Stalled or cancelled off-plan project in Dubai: what protects buyers

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Kooky

Builder of Shaka, the payment router that pays every agent their commission on closing date.

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An off-plan purchase is finished only when the building is. Between the first instalment and the handover, a project can slow down, stop, or be cancelled by the regulator, and each of those outcomes puts the buyer in a different legal position. Dubai has written rules for all three. They sit in the by-law of the Interim Property Register, in the escrow law, and in a decree of 2020 that sends every dispute over an unfinished or cancelled project to a single tribunal.

This guide follows that framework from a compliance point of view: the grounds on which the Real Estate Regulatory Agency, known as RERA, may cancel a project, the procedure it follows, what a buyer is owed and from which money, what the tribunal can order, and how a project's status is verified on the Dubai Land Department's own tools. It also records the enforcement the Department has announced against unregistered marketing, and the warning signs its own statements list. It describes the position as read in October 2026, from the English texts on the Dubai Legislation Portal, the Department's published pages, a Dubai Media Office release and press reports. Where those sources give no figure, the guide says so.

Executive Council Resolution No. (6) of 2010 of the Emirate of Dubai, Articles 23, 25 and 26, as published on the Dubai Legislation Portal.

Stalled, under review, cancelled: three different positions

The words are used loosely in conversation, and precisely in the texts. Decree No. (33) of 2020, issued on 24 November 2020, defines two of them in its Article 1. An unfinished real property project is one whose construction has started and was then suspended, whether the cause lies with the developer, with the purchaser, or elsewhere. A cancelled real property project is one cancelled under the emirate's legislation, or one referred to the tribunal and not yet liquidated.

A project that is merely late is neither. The distinction mattered from the start. In a Gulf News report on the creation of the first judicial committee, on a page last updated on 15 September 2018, the Director General of the Land Department at the time was quoted drawing the line this way: "Delayed projects will not be handled by the new committee since they have not been officially scrapped."

Between late and cancelled there is a review stage. Khaleej Times, in an article of 17 December 2024, reported a lawyer's description of two statuses used by the Department and RERA: "cancelled", once RERA has issued a final, reasoned decision to end the project, and "under cancellation", while RERA is still assessing progress, the developer's financial stability and regulatory compliance. In that account the second status lasts until RERA either cancels the project or lets the developer continue. That is a press description, not the wording of a primary page.

The label decides the route. For a project that has not been cancelled, the Land Department's frequently asked questions page says the Department cannot terminate a contract at an investor's request: the investor applies to the real estate court, and the Department only attempts an amicable settlement.

The nine grounds on which RERA may cancel a project

Cancellation is an administrative decision with a defined basis. Article 23 of Executive Council Resolution No. (6) of 2010, the implementing by-law of Law No. (13) of 2008, was issued on 14 February 2010. It allows RERA to cancel a project on the basis of a reasoned technical report in nine cases:

1. The developer fails, without valid justification, to start construction although it holds all the required approvals.
2. The developer commits one of the offences listed in Article 16 of Law No. (8) of 2007 on escrow accounts.
3. RERA is satisfied that the developer has no genuine intention to carry out the project.
4. The land is withdrawn because a sub-developer failed in its obligations to the master developer.
5. The land is completely affected by planning or re-planning projects.
6. The developer fails to carry out the project through gross negligence.
7. The developer states that it will not carry out the project, for reasons RERA accepts.
8. The developer is declared bankrupt.
9. Any other reason RERA determines.

Two neighbouring articles give the regulator its vocabulary. Article 22 lists examples of a developer's negligence or omission: unjustified delay in taking possession of the land or in obtaining approvals to start, an off-plan sale by a sub-developer without the master developer's written approval, delay in preparing the project for construction, failure to register the project with RERA, and failure to disclose the project's financial statements to RERA.

Article 21 lists the opposite: reasons treated as beyond the developer's control. They are the expropriation of the land in the public interest, a suspension by a government entity for re-planning, the discovery of structures, excavations or utility lines on the site, and a change made by the master developer that alters the project's boundaries or area. Both lists end with a clause leaving RERA to determine other cases.

