Property Due Diligence in Dubai
Overview
Property due diligence in Dubai is a verification exercise, not a paperwork exercise. The distinction matters: almost every document a buyer is shown is a copy supplied by the person who wants the sale to happen. Due diligence means checking each material fact against the source — the Dubai Land Department record, the project registration, the escrow position, the community and the contract — rather than against the copy.
Two provisions make this more consequential here than in many markets. Under Dubai Law No. 7 of 2006, entries in the Real Property Register carry absolute evidentiary value and a disposition of real property has no validity unless registered. Under Article 3 of Dubai Law No. 13 of 2008, a disposition of an off-plan unit is void unless recorded in the Interim Real Property Register. In both cases the register — not the contract, not the receipt, not the assurance — determines the position.
What follows is the checklist itself, organised by what is being verified rather than by how a service is sold. It is deliberately specific enough to be usable by a buyer working through it alone, and we would rather someone did that than skipped it.
Jurisdiction: Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
Discuss Your Property Matter
Tell us what has happened, the documents you hold and the dates involved. Our Dubai property law team will review the details and explain the options that may be open to you.
Why Due Diligence Is Different in Dubai
Buyers arriving from other markets often assume that a broker, a developer or a conveyancer is performing checks on their behalf. Establish who is actually doing what before relying on it.
- The register is decisive, and it is checkable. Under Dubai Law No. 7 of 2006 the Real Property Register carries absolute evidentiary value and a disposition has no validity unless registered. This makes verification both more important and more straightforward than in systems where title is inferred from a chain of deeds.
- Off-plan is a different legal object. Under Article 3 of Dubai Law No. 13 of 2008, a disposition of an off-plan unit is void unless recorded in the Interim Real Property Register. A signed contract and a payment receipt are not the same as a registered interest.
- Who may own, and where, is restricted. Dubai Law No. 7 of 2006 grants the right to own to UAE and GCC nationals and companies wholly owned by them, with non-nationals able to own in the designated areas. Eligibility is a threshold question, not a formality.
- The broker is not your adviser. A broker is remunerated on completion. That is not a criticism, it is a structural fact, and it means their checks are not a substitute for yours.
- Timing is against you at the point of sale. Launches, deposits and 48-hour reservation windows exist to compress the period in which questions get asked.
Checklist 1 — Ownership and the Seller
The first question in any transaction is whether the person selling is entitled to sell.
- The registered owner as shown on the Dubai Land Department record, checked against the identification of the person you are dealing with.
- Joint owners. Whether the property is held by more than one person, and whether every owner is party to the sale.
- Sale by power of attorney. Whether the attorney's authority actually extends to selling this property, whether it was in force on the date used, and whether it has been revoked. Misused and expired powers of attorney are among the most common defects we find.
- Corporate sellers. The trade licence, the memorandum, who is authorised to sign, and whether any shareholder consent or pre-emption right applies.
- A deceased owner. Whether the succession position has been resolved and the register updated. A sale from an estate that has not been settled cannot complete.
- Seller in financial difficulty. Whether there is anything registered against the property or the owner suggesting enforcement is in prospect.
Checklist 2 — The Property and the Register
Verify the asset itself, against the record rather than the brochure.
- The title deed, obtained from the record — not the copy provided.
- Unit, plot, project and community identifiers matching across the title deed, the contract and the physical unit you were shown. Buyers have completed on the wrong unit.
- Registered area against the marketed area, and whether the figure is built-up, suite or gross.
- Freehold or leasehold, and where leasehold, the unexpired term and its conditions.
- Whether the unit sits in a designated area for the purposes of ownership eligibility.
- Building completion status and whether a completion certificate exists.
- Permitted use — residential, commercial, hotel apartment, holiday home — and whether it matches what you intend to do with it. Restrictions on short-term letting sit here.
- Unapproved alterations to the unit, which can transfer with it as a liability.
Checklist 3 — Encumbrances, Claims and Restrictions
What is registered against the property, and what is not registered but is coming.
