Renting Out Your Dubai Property After Handover

Once your new property is handed over and registered in your name, you can let it to a tenant. The steps are: get the unit ready, set a rent based on official data, sign a written tenancy contract and register it in Ejari. After that, Dubai’s tenancy law governs the relationship, including how much the rent can rise at renewal and how much notice each side must give.

This guide covers long-term letting on an annual tenancy. Letting to short-stay guests is a separate, licensed activity, explained in our guide to holiday home rules in Dubai.

Before you list the property

A few things need to be in place before a tenant can move in.

• Handover and snagging are complete. Defects are easier to get fixed before a tenant arrives. Our handover and snagging checklist covers what to inspect.
• The unit is registered to you. DLD’s Ejari service expects the landlord to be the owner or the owner’s legal representative, and the owner’s details to be up to date. Check that the registration in your name is complete.
• Utilities are set up. Arrange the utility connections the unit needs, and agree in the contract who pays which bills.
• Service charges are paid. As owner, you pay the building’s service charges whether or not the unit is let. The Dubai REST app lets you view and pay them.
• Furnished or unfurnished. Decide which you will offer. Furnishing costs money and wears out, and it changes which tenants the unit suits. Holiday homes must be furnished; annual tenancies can be either.

Setting the rent

Base the rent on what tenants actually pay for similar units, not on asking prices in adverts.

The DLD Rental Index (website, Ejari system, Dubai REST) shows the average rent for an area or building, by property type and number of bedrooms. DLD describes it as indicative for a new lease: you and the tenant agree the first rent. The index becomes binding where the two sides disagree on an increase at renewal.

DLD’s Real Estate Data service also lists registered rental contracts, with their annual amounts, by area, property type and date. Our guide on reading Dubai property data shows how to use both. To see what a given rent means as a return, work out the net figure as shown in how to calculate rental yield.

Tenancy contracts and Ejari registration

Dubai’s tenancy law requires a written lease signed by both parties. It must describe the property, its purpose, the owner, the term, the rent and how the rent is paid. DLD’s Ejari service uses the unified tenancy contract.

Every lease must then be registered with RERA through Ejari, DLD's system for registering tenancy contracts. This is not a formality: under Law No. 26 of 2007, courts and government bodies may not consider a dispute or claim about a lease that has not been registered.

You can register a lease in three ways:

1. Dubai REST app or the Ejari system, where both landlord and tenant are individuals and the owner’s details are up to date. You fill in the details, upload the contract, pay and receive the certificate by email.
2. A real estate services trustee centre, with the original contract, the applicant’s Emirates ID and, for a representative, an official power of attorney.
3. A property management company with Ejari access, for units it manages.

Registration costs AED 100 plus AED 20 knowledge and innovation fees and a service partner fee. The result is an e-Contract Registration Certificate. See DLD’s Register or Renew Tenancy Contract page for the current documents and terms.

Rent increases and the Rental Index

Rent increases at renewal are capped by Decree No. 43 of 2013. The maximum increase is set by how far the current rent is below the RERA Rental Index average: 0% if up to 10% below, then 5%, 10%, 15%, up to 20% if more than 40% below. In other words, the closer a rent already is to the average for similar units, the smaller the increase allowed, and a rent that is at the average or only slightly below it cannot be increased at all.

The average comes from the RERA Rental Index. DLD’s website has a rental increase calculator: you enter the Ejari contract details and it shows the permitted increase. The same tools are in the Dubai REST app. In January 2025 DLD announced a Smart Rental Index, which applies these rules through the index.

The cap is a maximum, not an entitlement. You and your tenant can agree a smaller increase or none.

Landlord obligations and notice rules

Law No. 26 of 2007 sets out the main duties on both sides. As a landlord, in general you must:

• hand over the property in good condition, fit for the use agreed in the lease;
• carry out maintenance and repair defects that affect the tenant’s use during the lease, unless the contract says otherwise;
• not make changes that stop the tenant using the property as intended;
• refund the security deposit, or what remains of it, at the end of the lease; and
• not cut off services or disturb the tenant’s use of the property.

Notice. If either side does not want to renew, or wants to change any term such as the rent, they must give the other party at least 90 days' notice before the lease expires, unless the contract says otherwise. Put any notice in writing and keep proof of when it was sent.

Ending a lease early. A valid lease cannot be ended by one side alone during its term. It can end by agreement, or on the grounds the law sets out, such as unpaid rent after formal notice, unauthorised subletting or damage to the property.

Selling a let property. If you sell during a fixed-term lease, the tenant generally keeps the right to stay until the lease ends.

These are the main points of the law, not a full statement. A lawyer can advise on a specific situation.

Using a property manager or broker

You can let and manage the property yourself, or appoint a professional. A property management company can advertise the unit, find and check tenants, register the Ejari contract, collect rent and arrange maintenance. That is useful if you live abroad.

Before you appoint anyone:

• check that the company and its brokers are licensed, using the broker and company lookups in the Dubai REST app;
• agree in writing exactly what they will do and how rent and deposits are handled; and
• make sure any power of attorney you give is official and limited to what is needed.

Disputes: where they go

Try to resolve issues directly first, using the lease as the reference. If that does not work, landlord and tenant disputes in Dubai go to a special tribunal established for them, which Law No. 26 of 2007 refers to throughout. The Dubai REST app lets landlords and tenants submit rental dispute cases and follow them up.

A registered Ejari contract, written notices and records of payments and repairs are the evidence that matters if a dispute arises. Keep them for the whole tenancy and after it ends.