Dubai home maintenance specialist Hitches & Glitches (H&G) has launched a dedicated service to renovate bathrooms, as more homeowners in Dubai’s freehold areas start to upgrade their properties.
The Farnek-owned firm said it has teamed up with Dubai based Fischer & Meyerhans Architects who will take care of the interior design and CasaMia to supply quality European sanitary wear products and accessories.
“Over the past 12 months, we have witnessed a marked increase in the number of enquiries that we are receiving from homeowners across Dubai, who want to upgrade their bathrooms,” said Zohaib Azhar, head of operations at Hitches & Glitches.
“Therefore, we decided to initiate a dedicated renovation service for bathrooms, with design and build turnkey packages that make it more convenient for homeowners.”
Bathroom renovations usually take between 3-5 months, depending on the size and extent of work required and to help homeowners budget appropriately, Hitches & Glitches says it has come up with an all-inclusive cost for a turnkey bathroom project, with pricing based on square metres, facilities, products and scope.
For example, a master bathroom with two sinks, a toilet, a shower, bathtub measuring approximately 15sqm will cost around AED 59,000. Alternatively, a maid’s bathroom of 4sqm would cost AED 23,000.
According to Azhar, there are a number of reasons why homeowners are investing in their properties. The first and perhaps most obvious is that the first swathe of freehold houses in Dubai were built and handed over around 2004/5, so they are looking dated and clearly showing signs of wear and tear by now.
Another reason was that many investors have witnessed exponential growth in the value of their properties over the recent past and now is a good time to spend some of that untapped equity on home improvements, whether that is to generate higher rental income or increase the value of the property, or both.
Thirdly, the number of real estate transactions in Dubai exceeded 122,000 in 2022, an increase of 44.7 percent from 2021, and apart from off plan purchases, many new homeowners simply want to renovate because of personal taste.
“Sustainability and efficient modern accessories are another reason homeowners choose to renovate. On average most homeowners undertake some sort of refurbishment after five years, with major renovation work generally carried out after ten years,” said Azhar.
“Initially we have launched this service for residents of the Arabian Ranches, but we are planning to expand across the UAE,” he added.
