The second route to a valuation certificate: an accredited company issues it through the app
Besides a valuation by the Land Department itself, there is a second route: an accredited valuation company enters the certificate's details into the system through Dubai REST and issues it there, and the client downloads it. Registering the data is stated to be free, and takes five minutes.
Usufruct after registration: amending costs 2% from both sides plus a thousand, terminating costs AED 1,000 — and your term cannot outlive the land
We have already covered registering a usufruct. It has three more cards nobody writes about: the initial usufruct at construction stage (2% of the rental value, filed by the developer), amending the term or the amount (2% from the owner, 2% from the lessee and AED 1,000 on top) and termination (AED 1,000, returning the property to its actual owner). Plus one condition that caps your right by someone else's date: the expiry of a unit's usufruct must match the expiry of the usufruct over the land.
The "To Whom It May Concern" property certificate: AED 50 per letter, instant — and three different names for one document
The Land Department issues a letter confirming property ownership: AED 50 per letter plus two fees of AED 10, instant, with no documents at all through the app. The least obvious part is that the document has three names — "To Whom It May Concern" in the service title, "No Objection Letter (NOC)" in the issued-documents field, and "Owned Property Certificate" in Dubai Now.
A title deed changes hands without a sale: the service with no percentage in it at all
The famous four per cent is charged for registering a sale. But the Land Department runs a separate service that rewrites a title deed from one party to another on the strength of official letters from government entities, and its bill carries no percentage whatsoever: AED 250 for the deed, maps at 100, 225 or 250, and AED 10 each. Twenty-five minutes, and a single door: the main building.
How a provisional registration becomes a title deed: the service the developer files
Between 'the building is finished' and 'the apartment is yours' sits a separate Land Department service with a condition of its own: the title deed is issued to parties who have COMPLIED with their contractual obligations. We read the card: who files, what it costs, how long it takes — and why the applicant across the whole off-plan chain turns out to be the developer.
A typo in the title deed, a new passport, and splitting a plot: three AED 250 services people discover at the worst moment
A misspelled name, a renewed passport, a change of nationality: all of it is fixed by a separate service costing AED 250 plus AED 10 each. Updating an owner's details in the Department's system is free outright, but becomes chargeable when it is not tied to a procedure: AED 20 plus VAT. And splitting a plot between co-owners costs AED 250 per share, with maps on their own scale: 120 and 270 instead of the usual 100 and 250.
Land granted by the Ruler, and waqf: the layer of Dubai's register a foreign buyer will not be sold
Alongside ordinary purchases, Dubai's register holds two categories with their own services and their own fees: plots granted by the Ruler, and waqf, property turned into an endowment. Registering a grant is free, completing it costs AED 500, and waqf costs AED 2,000 per plot. The municipality's grant map has a shelf life: no more than two years. Applicant status on grants is UAE citizen only, and we say so plainly.
Forms A, B and F: why a Dubai sale contract cannot simply be drafted
Form F usually arrives as a file 'for signature'. The Land Department's own procedure says otherwise: F is not drafted — it is GENERATED by the system out of an already approved Form A, linked to an active Form B, and issued as a password-protected smart contract. We read the RERA practice guide and the official broker instruction.
An official rent valuation cannot simply be ordered — a judicial order is required
The Land Department values a property's rent and issues a certificate. But among the mandatory documents sits a copy of a judgment or judicial order to evaluate the rent — so the service comes AFTER court, not instead of it. The fee is AED 2,000 per unit, capped at AED 10,000.
Surveying a property in Dubai: AED 600 for an apartment or villa, AED 3,000 for a whole building — and no documents at all
The "actual area" of a property is something you can measure instead of argue about. The Land Department has a service for exactly that, priced by object type: AED 500 for a field survey of land, AED 600 for a villa or unit, AED 3,000 for a building, AED 5,000 for common areas. Three business days, no documents required at all, and a single condition — let the surveyor in. The application is filed by the owner.
The property advertising permit: AED 1,000 for an ordinary one, AED 5,000 for a project launch — and fourteen types
The permit number in a listing is not decoration. The Land Department issues advertising permits across fourteen types, and for twelve of them a broker must produce a marketing contract with the owner. An ordinary permit costs AED 1,000, a project launch AED 5,000, and the service takes one working day.
The real estate activity licence: twenty-one activities and an annual fee from AED 5,000 to AED 100,000
The Land Department's service card lists twenty-one licensable activities — from brokerage and valuation to property inspection and land surveying. The annual fee is tiered, and the spread between the lowest and highest tier is twentyfold. We set out the procedure and the prices from the primary source.
A valuation from the Department: instant for an apartment, seven working days for everything else
The Land Department issues an electronic valuation certificate, and the tariff is tiered — from AED 2,000 for vacant land to AED 15,000 for a hotel. But the decisive line is not about money: for residential units and attached villas the valuation is issued INSTANTLY, for every other type it takes seven working days.
Splitting or merging a property: the bill depends on which channel you use
The Land Department separates and annexes already registered properties — plots and units alike. But the service card lists the fees TWICE, by channel, and the two lists do not match: going through a trustee centre adds an AED 80 service-partner fee. We read the primary source, including what the card leaves unresolved.
A property residency visa: two years costs AED 10,212.50 — more than the ten-year Golden Visa at AED 9,884.75
The Land Department prints the bill line by line across three routes: a 2-year investor visa, a 5-year retiree Golden Visa and a 10-year investor Golden Visa. Two findings change the sums: the short visa costs AED 327.75 more than the long one, and it carries no property-value threshold at all — for a co-owner, a share from AED 400,000 is enough.
Registering a management contract: the service is free, and the owner can file it
The contract between an owner and a management company is registered through Ejari — and the Land Department's card calls the service free, with a ten-minute turnaround. The same card states that the applicant may be the owner or their representative, not only the company. We read the primary source.
Buying property at auction in Dubai: 1% supervision capped at AED 30,000 — or a flat AED 10,000 if the sale is electronic
Selling a property under the hammer runs through two Land Department services: the supervision request, which is free to file and takes two business days, and the sale registration, which takes 25 to 30 minutes. The bill has an unusual shape: the seller pays 2% and, on top of that, auction supervision — and supervision follows two different rules, 1% of the sale value capped at AED 30,000 for a public auction and a flat AED 10,000 for an e-auction.
What "the project is registered" actually stands for: a 30% guarantee and AED 150,000
The law says off-plan cannot be sold without registering the project. The Land Department's service card answers the next question: what it takes to obtain that registration. Among five conditions sits a 30% guarantee, which may be met by construction, a bank guarantee or cash. The registration fee is AED 150,000.