The escrow law adds a sanction of its own, separate from cancellation. Under Article 17 of Law No. (8) of 2007, issued on 6 May 2007, a developer is struck off the Register of Real Estate Developers if it is declared bankrupt, if its licence is revoked, if it commits certain of the Article 16 offences, if it breaches a law or by-law regulating development, or if it fails without acceptable reason to start construction within six months of being granted permission to sell off-plan. The by-law's Article 17 says that completing levelling works and infrastructure counts as starting.

From the first deadline to a final decision

The Land Department's frequently asked questions page describes what comes before a cancellation. For a project at 5% completion or less that has not been cancelled, the page says RERA contacts the developer and sets a deadline to regularise the position; if the developer does not comply, cancellation procedures begin. The same page says the grievance review and committee process take at least three months.

The by-law then fixes the formal sequence. Under its Article 25, once RERA cancels a project it prepares a technical report stating the reasons, and notifies the developer in writing, by registered mail or email. Article 24 gives the developer a right of grievance: it must be filed in writing, with its grounds, within 7 working days of the notification, and RERA must decide within 7 working days of receiving it.

Two outcomes follow. If RERA admits the grievance, it sets the conditions the developer must meet for the cancellation to be revoked, and the developer undertakes in writing to meet them. If RERA rejects it, the by-law says the decision is final and the cancellation proceeds. Since 2020 there is a further step outside RERA: Article 6 of Decree No. (33) of 2020 gives the tribunal jurisdiction to hear developers' grievances against RERA over cancellations made under the 2008 law and its by-law.

The register follows the decision. Article 5 of the by-law has the Department remove the project entry from the land's folio when the project is completed, or when it is cancelled under Article 23.

What a buyer is owed, and in what order

The entitlement is stated in the law itself. The Dubai Media Office, in a release of 15 December 2020, summarised Law No. (19) of 2020, which amended Article 11 of Law No. (13) of 2008: where a developer has not begun construction for reasons beyond its control, or where a decision of RERA cancels the project, the developer must refund the full amount paid by buyers. Khaleej Times, on 17 December 2024, described the same rule as requiring the developer to return all amounts received, with refunds following Law No. (8) of 2007.

The by-law sets out where the money comes from, in sequence.

Each stage has an article behind it. Article 25 of the by-law covers the audit and the 14-day request, and it says the refund is made from the money paid or deposited. Article 26 covers the shortfall and lets RERA extend the 60 days for valid reasons. Article 27 requires RERA to take all necessary steps to protect purchasers' rights, including the referral. The Department's frequently asked questions page describes the same point in operational terms: on cancellation the account moves to the liquidation department, the developer is asked to refund investors within 60 days of the decision, and non-compliance is referred to court.

A worked example shows how the two deadlines relate, on assumed figures. Suppose buyers in a cancelled project have paid AED 50 million in total, and the audit finds AED 32 million in the escrow account. Under Article 25 the escrow agent is asked to refund from the AED 32 million within 14 days. The remaining AED 18 million, which is AED 50 million less AED 32 million, is the shortfall the developer must refund within 60 days under Article 26. The figures are illustrative. The texts read do not say how the escrow money is shared among buyers when it does not cover everyone in full.

That last point is an open one. Neither the by-law nor Decree No. (33) of 2020 ranks one purchaser before another, and neither sets a percentage. The decree's only financial rule on the subject is in Article 6: the tribunal settles the rights related to a cancelled project after deducting the expenses of liquidation. What an individual buyer recovers therefore depends on the audit, on the assets available and on the tribunal's decisions in that project.

One tribunal for unfinished and cancelled projects

Before 2020 the body was a committee, formed under Decree No. (21) of 2013. Decree No. (33) of 2020 supersedes that decree, applies to the body it created and renames it. The Dubai Legislation Portal's English text calls it the Special Tribunal for Unfinished and Cancelled Real Property Projects in the Emirate of Dubai. The Dubai Media Office release of 15 December 2020 uses a different English name, the Special Tribunal for Liquidation of Cancelled Real Property Projects. Gulf News reports from the period of the 2013 decree refer to a judicial committee. All three describe the same institution.