- Mortgages and charges, the outstanding balance, and exactly how and when the mortgage will be discharged in the transaction sequence.
- Attachments, freezing orders and precautionary measures. A property under attachment cannot be transferred, and buyers discover this at the transfer appointment rather than before it.
- Pending litigation concerning the property or the seller.
- Any blocking entry on the record, and what has to happen to lift it.
- Outstanding service charges, which can prevent a No Objection Certificate being issued and therefore prevent transfer.
- Utility and authority arrears attaching to the unit.
- Existing tenancies, dealt with in Checklist 10 below.
- Rights of way, easements and community restrictions affecting use.
Checklist 4 — Off-Plan and Under-Construction Purchases
Additional checks that apply only to units that do not yet exist.
- Is the interest registered in the Interim Real Property Register? Under Article 3 of Dubai Law No. 13 of 2008 an unregistered disposition of an off-plan unit is void. This is the single most important check on the list.
- Is the project registered with the Dubai Land Department, and is there a project escrow account?
- Where exactly do payments go? Dubai Law No. 8 of 2007 requires payments in registered projects to go to the project escrow account. A request to pay a developer or a third party directly is the clearest warning sign available.
- Actual construction progress against the payment plan, verified rather than taken from a rendering.
- The completion date and how it is qualified — anticipated versus fixed, the permitted extension, and the force majeure wording.
- Whether the payment plan is milestone-linked or date-linked. They behave very differently when a project slips.
- Buying from an existing buyer: whether the seller's interest is actually on the Interim Register, what has genuinely been paid into escrow, and whether the developer's consent and a No Objection Certificate are required.
See off-plan property in Dubai for the full lifecycle.
Checklist 5 — The Developer and the Project
Who is building it, and whether they are permitted to.
- Is the developer entered in the Register of Real Estate Developers? Dubai Law No. 8 of 2007 requires a developer to be licensed by the competent entities and recorded in that register before carrying on development business.
- Is the project itself registered, and does it have its own escrow account? The same law requires a separate account for each project, dedicated exclusively to the construction of that project. One developer-wide account is not the same thing.
- Do the payments in your contract match that account? Payments from off-plan purchasers, and money the developer borrows against the project, are to be deposited into the project escrow account.
- What is retained at completion? Under Article 14 of Dubai Law No. 8 of 2007 the escrow agent retains five per cent of the total value of each escrow account once the developer obtains the completion certificate, released one year from registration of the units in the purchasers’ names. This is part of the escrow framework between the developer and the escrow agent. It is not a sum held for you, and it is not a buyer retention right.
- Was the advertising authorised, and what does that authorisation actually mean? Under Article 5 of Dubai Law No. 8 of 2007 a developer may not advertise in local or international media, or take part in local or international exhibitions to promote off-plan sales, without written authorisation from the Department. Confirm that any required authorisation was obtained — but treat it as permission to advertise, not as a warranty of what the advertising says. Marketing material should still be checked against the sale agreement, the project registration, the approved project information and the property records. Advertising authorisation is not a substitute for contractual or title due diligence.
- The delivery record on earlier projects. Completed handovers, and how they compare with the dates originally given, are a better guide than a brochure.
- Is the broker registered? Confirm the registration of the broker and the brokerage before you pay anything, and confirm what they are authorised to receive.
Checklist 6 — Building, Community and Service Charges
The recurring costs and restrictions that come with the unit, which buyers routinely discover after completion.
- The current service charge rate and how it has moved over recent years.
- Arrears attaching to the unit and who is responsible for clearing them before transfer.
- The owners' association or management company, and what the community rules restrict — pets, alterations, parking, short-term letting.
- Any special levy approved or in prospect for major works.
- Building condition and known defects, including any structural or facade issues under discussion in the community.
- Parking, storage and any facility you are told comes with the unit — verified as actually attached to it rather than allocated informally.
See property inspection for the physical survey.
Checklist 7 — Your Eligibility and Holding Structure
Whether you may own here at all, and in what form you should hold it.
