Dubai rental law for landlords: increases, notices and eviction

Dubai’s tenancy framework is contained in a handful of instruments: Law No. 26 of 2007 and its amendment Law No. 33 of 2008 on the relationship between landlords and tenants, and Decree No. 43 of 2013 on rent increases. They are short documents. Most landlord losses at the Rental Dispute Centre come from procedure, not from substance.

Register the tenancy. Everything else depends on it

Every tenancy in Dubai must be registered with Ejari, the Land Department’s tenancy registry. Registration produces the contract number that a tenant needs for DEWA, for a visa application and for a school enrolment — and that a landlord needs to file a case. An unregistered tenancy is not void, but it puts you at an immediate procedural disadvantage and it is the first thing the Rental Dispute Centre will ask for.

The rent increase cap

This is the rule most often misunderstood. Under Decree No. 43 of 2013, how much you may increase the rent depends entirely on how far below the market index the current rent sits, where the index is RERA’s published average for comparable property in the same area.

Two consequences follow, and both surprise new landlords. First, if your tenant is already paying at or near the market average, you may not raise the rent at all this year, regardless of what comparable units are newly asking. Second, the cap is on the percentage increase, not on the end figure — a rent 45 per cent below the index can only rise by 20 per cent, which still leaves it below market. Catching up takes several cycles.

Ninety days, in writing, or nothing happens

To change any term of the tenancy on renewal — the rent, the number of cheques, the duration — you must notify the tenant at least 90 days before the expiry date, unless the contract expressly agrees a different period. In writing.

Miss the 90 days and the contract renews on identical terms for another year. This is the single most common landlord error in Dubai, and there is no remedy for it: a notice served at 60 days is simply ineffective. Diarise the date the day the tenancy starts.

A rent increase that is justified, affordable and fair is worth nothing if it was served on day 85.

Eviction: the twelve-month notice

A landlord may not evict a tenant mid-term. At the end of a tenancy, eviction is permitted on the grounds set out in Article 25(2) of Law No. 26 of 2007 as amended, and only with twelve months’ written notice served through a notary public or by registered mail.

The permitted grounds are narrow:

• The owner wishes to sell the property.
• The owner, or a first-degree relative, needs the property for personal use, and the owner has no other suitable property.
• The property requires demolition or reconstruction, or comprehensive renovation that cannot be carried out while occupied, supported by a municipality report.
• The property is in a condition requiring demolition for safety reasons, confirmed by the competent authority.

Separately, Article 25(1) allows termination during the term for tenant default: non-payment within 30 days of a formal demand, unauthorised subletting, illegal use, material damage, or breach of a contractual obligation after notice. These are specific and must be evidenced.

Two points landlords get wrong. Selling does not end a tenancy — a buyer inherits the tenant and the contract, and the twelve-month notice does not transfer automatically unless it was properly served before the sale. And a notice given for personal use obliges you not to let the property to a new tenant for a period afterwards; doing so invites a compensation claim.

Cheques, deposits and the small print

• Payment is customarily by one to four post-dated cheques for the year, with fewer cheques commanding a lower rent. Monthly-cheque tenancies are increasingly common and usually priced 3 to 5 per cent higher.
• Security deposit is typically 5 per cent of annual rent for an unfurnished unit and 10 per cent furnished. It is refundable, less the cost of damage beyond fair wear and tear, and it is not the landlord’s money.
• Maintenance. Unless the contract states otherwise, the landlord is responsible for major maintenance and the tenant for minor repairs. Define the threshold in the contract — AED 500 or AED 1,000 per incident is the usual split — because “major” is otherwise litigated.
• The housing fee of 5 per cent of annual rental value is a tenant obligation in residential lettings, collected monthly through the DEWA bill.

If it goes wrong: the Rental Dispute Centre

Disputes go to the Rental Dispute Centre, part of the Dubai Land Department, not to the ordinary courts. Filing costs 3.5 per cent of the annual rent, with a minimum of AED 500 and a maximum of AED 20,000. Cases are heard quickly by international standards — a first-instance decision in several weeks is normal — and the Centre is generally even-handed, which in practice means it enforces procedure strictly on both sides.

What you will need: the Ejari-registered contract, the title deed, proof that notice was properly served and when, the payment record, and any written correspondence. If any of those is missing, the merits of your position matter less than you would like.

None of this makes Dubai a difficult market for landlords. Vacancy is low, demand is deep, and there is no tax on the income. It simply means the calendar and the notary are part of the investment. The yield arithmetic is here.