Some expatriates try to cover travel expenses by subletting apartments

Some expatriates try to cover travel expenses by subletting apartments

By Majd Othman

KUWAIT: The high cost of living and the advent of the holiday travel season is driving some expats in Kuwait to take unexpected actions to cover their traveling expenses during summer. Many expats are subletting their rented apartments for the duration of the time they are visiting their home countries — around two to three months.

This action is not only illegal under Kuwaiti law, which prevents subletting apartments and may expose them to accountability, but it can also lead to many other problems, starting from transmission of infectious diseases due to using the same furnishings and household items, disturbing the neighbors by bringing in strangers, and loss of rights if the lessors are scammed or their home is vandalized by the temporary renters.

Kuwait Times contacted several expats who sublet their rental apartments, who revealed they are forced to do so due to rising inflation that is affecting everything and making their life harder, especially families that need many necessities of life to survive. Shaimaa Ahmad told Kuwait Times that she started thinking to do this after the pandemic, as prices skyrocketed, specifically of airfares. She said they barely managed to pay for the tickets that cost them almost