- Are you eligible to own in this location? Under Article 4 of Dubai Law No. 7 of 2006, ownership of real property is granted to UAE nationals, to nationals of the GCC member states, to companies wholly owned by them, and to public joint stock companies. Non-UAE nationals may be granted rights only in areas determined by the Ruler.
- Which right is actually on offer? In those designated areas a non-national may be granted freehold ownership without a time limit, or a usufruct or leasehold right for a period not exceeding ninety-nine years. These are different things. Check which one the contract gives you.
- Is this specific plot inside a designated area, today? Regulation No. 3 of 2006 designates the areas in which non-UAE nationals may be granted these rights, by area and plot number. Areas have been added since, so the original list is not by itself the current position. Verify the specific plot against current Dubai Land Department records rather than against a marketing description of the district, and rather than against any list reproduced on a website, including this one.
- Personal name or a company? Neither is automatically better. The appropriate structure depends on the investor, the property, the financing, ownership eligibility and succession objectives, and the answer changes with circumstances. Take advice on your own facts before you sign, not after.
- How the property would pass on death. Succession is not automatic or uniform, and the position depends on the holding structure and on the rules that apply to you. This is one to settle deliberately rather than assume.
- Financing. Whether lending is available for the structure you have chosen, and on what terms, before you are committed to a payment plan.
- Source of funds. Be prepared to provide source-of-funds and related compliance documentation where it is required by the financial institution, the other parties to the transaction or the competent authorities. Gathering it late delays a transfer.
Checklist 8 — Money, Payment Route and Escrow
Where the money goes is a due diligence question in its own right, and it is where the most serious losses occur.
- Never pay into an account you have not verified independently. Verify account details through a channel you initiated, not one supplied to you in an email or a message.
- For off-plan, pay into the project escrow account as Dubai Law No. 8 of 2007 requires. Any other destination should stop the transaction until explained.
- For completed property, understand the transfer mechanics — how the price, any mortgage discharge and the transfer are sequenced, and who holds what in the meantime.
- Keep every receipt and transfer confirmation. Where something goes wrong, the payment trail is the evidence that matters most, and reconstructing it later is difficult.
- Fees and who bears them, agreed in writing before exchange rather than assumed. We do not publish current transfer or registration fee figures on this page, because published fees change; we confirm them for your transaction at the time.
- Deposit protection. What happens to your deposit if the transaction does not complete, and on whose default.
Checklist 9 — The Contract
The document you will be held to, read against the register rather than against the sales pitch.
- Does the description match the register? Identifiers, area, tenure and permitted use in the contract should match the title record exactly. A discrepancy is easier to resolve before signature than after.
- The timetable, and how it is qualified. An anticipated date, a fixed date and a date subject to permitted extension are three different promises. Read what happens if it slips.
- What happens if you default on the contract. Under Article 11 of Dubai Law No. 13 of 2008, as amended by Law No. 19 of 2020, the developer applies to the Department, which serves a thirty-day notice on the purchaser requiring performance of the contractual obligations. If the breach is not remedied, what the developer may then do depends on how far construction has progressed.
- The completion bands, worth knowing before you sign. Where construction exceeds eighty per cent, the developer may retain all sums paid and claim the balance, or ask the Department to sell the unit by public auction, or terminate and retain up to forty per cent of the value of the unit. Where completion is between sixty and eighty per cent, it may terminate and retain up to forty per cent of the value. Below sixty per cent, up to twenty-five per cent of the value. Sums to be returned are refunded within one year of termination, or within sixty days of resale of the unit to another purchaser, whichever occurs earlier.
- Project cancellation is a separate question. The bands above deal with a purchaser’s default. They are not the rule for a project that does not proceed. Where work has not commenced for reasons not attributable to the developer’s negligence, or the project is cancelled by a decision of the Real Estate Regulatory Agency, the developer must refund all payments made by the purchasers. Keep the two situations apart when you read the contract.
- Assignment. Whether you may sell before completion, what consent is required, and what it costs. Assume nothing here.