What a developer may do with your project's escrow account: the 5% they cannot take without someone else's consent
An off-plan project's escrow account is not a safe with a single door. The developer has separate services for it: withdraw profits, deposit a bank loan into it, move it to another account trustee, and close it. All are free and take three business days, but the conditions are written in your favour: 5% of net collections must stay in the completion account and cannot be released without the consent of Jointly Owned Property Management. And on a transfer the developer must notify every unit owner of the NEW account number.
What can happen to the project you bought into: cancellation is free, splitting it into phases costs AED 150,000 each
A developer has four separate services that change a project's fate: deregister it, split it into phases, order a technical report on the completion percentage, and lift the expense cap. For a buyer the prices matter less than the conditions: cancellation is not accepted until settlements with investors are complete, a split requires a separate escrow account for EVERY phase plus a copy of the notice to investors, and neither procedure starts before fifteen days have passed since the last announcement.
The professional practice card: thirteen activities, one price, and an exam only for brokers
The Land Department issues a professional practice card for thirteen kinds of specialist — from broker and mortgage consultant to valuer and trainee valuer. Issuing any card costs AED 500, but a broker additionally sits an exam at AED 700. We set out the list and what a client can verify unaided.
A practice card after issuance: renewed in five minutes, cancelled in eight hours — and one tariff is tenfold the rest
Renewing the card of a broker, consultant, mortgage broker and nine other professions costs AED 500. Exactly one breaks the pattern: a real estate evaluator's card renews for AED 5,000, ten times more, while their own trainee's card costs the same 500. Amending the data is free and needs no documents at all. And cancellation is tied to the visa: an expatriate's card comes off when the residency is cancelled or the profession on it changes.
Dividing co-owned property: 1% instead of 4%, and only at the Department's main branch
When co-owners divide a property between themselves, the Department charges not the familiar 4% but 1% — and it is charged on the EVALUATED value, not on what the parties agreed. We read the service card: which agreement is required, where to go, and what is issued at the end.
Owners association: to stand as a candidate you must live in the building and bring a police certificate
The Land Department's service card describes not an abstract 'committee registration' but the nomination of a CANDIDATE — and it names three admission conditions. One of them cuts out the investor who owns a flat but does not live in it; another requires a good-conduct certificate from Dubai Police addressed to RERA.
Swapping units within the same developer's projects: what happens to the fees you paid
If buyer and developer agree to move the purchase to another property of the same developer, the registration fees already paid are not lost — the Land Department has a dedicated service for it. We read the card: what is required, how long it takes, and why fees are charged only on the price difference.
Termination of initial registration: how a developer strikes a buyer from the register
Off-plan termination has not only a statutory article but a procedure with a form, a deadline and a price. The Land Department's service card names it plainly: the applicant is the developer, there are two phases, and the second involves the Legal Affairs Department and publication in the official gazette in two languages. And there, in the document list, a 40% threshold of the contract value appears.
Reselling off-plan before handover: who files, what it costs, and where your leverage is
Reselling off-plan Dubai property requires developer NOC and provisional register filing, unlike finished units. Based on Land Department service cards.
Amending your off-plan record in the register: AED 250, six business days, and an annex signed by both parties
The details of your purchase in the provisional register are changed by a separate service: AED 250, six business days, and a mandatory annex to the contract signed by both parties and stating the reason for the change. Next to it sits a service buyers never hear about: the developer cancels the project's bank guarantee, and the Department allows it only on a recent technical report with no red flags and an escrow balance covering the remaining costs.
Buying a mortgaged property: three manager's cheques and the order in which the charge is released
You can buy a property that still carries the seller's mortgage — but the order of steps is the reverse of what you would expect: the sale is registered first, the bank receives a cheque for the debt, and only after the release letter does the procedure close. We read the Land Department's service card: six steps, three manager's cheques and the full bill of fees.
Mortgage release: AED 1,000 to the Department — but only a regular mortgage clears online through the bank
Paying off the loan does not by itself lift the charge on the property — that takes a separate service. It costs AED 1,000 plus AED 250 for the title deed and takes 10 to 15 minutes. The card's main point is not the price: only a regular release goes online through the bank, while usufruct, provisional, portfolio and pre-sale releases require a trip to a registrar's office.
Registering and transferring a mortgage: 0.25% of the loan, and why off-plan costs a thousand more
A Dubai mortgage is registered and transferred through two separate Land Department services, and their bills are almost identical: 0.25% of the loan plus fees. One line differs materially, though — for a property in the provisional register the service-partner fee is a thousand dirhams higher.
Amending a mortgage in Dubai: the 0.25% is charged on the increase, not on the whole loan — and extending the term costs a flat thousand
Topping up a loan or extending its term is a separate Land Department service, and it is priced differently from registration. The fee is taken on the INCREASE, not on the new balance; a change of term costs a flat AED 1,000 whatever the loan size. The bigger point is two routes with different paperwork: through a centre you need a bank letter and three signed contracts, through the bank online just an Emirates ID.
Lease-to-own after registration: a transfer costs 0.25% against 2% at entry, and the exit costs a flat thousand
We have already covered registering a lease-to-own. It has three more cards: provisional registration during construction (2% of the rental value plus 2% and 2% of the sale, filed by the developer), transfer to another bank (0.25% of the rental value — eight times cheaper than entry) and release (a thousand, and a bank letter in Arabic). Along the way we found a discrepancy inside one cluster: the villa and apartment map is AED 225 on one card and AED 250 on its neighbour.
Who is allowed to run your building in Dubai: three managers with three years' experience each — and an auditor who must be rotated
Your building's management company passes through separate Land Department services, and their requirements are specific: three managers with at least three years' experience each, a good-conduct certificate from Dubai Police addressed to the regulator, and a ban on working before registering in the Mollak system and obtaining a professional identification card. An appointed auditor, meanwhile, is expressly barred from auditing the same project two years running.
Mortgaging granted land and buying it into full ownership: 0.25% against 30% and 50% of market value
A plot granted by the Ruler can be mortgaged at the ordinary rate, 0.25% of the loan value, and where the financing comes from the Mohammed bin Rashid Housing Establishment no fee is charged at all. Converting granted industrial or commercial land into full ownership works differently: 30% of market value for a beneficiary and 50% for a possessor. Both services are open to UAE citizens only, and we say so up front.
Six free Land Department checks: the project completion percentage is handed out even over WhatsApp
Before a deal in Dubai you can verify a great deal without paying anything or going anywhere: a property's status, a project's completion percentage, the authenticity of a valuation certificate, the progress of a filed application. All six services are immediate and open to every category — citizens, residents and tourists. The Department even hands out a project's completion percentage over WhatsApp on 8004488, where a virtual assistant named Malik replies.
