Buying off-plan in Dubai follows ten steps, from checking the project on DLD's services to receiving your title deed. You set your goals and budget, verify the project and developer, reserve, sign the sales and purchase agreement, have the sale registered in Oqood, pay instalments into escrow, track construction, complete, and take handover. This guide explains each step and what to check.
To buy off-plan property in Dubai, you verify the project and developer on DLD’s official services, reserve a unit, sign a sales and purchase agreement (SPA) with the developer, have the sale registered in the interim register (Oqood), and pay instalments into the project’s escrow account. At completion you pay the balance, inspect the unit, take the keys and receive the title deed. The ten steps below explain what happens at each stage and what to check.
If you are new to off-plan, start with our overview of off-plan in Dubai, then come back to this guide when you are ready to act.
Settle four things before the first payment. A plan that only works if everything goes right leaves no room for a delay or a smaller mortgage.
Write the answers down. A one-page plan with your goal, the most you will spend in total, how each instalment will be funded and your fallback if the mortgage is smaller makes every later decision easier, and it gives you a fixed point to come back to when a sales conversation moves fast.
Before you spend time on a sales conversation, check that the project and the people selling it are who they say they are. Each of these checks uses a public DLD service, so you can do them yourself and repeat them at any point.
RERA’s own guidance sets out what a broker must confirm before marketing an off-plan project. Brokers marketing off-plan must confirm RERA project registration, an escrow account and a developer marketing contract. The guidance names the Dubai REST app’s Mashrooi service as the way to check. Our guide on how to verify a project and broker walks through each check and what a mismatch means.
For some launches, developers invite an expression of interest (EOI) before units are formally released. For others, you go straight to a reservation or booking form. Either way, this is the step where you first commit money, so it is where care pays off.
An EOI is a statement that you would like to be offered a unit. It is not a sale and it gives you no ownership rights. The implementing bylaw of the interim register law says any off-plan sale made before the project is approved by the competent authorities and registered with DLD is void. At real estate exhibitions, DLD’s permit rules allow only preliminary reservations, not sales, and do not allow Dubai off-plan projects to be shown unless they are registered with DLD’s escrow account department.
Before you pay anything at this stage, ask for written answers to these questions:
Booking turns your interest in a specific unit into a commitment. You sign a reservation or booking form that names the unit, the price and the payment plan, and you pay the booking amount set by the developer.
The rule on where money goes is clear. Brokers must pay off-plan buyer money straight into the project escrow account, without deducting commission, and any agreement to the contrary is void. Pay the developer’s project escrow account, keep the receipt, and check that the account details match the escrow account number shown for the project in the Dubai REST app. A request for cash, or for payment into a personal or company account that is not the project escrow account, is a warning sign.
Read the booking form as carefully as the SPA. It often says what happens to your booking amount if you do not sign the SPA within a set time, and DLD uses the addresses in the booking form for formal notices if the SPA is not available.
The SPA is the contract that governs your purchase until handover. When a developer opens a project’s escrow account, it must give DLD a standard sale contract, so the core terms tend to follow that form. Read it in full before you sign, and pay particular attention to:
The implementing bylaw also lists situations in which a buyer may ask the court to end the contract. They include a developer refusing without valid reason to deliver the final sale agreement, declining to link payments to the construction milestones proposed by RERA, materially departing from the agreed specifications, or handing over a unit that proves unfit for use because of material construction defects. Knowing these grounds helps you read the default and termination clauses with the right expectations.
If a clause is unclear, ask the developer to explain it in writing before you sign, and consider independent legal advice for anything that affects your money or your right to end the contract. Our SPA checklist goes through each clause and what to look for.
Once the SPA is signed, the developer registers the sale in the interim register through DLD’s Oqood portal. Under Dubai Law No. 13 of 2008 on the interim real estate register, as amended in 2020, an off-plan sale that is not entered in the interim register is void, and DLD requires registration within 90 days of signing the sale and purchase contract. DLD emails a provisional registration e-certificate to the purchaser when it is done.