- Warranties and handover. What is warranted, for how long, and the condition the unit must be in when it is handed over.
- Dispute resolution and jurisdiction. Which forum decides a dispute under this contract, and under which law. Find out before you sign, not when something has gone wrong.
Checklist 10 — Buying a Tenanted Property
A frequent misunderstanding among investors, and one with a clear legal answer.
Buying the property does not, by itself, end the tenancy. The lease continues, and a purchaser stepping into the landlord's position takes it subject to the tenancy and to Law No. 26 of 2007 as amended by Law No. 33 of 2008. An investor who buys intending to occupy or re-let immediately, without checking the tenancy position, has bought a different asset from the one they thought.
What to establish:
- The tenancy contract and the Ejari registration, with the term, the rent and the renewal position.
- Whether any notice has already been served, by whom, when and by what method — service by Notary Public or registered mail matters under the statutory grounds.
- The security deposit and who holds it.
- Rent already paid in advance, including post-dated cheques held by the seller.
- Arrears and any pending Rental Disputes Centre case.
- Where you intend to recover possession for your own use, the statutory route requires twelve months' notice served by Notary Public or registered mail under Article 25(2), and Article 26 restricts re-letting for two years for residential and three years for non-residential property after recovery for personal use. Plan for that before buying, not after.
Red Flags That Should Stop a Transaction
Any one of these justifies pausing until it is explained to your satisfaction. Several together mean the transaction should not proceed.
- A request to pay anywhere other than the project escrow account for an off-plan unit, or to a personal account for any purchase.
- Bank details supplied or changed by email or message, particularly close to a payment date.
- Pressure to sign or pay within hours, or a reservation window that expires before documents can be reviewed.
- Refusal or delay in producing the title deed or the register entry.
- A seller acting only through a power of attorney that you are not permitted to examine.
- The registered owner's name not matching the person you are dealing with, without a clear explanation.
- A price materially below the market without a reason that survives checking.
- An off-plan interest that has not been registered despite payments having been made over a long period.
- A developer or broker who is not registered.
- Discrepancies between the title deed, the contract and the unit you were shown.
Where documents appear to have been forged or an interest sold twice, that is a different matter and it is dealt with on our criminal matters connected to property page.
When Due Diligence Should Happen
The value of each check falls sharply the later it is done, and most of them become worthless once money has moved.
| Stage | What should already be done |
|---|---|
| Before paying a reservation or booking amount | Ownership and seller checks; eligibility; for off-plan, project registration and the escrow account; a read of the booking form itself |
| Before signing the sale and purchase agreement | Everything on the register; encumbrances; service charges; tenancy position; the contract reviewed |
| Before the transfer appointment | Mortgage discharge arrangements; No Objection Certificate; arrears cleared; payment route verified again |
| After completion | Confirm registration has actually completed and the record now shows you as owner — a step buyers assume rather than check |
We do not publish a standard turnaround for due diligence. A single completed unit with clear title and a cooperative seller is a materially shorter exercise than an off-plan resale in a delayed project with a corporate seller and an overseas buyer. We tell you what your matter is likely to involve once we have seen the first documents.
- Jurisdiction
- Dubai, United Arab Emirates
- What due diligence is
- Verification of the property, the seller and the record before money moves or a contract binds you
- Where the record sits
- The Dubai Land Department register, and the interim register under Dubai Law 13/2008 for off-plan units
- Regulators
- RERA for developers, brokers, escrow and owners associations; the DLD for registration and title
- Documents checked
- Title or interim register entry, the contract and annexes, encumbrances, service charge position, any tenancy and its Ejari entry, and the payment route
- Why timing matters
- Checks are worth most before signing. After a binding contract, the same finding is a dispute rather than a decision
Where This Page Fits
Due diligence touches most stages of a transaction. These pages go further on each.
- Sale and purchase agreements. Contract review and drafting.
- Off-plan property in Dubai. Booking forms, the Interim Register, escrow, delay and cancellation.
