bahrainthismonth.com | NOVEMBER 2025 OPINION 82 Beneath the Surface: The Hidden Challenges of Apartment Ownership How gaps in oversight and accountability can expose private apartment owners to exploitation. Apartment ownership always begins the same way – with excitement and the anticipation of quiet evenings and stability. What isn’t imagined is the bureaucratic maze, the sudden bills, inconsiderate neighbours doing extensive noisy internal unapproved maintenance and renovations and the creeping realisation that ownership doesn’t always mean control. For many owners there are only two happy days of residential apartment ownership – the day the apartment is bought and the day the apartment is sold. The local residential apartment market, long seen as a gateway for both locals and expatriates to plant roots, is a complex web. The Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA), established to bring order and accountability, sets frameworks for how residential buildings should be managed. But for individual apartment owners, the reality often feels hollow. RERAs scope is primarily regulatory and supervisory by design, and for apartments, it primarily engages with Owners Association Boards (OABs) – collective legal bodies established to represent all owners. In practice, this means private apartment owners are like minor shareholders in a commercial company, with little direct say individually in how their own property is run. Problems often begin with the Owners Association Boards themselves. Many are formed hastily, with members volunteering out of obligation rather than expertise. Lacking the knowledge – or the energy – to manage complex budgets and maintenance schedules, they often simply ‘throw the monkey’ by handing full control to a building management company (BMC). These companies, often overstretched, unchecked and underregulated, take advantage of the oversight vacuum. Service charges climb without explanation. Common areas deteriorate while ‘administrative costs’ mysteriously increase. “We discovered we were paying double for pest control, reception, security and other services,” recalls Lina, a former property owner in Seef. “When we questioned it, they became uncooperative because they were benefitting at every turn and charge.” Behind the scenes, a disturbing pattern emerges. Some residential apartment building management companies operate like magicians – overpromising by illusion and under-delivering in reality. Their growth strategies rely less on performance and more on persuasion, winning new contracts through guile, charm and selective truths rather than measured KPIs. This culture of overpromising/under-delivering has even resulted in many real estate developers creating their own management divisions to protect their brand integrity and avoid being associated with unscrupulous or incompetent BMC failures. An Eye on Real Estate Real Estate and Property Management are at the core of Bill Grieve’s experience. In this series, he provides insight and opinion from both himself and people of standing in the real estate industry, helping to transfer knowledge and provide a platform for property owners and the wider sector. In conversation with Hanya Ahmed Sulaiman – Experienced Home Owners Association Member – Amwaj Plaza 1 Board Secretary and Acting Chairman since 2016.
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