‘I might leave the country’: Education City graduates receive eviction notices ahead of FIFA World Cup

According to an email sent by QF Housing on Thursday, alumni of the Qatar Foundation (QF) have been ordered to vacate their student housing accommodations by the first of October in order to create place for the rising number of students this year.

According to a statement from QF to Doha News, “several of our remaining alumni were given notice this week to vacate their flats to make room for incoming Afghan students who would be joining the American University of Afghanistan here in Education City.”

The alumni housing offered by the Qatar Foundation is intended to give graduates with QF-sponsored student residence permits an inexpensive place to live as they search for employment and advance their professions after graduation.

However, as housing becomes more scarce and rent rates rise in front of the FIFA World Cup, several graduates are now afraid that being faced eviction at the present may compel them to leave the country.

One QF graduate told Doha News, “I am working on a temporary employment while I look for something full time. If I cannot find cheap housing by October, I will be [released] from my contract and may have to leave Qatar entirely.”

The alumni said, reiterating his desire to attend the World Cup, “I am a major football fan and it will be gut-wrenching to not be here, especially because I already have the tickets to games and teams I adore watching.”

In an email sent to residents on 11 August, residents were told that housing is going to be limited during the FIFA World Cup as QF will be assigning rooms to host “priority groups” during FIFA World Cup 2022 at the QF Student Housing.

As a result of this, some alumni have expressed their confusion and annoyance at “the lack of transparency” from QF Housing, as they were neither informed about vacating completely until mid August nor were they told who the “priority groups” are, until QF confirmed to Doha News that they are Afghan students.

Graduates at QF Housing pay around an average of 2700 QAR per month for a fully furnished one bedroom apartment, but now that they are facing evictions, it is proving difficult to find affordable housing outside of Education City.

“I tried to find housing outside before moving back into QF Housing, but it is very expensive and hard without a stable income since landlords want you to sign 12 month lease contracts and I don’t have that money,” another QF graduate told Doha News.

“I am not comfortable living with random roommates, and the cheap places I found were far from my workplace,” the graduate added, stressing that even though she is considering moving back to her country, she needs to find a way to stay here since she still has to pay off her QF student loans.

Qatar Foundation offers need-based loans to low income international and local students, which they are required to pay off after graduation by working at one of hundreds of approved organisations in Qatar.

The World Cup’s housing demand makes the timing of evictions unfavourable, but Housing is primarily focused on providing support to current students, QF told Doha News.

Qatar’s rent woes ahead of FIFA World Cup

With 92 days before the kick off game, residents in Doha have reportedly been given eviction notices, asked to sign short term lease agreements, or on the flip-side, 24-month lease agreements – or have even had their rent significantly increased.

Many have blamed this on the World Cup, believing that landlords are looking to capitalise on the profits that visitors will bring to the country, making living conditions difficult for long-term residents.

On average, proprietors can raise rent prices up to 10% a year, according to Shahzad Ali, a strategy executive based in Doha.

In order to increase revenue, the government lifted the World Cup pricing cap as of 2022, basically giving landlords free reign to charge “up to 15,000 to 20,000 QAR a night.”

“They [landlords] are attempting to profit from the World Cup season, during which the authorities have removed a cap on price increases. For small landlords, the business case justifies requesting the tenants to vacate, according to a cost-benefit analysis, Ali told Doha News.

The cost of renting has significantly increased in Qatar over the past year, with some increases exceeding 50%.