- Dubai Land Department matters. Registration, transfer and correcting the record.
- Property inspection. The physical survey and snagging.
- The closing process. Transfer mechanics and completion.
- RERA and regulatory matters. Broker and developer registration and conduct.
- Property disputes in Dubai. What happens when the checks were not done.
- Real estate lawyer in Dubai. Transactional and advisory property work.
Where the Checks Lead
Each check below has its own page setting out the governing law and the documents involved.
The Ten Checks, in One Place
A summary of the checklist above, for use as a working list.
- Ownership and the seller — registered owner, joint owners, power of attorney, corporate authority, estate position.
- The property and the register — title deed from the record, identifiers matching, area, tenure, designated area, permitted use.
- Encumbrances and claims — mortgages, attachments, blocking entries, litigation, service charge arrears.
- Off-plan specifics — Interim Register entry, project registration, escrow account, construction progress, completion wording.
- Developer and project — registration, delivery record, approvals, escrow, broker registration.
- Building and community — service charge level and arrears, association rules, special levies, condition, parking.
- Your eligibility and holding structure — right to own, personal or corporate, succession consequences, financing, source of funds.
- Money and payment route — verified account details, escrow for off-plan, transfer sequencing, receipts kept, fees agreed.
- The contract — description matching the register, conditions, timetable, default, warranties, handover, dispute clause.
- Tenancy, if the property is let — contract and Ejari, notices already served, deposit, advance rent, arrears, and the route to recover possession.
If you work through this list yourself and something on it cannot be verified, that is the point at which to take advice — before the deposit, not after.
Official Legal Sources
The checks on this page are framed by the following primary sources.
| Instrument or authority | What it governs |
|---|---|
| Dubai Law 7 of 2006 | Real Property Registration in the Emirate of Dubai |
| Dubai Law 13 of 2008 | Interim Real Property Register, covering off-plan sales and dispositions |
| Law 19 of 2017 (Article 11) | Replaces Article 11 of Law 13 of 2008 on developer remedies where a purchaser defaults |
| Dubai Law 26 of 2007 | Landlord and tenant relationship, relevant when buying a tenanted property |
| Dubai Legislation Portal | Official source for Dubai laws, decrees and resolutions |
| UAE Legislation | Official federal legislation portal of the United Arab Emirates |
| Dubai Land Department | Registration, title, Ejari and real estate regulation including RERA |
Jurisdiction: Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Legal position reviewed against the sources above on 29 August 2026. General information about Dubai property law, not legal advice on a particular matter.
Have the Checks Run Before You Commit
Send the contract, the register entry and whatever the seller or broker has given you. We tell you what the record actually shows, what is missing, and whether anything found should stop the transaction.
Jurisdiction: Dubai, United Arab Emirates. General information about Dubai property law, not legal advice on a particular matter. Contact does not create a lawyer and client relationship, and outcomes depend on the contract, the evidence and the forum.
Property Due Diligence in Dubai — Frequently Asked Questions
Verifying each material fact against its source rather than against the copy you were given. Ownership against the Dubai Land Department record; an off-plan interest against the Interim Real Property Register; mortgages, attachments and blocking entries against the register; project and developer registration against Land Department and RERA records; the payment destination against the project escrow account through a channel you initiated; and the tenancy against the Ejari registration and any notices served. The checklist on this page sets out the whole exercise in ten parts.
Because the law gives it decisive weight. Under Dubai Law No. 7 of 2006 entries in the Real Property Register have absolute evidentiary value, and a disposition of real property has no validity unless it is registered. For off-plan units, Article 3 of Dubai Law No. 13 of 2008 provides that a disposition is void unless recorded in the Interim Real Property Register. The register — not the contract, the receipt or the assurance — determines the position, which makes verification both more important and more straightforward than in systems where title is inferred from a chain of deeds.
Establish who is doing what before relying on it. A broker is remunerated on completion; that is a structural fact rather than a criticism, and it means their checks are not a substitute for yours. A developer is the counterparty, not your adviser. The checks that protect a buyer are the ones done on the buyer's instructions, against the source records.
