Renting a home in Dubai: the lease paperwork to keep

A note on scope and sources

This guide covers tenancy, one part of the paperwork a family keeps. Visas, Emirates ID and school dates are not covered, because no primary sources for them were read for this series and they are not guessed here. The guide applies to residential leases in the Emirate of Dubai. It is general information and not legal advice.

Three texts were read on 18 October 2026: Law No. (26) of 2007 Regulating the Relationship between Landlords and Tenants in the Emirate of Dubai, issued on 26 November 2007; Law No. (33) of 2008, which supersedes Articles 2, 3, 4, 9, 13, 14, 15, 25, 26, 29 and 36 of the original law; and Decree No. (43) of 2013 Determining Rent Increase for Real Property. Where the amendment and the original differ, the amendment's wording is used below. The portal pages carry a note that the Arabic text prevails over the English.^[1][2][3] No consolidated current text was read, and later amendments, if any, were not checked.

What a lease must contain, and registration

Under the amended Article 4, the contractual relationship is regulated by a lease contract that describes the leased property in a way that leaves no room for uncertainty, and states the purpose of the lease, its term, the rent and its payment method, and the owner's name if the landlord is not the owner. All lease contracts for property governed by the law are to be registered with the Real Estate Regulatory Agency.^[2] The original text added that judicial authorities and government bodies may not consider any dispute or action relating to a lease unless it is registered, in accordance with the relevant rules and regulations.^[1] The registration procedure and its fees are set elsewhere and were not read for this guide.

Article 9 as amended says landlord and tenant must specify the rent in the lease. If they do not and the rent agreed cannot be proved, the rent is the rental value of similar property, which the tribunal determines taking into account the criteria for rent increases prescribed by the Agency, the economic situation, the condition of the property and rents of similar property in the area.^[2] The practical consequence is that the rent, the payment method and the term are the first three things to be able to show on paper.

Term, renewal and ending a lease

The term must be specified. Where it is not, or cannot be proved, the lease is treated as valid for the period specified for payment of the rent.^[1] Where the term expires and the tenant continues to occupy the property without objection by the landlord, the original law provides that the lease renews for the same term or for one year, whichever is shorter, on the same terms.^[1] A valid lease cannot be unilaterally terminated during its term by either party. It can end by mutual consent or under the law.^[1]

For renewal, the amended Article 13 lets the parties, before expiry, amend any terms or reconsider increasing or reducing the rent. If they cannot agree, the tribunal may determine the fair rent using the Article 9 criteria. Article 14 as amended says that, unless the parties agree otherwise, a party that wishes to amend any term must notify the other no less than 90 days before the lease expires.^[2] The original Article 14 also covered a party that does not wish to renew, and the amended wording read refers only to amending terms, so a household should check what its own lease says about non-renewal. This is the date most worth writing down: 90 days before expiry.

Rent increases on renewal

Decree No. 43 of 2013 sets the maximum increase when renewing a lease in Dubai, by how far the unit's rent is below the average rental value of similar units. There is no increase where the rent is up to 10 percent below the average. The maximum is 5 percent where the rent is 11 to 20 percent below, 10 percent where it is 21 to 30 percent below, 15 percent where it is 31 to 40 percent below, and 20 percent where it is more than 40 percent below.^[3] The decree applies to landlords, public or private, including those in special development zones and free zones such as the Dubai International Financial Centre.^[3]

The decree says the average rental value of similar units is determined in accordance with the Rent Index of the Emirate of Dubai approved by the Real Estate Regulatory Agency.^[3] How the index is built and published today was not read for this guide, so the percentage a particular unit falls into has to be taken from the Agency's published index and not worked out from the decree alone.

Payment, deposit and condition

If the parties do not agree payment dates, or the dates cannot be verified, the original Article 12 provides that the rent is paid annually in four equal instalments in advance.^[1] Article 20 allows the landlord to obtain a security deposit from the tenant to ensure maintenance of the property on expiry, provided the landlord undertakes to refund the deposit or the remainder on expiry. The law sets no amount for the deposit and no refund deadline beyond expiry.^[1]

On condition, the landlord must hand over the property in a good state that allows full use as stated in the lease, and unless otherwise agreed is responsible for maintenance works and repairing any defect or damage that may affect the intended use. The tenant must pay rent on due dates, maintain the property as an ordinary person would maintain his own, and may not make changes or maintenance works without the landlord's permission and the licences required from the competent entities. On expiry the tenant must surrender the property in the condition in which it was received, except for ordinary wear and tear or damage beyond the tenant's control.^[2][1] Photographs and a written condition note at the start of a lease are therefore a sensible record, though the law does not require them.

Subletting, sale and services

Unless otherwise agreed, a tenant may not assign the use of the property or sub-let it without the landlord's written consent.^[1] Transferring ownership to a new owner does not affect the tenant's right to continue occupying the property under a lease with a fixed term.^[1] The landlord may not disconnect services from the property or disturb the tenant in using it. The original text gives the tenant the option of recourse to the police station and a claim for damages supported by official reports.^[1]

When a landlord can seek eviction

Article 25 as amended lists the cases in which a landlord may request eviction before the lease expires, and says it may do so only in those cases. They include non-payment of rent within 30 days of a notice requesting payment, unless the parties agree otherwise; subletting without written approval; illegal use; leaving business premises unoccupied for set periods; changes that endanger the property's safety or deliberate or grossly negligent damage; use for a purpose other than that leased; a property likely to collapse as proved by a Dubai Municipality report; failing to comply with a lease term within 30 days of a notice; and a government decision that demolition is required. The landlord serves the notice through a notary public or by registered mail.^[2]

At expiry, the amended text allows eviction only if the owner wishes to demolish and reconstruct or add structures, the property needs restoration that cannot be done while occupied and a municipality report verifies it, the owner wishes to retake possession for personal use or first-degree relatives and proves that there is no suitable alternative property, or the owner wishes to sell. In each case the landlord must give the reasons at least 12 months before the date of eviction, by notary public or registered mail.^[2] The 2008 amendment sets a re-letting bar after repossession for personal use of two years for residential property and three for non-residential, and a tenant right of first refusal to return after reconstruction or renovation, exercised within 30 days of being notified.^[2]

A household register

The sources do not prescribe records, so the following is an interpretation. A tenancy file might hold the signed lease and proof of registration, the term dates, the date 90 days before expiry, the rent amount and payment schedule, the deposit amount and what was agreed about its return, a condition note with photographs, and copies of any notices sent or received and how they were served. Notices that matter by law are served through a notary public or by registered mail or other means the law approves, so how a notice was sent is part of the record. The register belongs with the family's other date-driven documents, so that no deadline depends on one person's memory.

What these texts do not settle

The registration procedure and fees, the Rent Index method, the tribunal that now hears rent disputes and any amendments after 2013 were not read. The 2008 amendment refers to a special tribunal for disputes between landlords and tenants, and the 2013 decree's preamble refers to a later decree on a rental disputes settlement centre that was not read. Check the current position with the Dubai Land Department and the Dubai Legislation Portal before relying on any date or percentage here.

Questions