Dubai, May 20: In what could come as a major blow to the many families with limited income, especially families of expatriates, the Dubai Municipality has stated that only one family can live in a villa.

Officials of the Building Inspection Department of the civic body said that they have already launched a crackdown on those villas which housed more than one family.

The officials added that the water and electricity supply to the villas housing more than one family would be cut off immediately.

The decision by the civic body is a rude jolt to many families which are presently sharing villas, particularly traditional villas, in several parts of Dubai due to their inability to afford independent accommodation units.

The practice has also become a lucrative business for many landlords and original tenants who have partitioned the villas into small one-bedroom and studio units and sublet the same to people charging affordable rents, market sources say.

Earlier, the municipality had issued an order banning bachelors and single women from sharing villas under any circumstances. Partitioning of rooms in both apartments and villas is already illegal.

Omar Mohammed Abdul Rahman, Head of the Building Inspection Section at the municipality, said, the municipality had carried out several inspection campaigns on all kinds of housing units, especially traditional villas, to end all kinds of illegal practices like bachelors staying in villas and partitioning of rooms in one villa . We are concerned about the health safety and hygiene in the areas."

The official added that with more than one family sharing the same villa, there have been many problems. "Besides the serious hygiene and cleanliness problem, traffic bottlenecks are another thing to worry about. With several families living in a single house, the whole place gets crammed with cars causing major traffic disturbances." People living in villas are worried that the municipality's decision would cost them dearly. "What are we going to do now? I stay in a villa in Al Qusais area which is shared by two other families. There are many rooms and we have taken one on rent. We cannot afford a flat as the rent of even a small-sized studio apartment in Dubai is nothing less than Dh60,000 annually. This decision will cost us very dearly," said a resident on the condition of anonymity. "The municipality has every right to take action if the villa is overcrowded and there are partitions. The officials can very well leave those villas which are clean and spacious. The middle class families living in the emirate will have no place to go now," he added