Yes, and off-plan needs additional checks that completed property does not. The most important is whether the interest is actually recorded in the Interim Real Property Register, since under Article 3 of Dubai Law No. 13 of 2008 an unregistered disposition of an off-plan unit is void. Alongside that: whether the project is registered and has an escrow account under Dubai Law No. 8 of 2007, actual construction progress against the payment plan, how the completion date is qualified, and whether the payment plan is milestone-linked or date-linked.
For an off-plan purchase in a registered project, into the project escrow account as Dubai Law No. 8 of 2007 requires — a request to pay a developer or a third party directly should stop the transaction until explained. For any purchase, verify the account details through a channel you initiated yourself, not one supplied in an email or message. Bank details supplied or changed electronically close to a payment date are the single highest-risk moment in a Dubai property transaction, particularly for buyers who are abroad.
No. Under Dubai Law No. 7 of 2006 the right to own real property in Dubai is granted to UAE and GCC nationals and to companies wholly owned by them, with non-nationals able to own in the designated areas. Whether the specific unit sits in a designated area, and whether the intended owner qualifies, is a threshold question to settle before paying anything rather than a formality at the transfer appointment.
Not simply because you bought it. The tenancy continues and you take the property subject to it and to Law No. 26 of 2007 as amended by Law No. 33 of 2008. Where you intend to recover possession for your own use, the statutory route requires twelve months' notice served by Notary Public or registered mail under Article 25(2), and Article 26 restricts re-letting for two years for residential and three years for non-residential property after recovery for personal use. An investor who buys intending to occupy immediately without checking the tenancy position has bought a different asset from the one they thought.
A request to pay anywhere other than the project escrow account, or into a personal account; bank details supplied or changed by email close to a payment date; pressure to sign or pay within hours; refusal or delay in producing the title deed or register entry; a seller acting only through a power of attorney you may not examine; the registered owner's name not matching the person you are dealing with; a price materially below market without a reason that survives checking; an off-plan interest still unregistered after a long period of payments; an unregistered developer or broker; and discrepancies between the title deed, the contract and the unit you were shown.
By examining the instrument itself for three things: whether its authority actually extends to selling this property, whether it was in force on the date it was used, and whether it has been revoked. Misused and expired powers of attorney are among the most common defects we find, and a seller who will not let you examine the instrument is telling you something. For powers of attorney granted abroad, notarisation, legalisation and legal translation are usually required and take longer than buyers expect.
Before money moves, and in stages. Ownership, eligibility, project registration and the escrow account before any reservation or booking amount is paid. The full register position, encumbrances, service charges, tenancy and contract review before signing the sale and purchase agreement. Mortgage discharge arrangements, the No Objection Certificate, arrears and re-verification of the payment route before the transfer appointment. And after completion, confirm that registration has actually happened and the record now shows you as owner — a step buyers assume rather than check.
We quote after seeing the first documents, and we do not publish a standard turnaround or price. A single completed unit with clear title and a cooperative seller is a materially shorter exercise than an off-plan resale in a delayed project with a corporate seller and an overseas buyer. We also do not publish current transfer or registration fee figures, because published fees change; we confirm them for your transaction at the time.
Yes — every check on the list can be carried out remotely, and distance is a reason to check more carefully rather than less. What needs planning is the logistics: powers of attorney granted abroad generally require notarisation, legalisation and legal translation, which takes time; the scope of that power needs to be precise, because too broad is a risk and too narrow stalls the transaction; and an independent physical inspection should be arranged rather than relying on photographs from the seller.
A written report setting out what was checked, against which source and what it showed; the register position as we obtained it rather than as it was described to you; issues classified by seriousness — what stops the transaction, what must be resolved before completion, what should be reflected in the contract, and what you are knowingly accepting; and specific recommended actions, including anything to be built into the contract as a condition or warranty. Where a check could not be completed we say so and explain the consequence, because a report that omits what could not be verified creates confidence that nothing supports.