Finance lease on Dubai property: 0.25% to the Department — and a partner fee that swings thirteenfold
A finance lease has four separate services in Dubai's register: registration, transfer, amendment and release. The Department's rate is the familiar one — 0.25% of the finance rental value — and a release costs a flat AED 1,000. But the real spread sits elsewhere: the service partner's fee across those same four cards runs AED 4,000, 2,000 and 300. And not one of the four opens online — registration trustee centres only.
Who guards your project's escrow account: admission costs AED 75,000 a year, and leaving costs a month's notice to developers
A bank holding escrow accounts for Dubai's off-plan projects pays AED 75,000 annually for admission; an audit bureau pays AED 50,000. It must keep a dedicated escrow unit in Dubai itself and sign an agreement with the regulator. And if it leaves the market, deregistration is free but loaded with obligations: a month's notice to developers, all data handed over within 30 working days, and the account kept open for between three months and a year.
Access to Ejari: the service is free and immediate, and management companies need not ask for it
Before registering tenancy contracts in Ejari, an owner or a company first obtains the right to use the system. The Land Department's card calls the service free and immediate — and states separately that management companies are granted the right automatically, with their licence.
The DEWA connection is tied to Ejari — and why we name no deposit figure
The UAE's official portal puts it briefly and clearly: in Dubai the electricity and water connection is digitally integrated with the Land Department, and DEWA's email arrives AFTER Ejari is issued. There are no deposit amounts on that page, and DEWA's own site is closed to us — so this article carries no figures, and we explain why.
Settling with a developer out of court: registering the agreement costs AED 3,000 and requires an Arabic text
Where a buyer and a developer have agreed amicably to deregister a unit, merge it or swap it, the Land Department has a service for exactly that. AED 3,000 plus AED 10 each, seven and a half hours, filed through the developer's portal. The agreement is accepted only in Arabic or as a certified translation, sealed and signed by all parties. We also cover refunding fees already paid.
A detailed property statement: AED 70 from the app — and it shows mortgage, seizure and suspension
The Land Department issues a statement on a single property carrying, alongside owner and property details, any mortgage, seizure, suspension and project data. Through the app it is AED 50 plus two fees of AED 10; through a centre, AED 120 "including service partner fees and VAT", in 10 minutes. Companies are shut out of the electronic channel.
Cancelling a contract in Dubai's register: AED 1,000, fifteen minutes — and exactly one document, a letter from the courts
The Land Department has a service that strikes a contract out of the register — a sale contract, a mortgage or a lease-to-own. It costs AED 1,000 plus AED 250 for the title deed and takes fifteen minutes. But the document list is a single line — a letter from Dubai Courts — which means the Department is not the one deciding. Plus a single channel: the main building, with no app and no trustee centres.
Buying through a company in Dubai: first a reference number in the Department's system, then the deal
A company cannot enter a Dubai property transaction until it holds its own reference number in the Land Department's system. We read the service card: which documents each structure needs, why a free zone entity has one requirement more, and how the registration price differs eightfold.
Cancelling a tenancy contract in Ejari: free through the app, AED 40 + VAT through a centre — and no document in hand
The Department's service is described for a contract that has ALREADY expired, on a property that has been vacated. Through the app or the system it is free; through a Trustee centre it is AED 40 plus VAT and 25 minutes. The thing to be ready for: the issued-documents field reads "None" — the confirmation is an email, not a certificate.
Amending property data: why a building's map costs AED 3,000, and a parking space can cost 4%
The Land Department amends the recorded data of a registered property — area, type, number, status, store. The fees there are split not by channel but by PROPERTY TYPE, and the spread is wide: a building's map costs AED 3,000 against AED 225 for a plot. And if a parking space or store is not written into the sale contract, 4% of its price is added.
A traffic impact study before the building permit: Law 6/2006 on the beneficiary's contribution
A project generating more trips than the prescribed maximum makes its developer a "beneficiary" — and obliges them to pay for the traffic solutions around the site. Law No. 6 of 2006 bars the issuance of a building permit for such a project WITHOUT the Roads and Transport Authority's approval of the traffic impact study, and the bar is addressed to property developers who hold delegated permit-issuing powers too. The study is prepared by an accredited consultant, the size of the contribution is set by the Chairman of the Board, and the works run either against a bank guarantee or by the beneficiary under the authority's supervision.
The Tourism Dirham in Dubai: how much, from whom, and up to thirty nights
The Tourism Dirham is not a hotel tax but a fee charged to the guest for every occupied night: AED 7 to 20 by establishment category, holiday homes included. An amendment issued the same year capped it at thirty consecutive nights, and the 2020 rules explain when the night count resets. The establishment remits by the sixteenth of the following month, keeps records for five years — and its own records count as evidence against it.
Timeshare in Dubai: Law 14 of 2020, ten days to withdraw and a year to terminate
Timeshare and points schemes in Dubai are not a grey area: since 2020 they have a law of their own. It gives the buyer ten days to withdraw from the contract WITHOUT a reason and without a single dirham of cost, one year to terminate unilaterally in five named cases (including where the seller had no permit or the contract was never registered in the Real Property Register), voids any clause that prejudices the buyer's rights, and bars charging them anything the contract does not stipulate. We read it article by article — and note a discrepancy in the English version itself about when the law came into force.
Timeshare: implementing bylaw 74/2023 — "not as an investment product" and a cap on extra costs
The bylaw to the timeshare law answers what the law itself does not touch. Advertising units AS INVESTMENT PRODUCTS is expressly prohibited. Additional costs on top of the price may not exceed 10%, may be raised only once every three years, and never above 15%. An advance payment during the withdrawal period is capped at 10% and is refunded in full. An interval may not be shorter than a week, the unit must sit in a four- or five-star hotel or a luxury or deluxe hotel apartment, and an entry is made on the property's title deed noting that it houses timeshare units.
Plot boundaries, the cadastral map and boundary markers: the survey works law 6/2017
Who in Dubai sets a plot's boundaries and issues the map with coordinates, area and dimensions? Law No. 6 of 2017 makes the Municipality the OFFICIAL source of survey data and the exclusively authorised body to conduct surveys and issue cadastral maps — while stating expressly that this does not prejudice the Land Department's powers to issue maps for registering property rights. Eight acts are prohibited outright, including re-installing or obscuring boundary markers and publishing false data about boundaries.
Dubai's Supreme Fiscal Committee: who decides the fate of fee cuts, and why its decisions cannot be found
The duration of reduced fees is determined by the Supreme Fiscal Committee. We went looking for its decisions and found not them but the reason they are not public: decree 24/2007, which created the committee, says nothing about publishing decisions, and the committee reports to the Ruler. So the question 'until what date does 7% apply' has no publicly documented answer — and that is a fact about the system, not a gap in our search.
