one of them by means of disassociation or to others by means of a sale, barter or otherwise. The relevant court may forcefully sell the same, if it cannot be physically divided, and distribute the price amongst the heirs in accordance with their Shariah shares. Ownership shall be registered to the person to whom it was disposed of or to the person to whom it devolves by way of disassociation. A title deed shall be issued for such person free of the condition preventing disposal.  In all cases, it is a requirement for the validity of the disposal of the public dwelling that it be established that the beneficiary or his heirs has made payment of all loan instalments due from him or payment thereof has been waived from them; and that it is established that the beneficiary and his family have another appropriate dwelling for their residence besides the public dwelling intended to be disposed of.
(d) Any transaction, contract or agreement that violates the provisions of the preceding two paragraphs shall be deemed absolutely null and void and may not be registered nor give rise to any legal effect, whether between the contracting parties or in relation to third parties.  Any stakeholder and the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs may uphold the above. The relevant court may also require the same of its own accord.
(e) The provisions of the preceding four paragraphs of this article, on the housing projects carried out by companies, institutions and public and private bodies working in Qatar, shall be applicable.

Article 11

 Beneficiaries of public housing must, until discharge of the last instalment of the loan granted to them, maintain such housing, and effect the necessary repairs to ensure its soundness and upkeep in good condition. The Department of Civil Engineering may adopt the appropriate procedures to verify the same.
In the event of failure to carry out the repairs mentioned in the preceding paragraph, the Director of Labour and Social Affairs may resolve that they be effected at the expense of the beneficiaries, after consultation with the Director of the Department of Civil Engineering.

Article 12

 The repayment of the loan shall take place by deducting regular instalments from the salary of the beneficiary if he is a government employee, and by the discharge by the beneficiary of these instalments, if he is not a government employee.  The deduction or the discharge shall begin in the first lunar (Hijri) month immediately following the month in which the dwelling was ready for occupation and shall continue until the beneficiary repays the loan in full.  The beneficiary may raise the amount of the loan instalments. In such case he shall have the right to revert at any time to the rate of the previous instalments agreed upon.

Article 13

 The beneficiary may be exempted from payment of 40% of the loan instalments before discharging any instalment, to facilitate the same for him, if there is justification for such exemption given his circumstances and living conditions and that of his dependents.

Article 14

 In the event the beneficiary becomes disabled, or passes away, he or his heirs shall be exempted from paying the loan instalments that became due after the date of disability or death.

Article 15

 a) If the beneficiary who is a non-government employee does not discharge any instalment within three months from the date on which the instalment became due, all the instalments shall be deemed due immediately and the government may repossess the dwelling and dispose of it as it deems fit, unless the beneficiary has strong justification acceptable to the government.
(b) If it is established that the beneficiary did not reside in the dwelling prepared for him after signing the contract of receipt for a period of three consecutive months, all the instalments shall be deemed due immediately and the government may repossess the dwelling and dispose of it as it deems fit, unless the beneficiary has strong justification acceptable to the government.
(c) If it is established that the beneficiary resided in the dwelling for a period of time and thereafter abandoned the dwelling and put up residence in another dwelling for a period of six consecutive months, all the instalments shall be deemed due immediately and the government may repossess the dwelling or dispose of it as it deems fit
(d) If it is decided to grant the beneficiary in accordance with the provisions of this Law a public dwelling as provided in paragraph 5 of Article 3 of the Law, the government may assume ownership of the old dwelling, demolish the same for the sake of public interest, and compensate the owner.
 

Part 2: Public Housing for Infirm Citizens

Article 16

 The government shall build housing at its own expense to lease them to infirm citizens who meet the conditions stipulated in Article 19 of this Law.  The government shall collect in lieu of the lease of these dwellings a nominal rental of five riyals per month for each room.

Article 17

 The construction of public housing shall be in accordance with the first paragraph of Article 8 of this Law.

Article 18

 Applications related to the lease of housing for the infirm shall be submitted to the Department of Labour and Social Affairs on a special form issued by this department after obtaining the approval of the Minister of Finance.
The Department of Labour and Social Affairs shall examine the applications as soon as they arrive. It shall present its proposals in this regard to the Minister of Finance, in the light of its study of the circumstances of the applicants and their needs, within the limits of the funding reserved for the construction of public housing for the infirm in the annual budget.
In the event of there being equal justification for the applications, preference shall be determined based on the earliest date of the application in relation to other such applications.

Article 19

 The following conditions must be found in the person who leases any public housing for the infirm:
1 - He should be a Qatari citizen in accordance with the first and seventh articles of the Qatari Citizenship Law No. 2 of 1961 amended by Law No. 19 of 1963 and Decree-Law No. 17 of 1966.
2 - He should be totally unable to work, blind, older than sixty years of age, or an orphan incapable of earning.
3 - He should not have an income of more than 300 rupees monthly.
4 - He should not be the owner of any immoveable property by himself
5 - He should undergo a medical examination conducted by a government medical committee to determine the applicability of the conditions of paragraph 2 of this article to him.
 

Article 20

 The lessee may vacate the dwelling at any time after giving notice to the government one month prior to the date of vacating.

Article 21

 The government may cancel the lease contract after giving notice of one month to the lessee, in the event he does not pay the nominal rent regularly or does not maintain the dwelling in good condition, engages in work that breaches morality, or earns an income of more than 300 rupees per month.

Article 22

 All competent authorities, each within its jurisdiction, shall enforce this Lawfrom the date of its publication in the Official Gazette.

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