DLD lists these fees for the registration: 4% of the sale value (2% from the seller and 2% from the buyer), an AED 10 knowledge fee and an AED 10 innovation fee, and AED 1,000 when the developer registers the sale in Oqood itself. Who pays is a separate question. Officially 2% seller and 2% buyer, but DLD says the 4% is paid according to the seller-buyer agreement. DLD has also called on developers to pass registration fees on to DLD promptly once buyers have paid them, which is one more reason to keep every receipt.
If a developer refuses or delays registering your contract, DLD’s guidance is that you can apply to its Real Estate Registration Assurance section with your supporting documents. Our guide to Oqood registration and DLD fees explains the process and the fees in detail.
From here, you pay instalments as the SPA requires. Under Dubai Law No. 8 of 2007 on escrow accounts, buyers’ payments go into an account in the project’s name, used only for building that project, and the developer’s creditors cannot attach it. DLD’s guidance explains that money is released from escrow to contractors and consultants when the escrow agent’s engineer has checked that a construction stage has been reached.
Where an instalment is linked to a stage of completion, DLD’s guidance says you are entitled to know the current completion percentage when the developer asks for payment, through a letter from the project consultant. Ask for it if it is not included.
Keep a simple record of each payment: date, amount, account paid into and receipt. If you fall behind, the law sets a process before the developer can act. The developer notifies DLD, DLD gives you a notice period to pay, and only then may the developer terminate and keep up to 40% of the unit price if the project is 60% or more complete, or up to 25% if works have started but are below 60%, depending on the certified stage of construction. If you think you may miss a payment, talk to the developer early.
You do not have to rely on the developer’s newsletters to follow progress. The Dubai REST app gives off-plan buyers project data including the percentage of completion, actual photos of the project, the escrow account number and the payments due on your unit, and you can mark a project as a favourite to follow it. You can also look a project up in DLD's Project Status Enquiry (Mashrooi) on the DLD website and in the Dubai REST app.
Use both sources together. If the developer’s updates and the official completion figure drift apart, ask the developer to explain the difference in writing. If the completion date in your SPA is approaching and progress looks slow, read the delay and grace period clauses again so you know your position.
A delay is not the same as a cancellation. A late project is still governed by your SPA, and your remedies depend on what it says about the completion date, the grace period and compensation. A cancellation is a formal decision by RERA, and the law then requires buyers’ payments to be refunded under the escrow law. DLD’s role in a contractual dispute is limited: it can try to reconcile the parties, but it does not rule on contractual claims, which go to the courts. Keep copies of every notice, payment and update so that you can show your position clearly if you ever need to.
When the project is finished, the developer obtains a completion certificate and asks buyers to pay what remains under their plan. If you are paying from your own funds, you pay the final instalment into the escrow account.
If you are using a mortgage, start the conversation with lenders well before completion. The bank will value the finished unit, check your income and debts, and decide how much to lend, within the Central Bank’s limits. When a sale is financed, DLD has a service for registering the sale together with the mortgage, and registering a mortgage costs 0.25% of the mortgage value, plus other fees listed by DLD. If the loan offered is smaller than you need, you have to fund the difference yourself, so build a buffer into your plan.
Handover is when you inspect the unit and take the keys. Inspect carefully, or have a professional do it: walls, floors, doors, windows, wet areas, kitchen, electrics, air conditioning, plumbing and balcony. Record defects in writing and agree a date to re-inspect. Our handover and snagging checklist gives a room-by-room list.
Once you have met all your contractual obligations, the developer may not refuse to hand over the unit or register it in your name, including allocated facilities such as a parking space. If a developer refuses without reason, DLD may register the unit in your name. When the unit moves from the interim register to the main property register, DLD issues your title deed and charges an AED 250 title deed certificate issuance fee. In jointly owned buildings, Law No. (6) of 2019 also keeps the developer liable for repairing defective installations for a period after handover.