"Special Development Zones": the regime nearly every Dubai law mentions but none defines
The formula "including Special Development Zones and free zones, such as the DIFC" appears in the urban planning law, the waste law, the building codes and the public health law. What a Special Development Zone actually is, none of them says — the definition sits in a separate instrument, Decree No. 22 of 2009. The same decree introduces a term that matters to owners: Service Fees — charges payable by owners and tenants of real property for the zone's infrastructure and public utilities, the rules for which are issued in coordination with the Land Department and RERA.
The roads law 4/2021: who decides your access point, and when disruption from works is not compensated
Law No. 4 of 2021 gives the Roads and Transport Authority the planning, design, construction and maintenance of roads and rights of way across the Emirate — including free zones and Special Development Zones. Among its eighteen powers is one that touches every plot: the authority determines the TEMPORARY AND PERMANENT entrances and exits of buildings, plots and projects that lead directly to a road. And Article 7 expressly limits claims against the authority for harm caused by road works — with two named exceptions.
Percentage of completion: who certifies it, and why your money depends on it
The law hands the fate of the buyer's money to the project's percentage of completion, yet does not compute it — it defers to RERA's standards. We found the rule: the percentage is confirmed by a technical report from a RERA-approved consultant following an on-site inspection, and commencement of work means completed levelling and infrastructure. We also found a second trap: the 2010 bylaw, still live on the portal, carries the old retention bands, including one that no longer exists in the 2020 law.
Managing someone else's property in Dubai: Law 2 of 2003 and the bank guarantee
Managing other people's property — or leasing it in order to sublet it — is a separate licensed profession, and Law No. 2 of 2003 requires an office to lodge a bank guarantee of five million dirhams in favour of the Department of Economic Development. The guarantee serves exactly one purpose: settling amounts awarded by the rent tribunal. We read the text article by article — including the fact that the tribunal it relies on was replaced by the Rent Disputes Settlement Centre in 2013.
A privilege over property in the Dubai register: Administrative Resolution 154 of 2025
Besides a mortgage, a Dubai property can carry a second encumbrance — a privilege: an ancillary real right that arises BY LAW and gives its holder priority over ordinary creditors out of the sale proceeds. Administrative Resolution No. 154 of 2025 sets out for the first time how the Dubai Land Department enters such a privilege in the Real Property Register: it takes a definitive judgment or an instrument with the force of an enforceable instrument, priority runs from the serial number of the entry, and three holders are named expressly — an unpaid seller, a contractor or consultant engineer, and a co-owner upon partition.
The explanatory notes that went stale: article 11 was amended twice
The legislation portal carries official explanatory notes from the Supreme Legislation Committee on article 11 — the provision that decides what happens to an off-plan buyer's money when he stops paying. The notes are detailed, authoritative, and analyse the 2017 edition, which was superseded on 24 November 2020. A buyer who finds them through search will read a retention band that no longer exists in the law. We set out the current edition from the statute itself and show exactly what diverges.
The municipality fee on hotel sales: 7% instead of 10%, and who gets it back
The second charge on a guest's bill is the municipality fee on the establishment's sales. A 2019 decree cut it from ten per cent to seven, and a September 2025 resolution refunds one hundred per cent of both that fee and the tourism dirham to hotels in designated areas — to the establishment, not the guest. The regulation that imposed it, No. 2 of 2006, does not open on the portal: that number and year serve a different act there, about road repairs. We publish what is provable and do not paraphrase what we have not read.
Repairing a building in Dubai: three tiers of works and when a permit is needed — Resolution 109/2022
Dubai Municipality splits maintenance into three tiers, and the line between them is drawn not by budget but by what is being repaired. Painting, floors, doors, suspended ceilings, air conditioners and fire-fighting systems are the basic tier: no permit and no completion certificate. Cracks in façades and in main structural elements are the structural tier: a self-issued permit through the building permit system. Subsidence, cracks in ceilings, beams and columns, falling cladding and substantial rust in reinforcing steel are the specialised tier: laboratory tests of concrete and steel BEFORE the works, approval of drawings, and joint liability of the engineer and the contractor.
What a hotelier's mistake costs in Dubai: fees and fines under Resolution 48/2014
Decree 17/2013 set the range — AED 100 to AED 100,000 — but the actual schedule of prohibited acts and the amount against each sits in a separate Executive Council instrument. We read it: three schedules, twenty fee items, a classification tariff charged per unit per year, and forty-five violations with a figure beside each. Inside: a 10% cap on service charge, doubling on repeat capped at AED 500,000, and the rule under which no fee is charged at all.
Dubai hotels and hotel apartments: licensing and classification under Decree 17/2013
A hotel's stars and the luxury / deluxe / standard classes of hotel apartments are not marketing but categories set by Decree No. 17 of 2013. Operating without both a licence AND a classification is barred; building a property as a hotel establishment or converting an existing one requires the Department's prior written approval — and the bar is addressed to whoever issues the construction permit too. We read the category scale, the manager requirements, the twenty obligations and the penalty range — and close the gap we named in our timeshare articles.
Leasing out holiday homes in Dubai: licence, per-unit permit, fees and fines
Short-term letting in Dubai is a licensed activity, and neither an individual nor a company may conduct it without a department licence. Three documents form the cluster: decree 41/2013 sets the frame, the 2020 bylaw sets the procedure, resolution 49/2014 sets the money. Inside: the permit is priced per bedroom, guest-damage insurance is mandatory, guest data goes to the department, records are kept three years — and your purchase agreement must not prohibit this use.
Decree 28/2019: the short door through which Dubai grants business incentives
Two decrees on one day: 27/2019 reduced fees that already existed, while 28/2019 created the mechanism for incentives that did not yet exist. The second runs to two articles and contains no definition of an 'initiative', no maximum duration and no reporting duty — it only names who proposes, who clears and who approves. It is through this door that the September 2025 hundred-per-cent refund of the municipality fee and the tourism dirham to hotels passed.
Rental income of a natural person and UAE Corporate Tax: where the line runs, per the official FTA guide
The Federal Tax Authority has published a guide devoted to real estate held by natural persons. Its key is not about size: the income is excluded from Corporate Tax where the activity is NOT conducted and is NOT required to be conducted through a Licence from a Licensing Authority. Where that holds, the number of properties, their value and the amount of income do not matter. The guide expressly calls Ejari an administrative record rather than a Licence; and a person's own sole establishment licensed to manage their own properties removes the exclusion. We read it as written, including its own caveat: the guide is not a legally binding document.
The strip in front of your plot: who digs, occupies the pavement and builds an access point, and under which paper
The right of way is not only the carriageway: by the bylaw's definition it is the road PLUS the area from its edges to the boundaries of adjacent plots. So the pavement and the forecourt of a building live under RTA rules. Administrative Resolution No. 273 of 2025 names what needs a no-objection certificate (excavation, permanent construction, laying utility lines) and what needs a permit: pavement occupancy, creating an ACCESS POINT to a private car park, a temporary site access, tents for weddings and funerals. Plus a refundable deposit and a black-points system.
What you actually bought: the boundary of your unit, the parking bay, and your share of the common parts
Law No. 6 of 2019 draws the line between your unit and the common parts item by item: floors down to the base of the joists, internal non-load-bearing walls, windows and doors, bathrooms and balconies are yours; structural supports, façades, staircases and lifts are not. A parking bay designated to a unit is declared an INTEGRAL part of it — the unit cannot be sold without it. And the share of the common parts is yours undivided, calculated by area.
The 2024 waste law: what it requires of a building owner and of a resident
Law No. 18 of 2024 reads as environmental legislation, yet it addresses duties directly to the owner of a building: provide containers, replace them with larger ones when they overflow, set aside a room inside the building for waste collection per the Dubai Building Code, fence construction sites. For residents it prohibits what happens daily — discharging air-conditioning condensate and car-wash water onto the pavement. And remedying a violation at the violator's expense carries a 25% administrative charge.
The implementing bylaw of the waste law: who must keep a register, remove waste daily, and hold a permit
Law 18/2024 on waste now has its implementing bylaw — Administrative Resolution No. 34 of 2026, issued by the Director General of Dubai Municipality on 10 February 2026. It names who must keep a waste register: producers of hazardous waste and ANY person having operational control over residential and commercial complexes, hotel and industrial establishments. Those same categories must move waste DAILY to municipality-approved disposal sites. A permit for waste-related activity is issued for one year through the unified digital window. The bylaw carries no fines — and we say where they live.
The 2023 urban planning law: what sits above every developer's plans
Law No. 16 of 2023 applies to ALL areas of the emirate — including special development zones and free zones, naming the Dubai International Financial Centre among them. It also gives legal status to the Dubai 2040 Urban Master Plan approved on 13 March 2021: that document is declared the emirate's Structure Plan and prevails over framework plans and guidelines in case of conflict. And no development works may be carried out without a planning permit.
Tenancy beyond eviction: a sale of the property, a death, subletting, and cut-off utilities
Dubai's tenancy law is read for its eviction grounds, yet it answers the questions that arise far more often. Selling the apartment to a new owner does NOT end a fixed-term lease. The death of a landlord or a tenant does not end it either — the relationship continues with the heirs. Cutting off services to squeeze a tenant out is expressly prohibited, and the law names where to go. And filing an eviction claim does not relieve the tenant of rent while it is heard.
Eleven articles of Dubai's tenancy law are not in force in the version printed on its page
Law No. 26 of 2007 is Dubai's core tenancy law, and its official page on the legislation portal carries the original 2007 text. Meanwhile Law No. 33 of 2008 SUPERSEDED eleven of its articles: definitions, scope, the contract's required contents and its registration, how rent is determined, renewal, the 90-day notice, handover, eviction before and at the end of the term, the ban on re-letting, and the right to return. Read from the official text.
A stalled or cancelled project: where the dispute goes and what happens to the money
Dubai routes stalled and cancelled real estate projects to a dedicated judicial body — the Special Tribunal for Unfinished and Cancelled Real Property Projects, established by Decree No. 33 of 2020. Ordinary courts may not hear such cases and must refer them there, the DIFC Courts included. The Tribunal's awards are definitive and not subject to ordinary appeal, and claims within its jurisdiction are exempt from judicial fees. Jurisdiction, powers and the cancellation procedure, read from the official text.
Service charges by law: who approves them, where the money sits, and what non-payment triggers
A service charge in Dubai is not an invoice from a management company but a structure built by Law No. 6 of 2019. A manager may charge owners NOTHING without RERA's approval, and RERA may not approve a budget unless a RERA-accredited auditor has signed off on it. What is collected goes into a dedicated account within seven working days, may be spent on ten named purposes only, and cannot be attached by the manager's creditors. Read from the official text.
What RERA can actually do: the fifteen powers in Law No. 4 of 2019
"Complain to RERA" sounds like universal advice, but the agency's powers are a closed list of fifteen items. They cover developer escrow accounts, licensing of real property activities, registers and identification cards, complaints against market participants, the accounts of jointly owned property, approval of projects and monitoring of completion percentages — and even approval of the content of property advertising, free zones and the DIFC included. Worked through the official text on the Dubai Legislation Portal.
How much a Dubai landlord may legally raise the rent: Decree 43 and the 90-day rule
"We are renewing at 20% more" is lawful in exactly one case out of five. The ceiling on rent increases in Dubai is set by Decree No. 43 of 2013, and it is calculated not from what you pay now but from how far behind the average for similar units you are. The second rule bites harder than the first: notice of any change to the terms is due 90 days before the contract expires, otherwise there is nothing to change. Worked through the official text on the Dubai Legislation Portal.
Real estate funds in Dubai: the Land Department register, the AED 180m threshold and a half-rate fee on the way in
Decree No. 22 of 2022 created a dedicated register of real estate investment funds at the Land Department and named the conditions for entry: a valid licence, real property assets of at least AED 180,000,000, no suspension of trading, and a registration fee of AED 10,000. A fund on the register may own beyond the restrictions that apply to non-nationals, and pays a reduced rate when it buys — 2% instead of the usual 4%; on the way out the rate is the ordinary one. Worked through the official text on the Dubai Legislation Portal.
A Dubai broker by the letter of the rule: the Register, the duties, and the moment the commission is earned
Bylaw No. 85 of 2006 is the framework a Dubai broker actually works under: no brokerage without a licence and an entry in the Brokers Register, the brokerage agreement must be in writing, and the right to remuneration arises only once a contract between the parties is concluded. The rule sets NO commission percentage — it points to the agreement, and failing that to prevailing practice. We read all 47 articles from the official text and cross-check them against RERA's 2024 practice guide, which names this bylaw as the live framework.
The Rent Disputes Centre: jurisdiction, three stages, and the appeal threshold
A rent dispute in Dubai does not go to an ordinary court but to the Rent Disputes Settlement Centre — free zones included. Decree No. 26 of 2013 sets out how the Centre is built: a mediation directorate that attempts settlement within 15 days, a First Instance Division of a judge and two property specialists, an Appellate Division whose judgments are final, and its own enforcement directorate. There are also three categories of dispute the Centre does NOT hear.