With the title deed in your name, you decide how to use the property.
| Step | What is usually asked for |
|---|---|
| Reservation | Passport copy, Emirates ID if you are a UAE resident, contact details and the booking form |
| SPA and Oqood | Signed SPA, valid UAE ID, or a passport copy if you are not a UAE resident; for companies, the trade licence, constitutional documents and any power of attorney |
| Payments | Receipts showing payment into the project escrow account |
| Mortgage at completion | The lender’s own documents, plus a bank letter on the mortgage and the signed mortgage contracts for DLD registration |
| Handover | Proof of final payment, ID, and the developer’s handover forms |
The exact list depends on the developer, the bank and whether you buy as an individual or a company. Our guide to documents you need to buy property in Dubai covers each case.
You can buy off-plan in Dubai without living there, and much of the process is online. The developer files the Oqood registration through DLD’s portal and DLD emails the certificate to the purchaser. For non-residents, DLD’s Oqood service asks for a valid passport copy instead of a UAE ID.
Three things change in practice:
Our guide to buying property in Dubai remotely covers powers of attorney, payments from abroad and handover when you are not in the country.
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There are two timelines. Booking, signing and registration come first, and DLD requires the developer to register the sale within 90 days of signing the sale and purchase contract. The second, longer timeline is construction. Until handover you own a registered off-plan unit, and the completion date and any grace period are set in your sales and purchase agreement. You can track progress in the Dubai REST app.
It depends entirely on the written terms. An expression of interest is not a registered sale, and it gives you no ownership rights. Before paying, ask for the refund conditions in writing, confirm that any payment goes to the project's escrow account and how it is credited to the price, and check the project in DLD's project status service.
The fee is charged when the developer registers your sale in the interim register through DLD's Oqood portal. DLD lists these fees: 4% of the sale value (2% from the seller and 2% from the buyer), an AED 10 knowledge fee and an AED 10 innovation fee, and AED 1,000 when the developer registers the sale in Oqood itself. Who pays is a separate question. Officially 2% seller and 2% buyer, but DLD says the 4% is paid according to the seller-buyer agreement. DLD has described off-plan buyers paying the fee to the developer, who passes it to DLD, so check your booking form and contract for the exact amount and timing.
Not necessarily. The developer files the Oqood registration online and DLD emails the result to the purchaser. How you sign the contract depends on the developer. If someone signs for you, DLD requires a power of attorney issued abroad to be legalised in the country of issue, including by the UAE embassy there, and then by the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
After the developer obtains the completion certificate and you have met your contractual obligations, including the final payment. The law requires the developer to register completed units in buyers' names, and DLD may register a unit itself if a developer refuses without reason. DLD charges an AED 250 title deed certificate issuance fee.
Official sources used on this page. Each was checked on the date shown.
6 min read
Oqood is the Dubai Land Department's online system for registering off-plan sales in the interim register. The developer registers your sales and purchase agreement, DLD's registration fees are paid, and you receive a provisional registration e-certificate. Registration gives your purchase legal effect: an off-plan sale that is not registered is void. At completion, the unit moves to the main register and you receive a title deed.
8 min read
The sales and purchase agreement (SPA) is the contract that sets your rights in an off-plan purchase, so read all of it before you sign. It decides what you are buying, what you pay and when, how late the developer can be, what may change, and what happens on default. Before you sign, check the unit and its net area, the payment schedule and escrow account, the completion and delay clauses, the specification, the default and resale terms, service charges, handover and the dispute route.
5 min read
To buy off-plan property in Dubai as an individual, you mainly need a valid passport (or UAE ID if you are a resident), the signed sale and purchase agreement, and evidence of where your money comes from. Companies, mortgage buyers and visa applicants need more. This guide lists the documents DLD asks for at each step, what you receive back, and how to keep them safe.
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