The public health law and your building: sixteen owner duties under Law 5/2025
Law No. 5 of 2025 on public health looks medical, but Article 33 addresses the OWNER of the built environment and lists sixteen duties: water systems and tanks, indoor air quality, swimming pools and fountains, sewerage, permissible noise and lighting levels, sampling of water and air, continuous cleaning and disinfection, immediate response to risks, and periodic maintenance. "Owner" here means whoever owns OR has actual control. The law applies in all zones of the Emirate, including free zones and the DIFC. Fines are given as a range, with the detail left to separate resolutions we have not read.
"Public benefit": an official interpretation binding with the force of the law itself
Dubai's acquisition law does not define "public benefit" — so the General Secretariat of the Supreme Legislation Committee issued an official interpretation of the term. It lists what counts as public benefit, sets out four project criteria, and answers the sharp question: a private company MAY request an acquisition, but only for a public-benefit project; never to expand its own commercial venture. Under Law No. 14 of 2024 such notes are binding on all persons and carry the same force as the legislation they interpret.
The Land Department register: why it is the only thing that proves ownership in Dubai
A signed sale contract does not make you an owner in Dubai. Law No. 7 of 2006 puts it bluntly: a transaction not entered in the Property Register is not valid, the register itself carries absolute evidentiary value against all parties, and its data can only be challenged through proven fraud or forgery. A separate article answers what happens when the seller changes their mind. Worked through the official text on the Dubai Legislation Portal.
When your property is taken for public benefit: Dubai Law No. 2 of 2022 and how compensation works
Acquisition of property in Dubai is possible only for the public benefit and only against fair compensation. Law No. 2 of 2022 sets out the mechanism precisely: the owner may object to the AMOUNT but not to the type of compensation, and has ten working days to do it; the owner picks the valuator; a gap of up to 10% is resolved in the owner's favour, and above 10% a second valuator is appointed and an average is taken. The courts hear procedure only — an objection to the amount must be ruled inadmissible. Worked through the official text on the Dubai Legislation Portal.
Dubai's Probate Court: what it hears and what is carved out of it
Decree No. 25 of 2023 established a dedicated court for estate matters and gave it exclusive jurisdiction over two categories at once: estate claims, and lawsuits for the subdivision of property co-owned in undivided shares. Carved out are criminal and labour claims arising in connection with an estate, matters belonging to Special Tribunals, and claims by partners in companies whose ownership devolves to heirs. There is no cassation against Appellate Division judgments — what remains is a petition for review.
Who manages your building in Dubai, and what an Owners Committee can actually do
An Owners Committee in Dubai is neither a board nor a client for works. Law No. 6 of 2019 introduces its powers with the word "exclusively" and then lists eight of them: verify, review, request, notify. The building itself is managed by whoever the project's category puts in charge — the developer in major projects, a hotel management company in hotel projects, and in everything else a management company selected and contracted by RERA. Worked through the official text on the Dubai Legislation Portal.
What a developer must do BEFORE selling off-plan in Dubai
A polished render and an open sales office prove nothing. The implementing bylaw to the interim register law names the conditions without which selling is not allowed at all: possession of the land and a demarcation certificate, actual control of the plot, approvals from the competent entities, and an entry on the land's registry folio. A disposition made before the project is approved and registered is declared null and void, and a broker must pay the buyer's money into the project escrow account rather than his own. Worked through the official text on the Dubai Legislation Portal.
An off-plan buyer stops paying: what the developer may do under Article 11
Missing instalments on a developer payment plan is not settled by email with the sales desk: the law sets out a procedure that runs through the Land Department. Thirty days to cure, an attempt at mediation, an official document stating the project's percentage of completion — and only then the developer's remedies, whose size depends on how far the building has progressed. We work through Article 11 in its 2020 version on the official text of the Dubai Legislation Portal.
Musataha over commercial land: 35 years, a build deadline, and a fine for running late
Decree No. 23 of 2022 sets the rules for granting musataha rights over commercial land in Dubai: 35 years maximum, extendable to 50 in total, mandatory entry in a dedicated register — without which a disposition is void, a completion certificate within five years, and a fine of 1% of the land's market value for every year beyond that. The buildings belong to the right holder for the term, then pass to the landowner.
A Dubai mortgage in default: what Law No. 14 of 2008 actually does
A mortgage in Dubai exists only in the Land Department register — any agreement to the contrary is void. The lender can only be a bank or a finance company registered with the UAE Central Bank. And on default the law lays out a short sequence: thirty days' notice through the Notary Public, an attachment order from the execution judge, a public auction — and if the proceeds fall short, the remaining debt stays with the borrower. Worked through the official text on the Dubai Legislation Portal.
A flat has passed to a child: who manages it, and what can be done without a court
When a share in property passes to a minor, neither a parent nor a guardian may deal with it as their own. Law No. 17 of 2022 names the body responsible for minors' property in Dubai and lists thirteen of its powers — from supervising guardians and inventorying movable and immovable property to representing minors in court. A separate article settles the most practical question: five actions, letting the property included, are taken WITHOUT a court permission. And one detail matters for residents: custodianship arises automatically for UAE nationals, while for non-nationals it requires an application and a court decision.
Who pays for repairs in a Dubai rental: Articles 15–22, read in order
The air conditioning failed — whose bill is it? Dubai law puts maintenance on the landlord, but the rule opens with four words that change everything: "unless otherwise agreed". We work through the obligations of both sides in the official text of Law No. 26 of 2007 — handover, repairs, deposit, return of the property, government fees — and through what the law deliberately does not regulate.
The Interim Register: what Law 13 of 2008 requires besides Article 11
Law No. 13 of 2008 is known for a single article — the one about a defaulting buyer. Its other articles, though, set the very frame of off-plan: a disposition outside the register is void, a contract in an unapproved project is void, nothing may be charged to a buyer beyond administrative costs approved by the Land Department, and extra area found after handover is not billable. Read from the official text — including an honest note on which article must NOT be read from that page.
What a developer may not do: the 2010 implementing bylaw to Dubai's off-plan law
Law No. 13 of 2008 created the Interim Real Property Register; the implementing bylaw to it — Executive Council Resolution No. 6 of 2010 — spells out the prohibitions and duties. An off-plan sale made before the project is approved and registered is null and void. Handover cannot be withheld over unrelated debts. Excess area is not payable; a shortfall beyond 5% must be compensated. A broker may not deduct commission before the price reaches the escrow account. Read from the official text.
Heirs who cannot agree on selling the flat: the procedure under Decree No. 31 of 2023
Inherited housing in Dubai usually gets stuck not in the paperwork but in disagreement: one heir wants to sell, another goes silent, a third objects. Decree No. 31 of 2023, in its current form, sets out the way through: the Land Department attempts an amicable settlement, and failing that issues the applicant heir an official document stating that no settlement can be reached; decisions and actions of the Department are appealable to the Probate Court within ten working days; and the court may order a sale by auction where the property cannot be partitioned in kind or where partition would damage its value.
Freehold in Dubai attaches to a plot, not to a district: Regulation No. 3 of 2006
"That district is freehold" sounds like a fact about a place; in the document it is a fact about a PLOT. Regulation No. 3 of 2006 permits non-nationals to own not "in an area" but on land plots listed by number — and in one location, plot 224 in Nad al-Sheba, it grants usufruct or leasehold only, with no ownership at all. We work through the mechanism in the official text on the Dubai Legislation Portal and explain why the answer for a specific apartment comes from the Land Department's register, not from the name on the signboard.
A free zone company operating onshore in Dubai: three instruments, separate books, and the deadlines of Resolution 11/2025
Executive Council Resolution No. 11 of 2025 sets out when a free zone establishment may conduct activities OUTSIDE its zone, within the Emirate. There are exactly three instruments: a licence for a branch within the Emirate, a licence for a branch operating out of the free zone, and a temporary permit valid for up to six months. A branch has NO separate legal personality, and separate financial records are mandatory for activities outside the zone. The fees are named in the resolution itself — but only for two instruments out of three, and we say so plainly.
Family property in Dubai: a contract capped at 15 years, a manager appointed by two-thirds, and a pre-emption right over shares
Law No. 9 of 2020 gives a family an instrument ordinary co-ownership does not offer: the family property contract. It has seven conditions of validity (Article 6 was replaced by Law No. 21 of 2024), a ceiling of fifteen years renewable for the same length, a manager appointed by partners holding at least two-thirds, and a share that must first be offered to the other partners — it can pass to an outsider only with the approval of partners holding at least 51%. Worked through the official text on the Dubai Legislation Portal.
Family property in Dubai: what Law No. 21 of 2024 replaced
Law No. 21 of 2024 replaced four articles of the family property law at once. What matters most to an owner: the contract now has seven conditions of validity instead of six — registration in the register of the Department of Economy and Tourism was added, and without it the contract is not valid. The Tribunal stopped being a future body 'to be formed by the Ruler' and acquired a name and a founding instrument. The manager's powers went from seven to ten, and one of the new ones is obtaining approvals to lease out the family's real estate.
The economic activity licence in Dubai: Law 13/2011, the layer beneath brokers, property management and holiday homes
Almost every piece we write runs into the word "licence": without one a broker is not a broker, waste activity needs a permit, and a natural person's rental income falls outside Corporate Tax only where no licence is required. That licensing layer is set by Law No. 13 of 2011: an economic activity may be conducted only through a licensed business, the licence runs for one year (up to four by approval), it is tied to SPECIFIC premises, and those premises may not be used for other purposes. Businesses licensed in free zones fall outside this law's definition.
Dubai Courts versus DIFC Courts: who decides when jurisdiction is disputed
Decree No. 29 of 2024 re-established the body that resolves conflicts of jurisdiction between the DIFC Courts and Dubai's judicial entities. It steps in in two situations: where both courts decline a case or both take it, and where conflicting judgments are delivered on the same dispute. Filing an application stays both the proceedings and the enforcement — and suspends limitation periods. The committee's decisions are final and become precedents binding on all judicial entities, the DIFC Courts included.
Ten years on the structure, one year on the installations: a developer's liability after handover
Law No. 6 of 2019 gives owners two warranties of different lengths: ten years from the completion certificate for defects in the structural parts, and one year from handover of the unit for defective installations. And it adds a rule worth knowing before you sign: an agreement contradicting that article is null and void. Plus compulsory insurance of the building, the alterations procedure, and the management company's bank guarantee.
The 2025 construction safety code: a second binding book that is not in the Gazette
Decree No. 19 of 2025 introduces the Code of Construction Safety Practice and repeats the construction used for the building code: the document is published on the websites of the Municipality and the competent entity, and that publication carries the binding force of the Official Gazette. All contractors and engineering consultancy firms must comply, the code protects workers inside AND outside the site, and the earlier Administrative Resolution No. 51 of 2008 is repealed.
Buildings on land being acquired: what compensation covers and what it does not
Acquisition for public benefit is not only about the land. Resolution No. 6 of 2024 lists what counts towards compensation for structures: the condition and completion status of the building, its age, materials and build quality, decorations, fences, wells, plantings and irrigation networks, safety and fire-protection systems, and principal and ancillary real rights. And it names the exclusions just as plainly: removable structures, fittings, equipment and movables, unpermitted construction, and improvements made AFTER the acquisition resolution.
A cheque that did not clear in a property deal: Dubai's special tribunal and the federal cheque rules
Dubai Decree No. 56 of 2009 created a tribunal with EXCLUSIVE jurisdiction over cheques issued by a purchaser to a developer: the police must refer such complaints to it, the Public Prosecution and the courts may not take them up first and must suspend their own proceedings, and the tribunal's judgment is final and not subject to appeal. Alongside it we read the federal Commercial Transactions Law of 2022: a cheque unpaid for insufficient funds is an executive document, the bank must pay partially, and a cheque can be stopped only if it is lost or its bearer goes bankrupt.
A dispute over dividing co-owned property: why it does not start in court
Co-owners cannot agree on dividing a property and head to court, only to discover they were supposed to go somewhere else first. Administrative Resolution No. 51 of 2020 places disputes over the subdivision of property co-owned in undivided shares within the jurisdiction of the Centre for Amicable Settlement of Disputes, alongside money claims up to AED 200,000. And it just as plainly excludes residential property co-owned by heirs: that has its own route. Worked through the official text on the Dubai Legislation Portal.
A building over 20 years old must now prove it is safe: Dubai Law No. 3 of 2026
Dubai has introduced a mandatory Quality and Safety Certificate for buildings that have reached twenty years from the date of their Completion Certificate. The law reaches EVERY building in the emirate — free zones and the DIFC included, and buildings constructed before it came into force included. The certificate runs for 10 years, or 5 for buildings over forty. The owner must engage an engineering firm, rectify the defects and, where needed, secure vacation of the building by its occupants while the works are done.
The Dubai Building Code: binding, yet published on a website rather than in the Gazette
Decree No. 45 of 2021 gives the Dubai Building Code legal force — and does so unusually: the code is published not in the Official Gazette but on the websites of the Municipality and the licensing authorities, while the decree expressly equates that publication with gazette publication in binding force. The code applies to designs for which permits are issued after the decree takes effect, and covers the whole emirate, free zones and the DIFC included.
Ejari in Dubai: how to register a tenancy contract, what it costs and what to bring
Registering a tenancy contract through Ejari is mandatory, not optional: RERA built the programme to implement Dubai's tenancy law. There are three channels and they do not cost the same — AED 177.75 through the app versus AED 220 at a Trustee centre — and the documents differ too. Walked through the Land Department's own service page.
VAT on UAE real estate: where it is 0%, where 5%, where exempt — and why those are not the same thing
Residential property in the UAE carries no VAT for the buyer — but on two different legal grounds, and the difference decides who can recover what. We work through the Federal Tax Authority's Real Estate VAT Guide (VATGRE1): the first supply of a home within 3 years of completion is zero-rated, later supplies are exempt, commercial property is 5% with a separate payment step BEFORE the Land Department transfer, a serviced apartment is not a residential building, and service charges carry 5% even in a residential tower.
Title transfer at the DLD: what "the 4%" is actually made of, and why one door costs AED 3,000 less
"Four percent to the DLD" is Dubai's best-known number and its most inaccurately repeated one. In the official service card it is not one line but two: 2% from the seller and 2% from the buyer. We break down the full transfer bill from Dubai Land Department service cards — fixed fees, the service partner fee, the longer route for a mortgaged unit — and show where the Dubai Now digital door prints a partner fee four times smaller for the same deal.
Dubai service charges: who approves the rate, where to check it, and what the management company must prove
Your service charge rate is not set by the management company — it is approved by the regulator through the Mollak system, and the application fails without an itemised annual budget, no fewer than three tenders per contractor, and a report from an externally accredited RERA auditor. Owners can look up their own approved rate themselves. Walked through the Land Department's own service pages.
Dubai mortgages: the LTV ceilings the UAE Central Bank actually sets — and why "non-resident" is not in the regulation
Down-payment ceilings are set not by your bank but by the Central Bank of the UAE: circular 31/2013 as amended in 2020. An expatriate buying a first home gets up to 80% of value, a second or investment property 60%, and anything off-plan 50% with no exceptions at all. And the thing worth knowing in advance: the word "non-resident" does not appear in the regulation, which makes tougher non-resident terms a bank's policy rather than the regulator's ceiling.
Dubai escrow accounts: what actually protects an off-plan buyer's money — and where that protection stops
Escrow is usually sold as "your money is safe". Law No. 8 of 2007 says something more precise and much narrower: the account is opened in the name of the PROJECT, and no attachment may be imposed on the money in it for the benefit of the developer's creditors. We go through the law article by article and through Dubai Land Department's own service cards: how money goes in, how it comes out, what the 5% retained for a year is — and which risks escrow does not cover at all.
How to check a Dubai broker: Trakheesi, the RERA card and DLD registers
Dubai Land Department runs free services that let anyone confirm in a minute whether an agent is licensed, whether their RERA card is valid, and whether a listing's advertising permit is genuine. Here is what each one actually checks, and in what order, from the service pages themselves.
Oqood and Title Deed: what proves your off-plan ownership in Dubai
Off-plan purchases are recorded in the provisional Oqood register, not a Title Deed. DLD service guide: who registers, deadline, fees, and how to verify.
Rental dispute in Dubai: how to file, what it costs, how long it takes
Rental disputes in Dubai go to a dedicated body — the Rental Disputes Centre. The filing fee is a percentage of the rent with a cap, a notarised notice is required before filing, and appeals run on a fifteen-day clock. Here is the procedure from the Centre's own FAQ.
Gifting property in Dubai: who qualifies and what it costs
Transferring a property to a first-degree relative in Dubai has its own procedure and its own rate — 0.125% of the property valuation with a minimum of AED 2,000. The eligible circle is named verbatim in the schedule, and proving the relationship requires embassy attestation. Here it is from the Dubai Land Department service page.
Freehold, usufruct and musataha: what you are actually buying in Dubai
"Ownership" in Dubai is not one right but several. A usufruct runs for up to 99 years, a musataha for up to 50, and a long lease is registered separately at its own rates. Here it is from Dubai Land Department's own service pages: durations, fees, documents, and which register each right lives in.
Dubai Area Medians and Rental Yields: A DLD Snapshot
Fourteen Dubai areas: transactions in our DLD slice, median apartment price and gross rental yield. Every figure matches the area page — open it and check. Where yield cannot be proven, it reads n/a, not an estimate.
Lease-to-own in Dubai: how it is registered and what it costs
Lease-to-own is not "renting that turns into something later" — it is a separately registered contract with its own rates. Dubai Land Department charges 2% from the seller and 2% from the buyer on the sale value, plus 0.25% on the rental value. Here it is from the service page: fees, documents, timing.
Inheriting property in Dubai: how title passes to the heirs
Transferring a property to heirs in Dubai runs through a dedicated Dubai Land Department procedure, and it costs a flat AED 1,000 per property rather than a percentage. The gating document is an official letter from a court or the Awqaf addressed to DLD. Here are the documents, fees and timings from the service page.
Dubai housing fee: the 5% line on your DEWA bill, explained
There is a line called "Housing fee" on your DEWA bill. It is not an error and it is not VAT: Dubai Municipality charges 5% of your annual rent and spreads it across twelve months. Here is how it is calculated, why the figure sometimes looks wrong, and what to do when your tenancy changes.
When a Dubai landlord may evict you: the law, quoted
"The owner is selling — move out in a month" sounds convincing and is almost always wrong. Dubai law sets a closed list of grounds and requires twelve months' notice through a Notary Public. Here is Article 25, from the Dubai Land Department's own Tenancy Guide.
Marina vs JBR 2026: Where Prices Are Growing Faster in DLD Data
Two premium Dubai waterfront areas are often compared. Actual DLD transactions show where appreciation is stronger, where rent is steadier and why AED 150 per sqft can change an investment strategy.
Off-Plan vs Secondary: What Q1 2026 Transactions Show
Off-plan vs secondary examined via Q1 2026 DLD transactions: discounts, premiums, risks, and when secondary produces the stronger IRR.
Golden Visa Through Real Estate: A Step-by-Step Investor Guide
A 10-year UAE residence visa through property investment: the actual requirements, price thresholds, mortgage and off-plan pitfalls, explained step by step.
Dubai Hills vs Palm Jumeirah: A Long-Term Investor Comparison
Two of Dubai's most discussed premium areas have very different identities. Palm offers waterfront status; Dubai Hills offers green inland living. Here is how they compare over a 10-year horizon.
How to Read DLD Data: A Guide to Actual Transaction Prices
Dubai Land Department publishes every property transaction openly, yet 90% of investors look at the wrong figures. Here is how to interpret DLD data and which filters matter.