Its seat is at the Land Department, under Article 3, and other offices may be opened by resolution of the Chairman of the Judicial Council. Under Article 5, the same Chairman nominates the tribunal's chairman and members and sets its terms of reference and its procedures for meetings and decisions. Article 4 defines the scope: projects in the emirate that are proven unfinished, or that are subject to a cancellation decision under Law No. (13) of 2008 and its by-law. Projects inside the Dubai International Financial Centre are excluded.

Article 6 lists ten heads of jurisdiction. The tribunal takes over the matters left pending before the 2013 committee. It determines claims concerning an unfinished project, and those concerning a cancelled project or its liquidation. It considers unfinished projects referred by RERA and may assign their completion to another developer, fixing the rights and obligations of the developer who leaves and of the one who takes over. It hears developers' grievances against cancellation. It liquidates projects that carry a final cancellation decision, determines the rights of investors and purchasers in unfinished projects, and deals with execution proceedings and objections.

What the tribunal can order

Article 7 gives the tribunal eight working powers. It may hear ordinary and summary applications through one or more members, and assign members to prepare case files. It may issue interim and preliminary orders, including an order requiring a person to act or to refrain from acting. It may propose mediation and conciliation, and form sub-committees. It may appoint auditors, at the developer's expense, to audit a cancelled project's finances and verify purchasers' payments, escrow deposits and expenditure. It may issue orders to the escrow agent or the developer on liquidation matters, including refunds from the escrow account or payments to the developer. And it may call on experts, including the Department, RERA and the Expertise and Disputes Settlement Department at the Ruler's Court.

The decree is built to keep a project alive where that is possible. Under Article 9, RERA sends the tribunal a detailed report on each unfinished project. The report covers the project's details and current status, proposed solutions, including the identification of developers able to complete it and the verification of their ability, the actions RERA has already taken, and anything else the tribunal asks for.

The same article reaches cancelled projects. Before the tribunal completes a liquidation, RERA may ask it to suspend the liquidation and reconsider whether the project can be completed and its disputes settled, and RERA then reports in detail on each project suspended in this way. A cancellation is therefore not always the last word on whether the building is finished. Enforcement of the tribunal's decisions is a matter for the Execution Court at Dubai Courts, under its own rules.

How long it takes, and the figures that are published

No text read for this guide sets a deadline for a liquidation. The Land Department's frequently asked questions page says the timeline is indefinite, and that it depends on whether all the documents, the funds and the eligible persons are available. The decree contains no time limits.

Published counts are scarce. The Department's own page says, about cancelled projects, that there are "reservations about announcing cancelled projects" and directs customers to the Department's management; it adds that the real estate court is contacted once a project has been referred to the liquidation committee. No official total of cancelled or liquidated projects, and no total of sums refunded, was found on the primary pages read in October 2026.

The press record is older and partial. In a Gulf News report on the reaction to the first committee, on a page last updated on 15 September 2018, unnamed experts were said to estimate 60 to 70 cancelled projects in Dubai. The page does not show its original date, the estimate was not attributed to a named source, and it is not an official count. In the same report the Land Department's Director General at the time said the Department had given three notices, each with a six-month period, before cancelling projects, and more time to developers with valid excuses. He attributed the cancellations of that period to the property market crash of 2009 and 2010.

Checking a project's status on official tools

The check is public, and the service page shows no fee. The Land Department's Project Status Enquiry service, which its page also presents under the name Mashrooi in the Dubai REST application, searches projects by name or by number. The Department's frequently asked questions page adds that the search can be made by plot number, project number or project name. The service page, on a site marked as last updated on 7 October 2026, shows the fields a project record carries.

The record can be supplemented. The frequently asked questions page says that before making a payment an investor can ask for a letter from a project consultant approved by the Department confirming the percentage of completion. It also says a full completion report can be obtained from RERA's technical auditor for an audit fee of AED 15,000. Under Article 12 of the escrow law, depositors or their representatives may consult and copy the accounting records that concern them.

Enforcement announced against unregistered marketing

The rule is in two places. Article 5 of Law No. (8) of 2007 forbids a developer to advertise off-plan sales in local or international media, or to exhibit them, without the Department's written authorisation. Article 11 of the by-law makes off-plan sales concluded before the project's start is approved and registered void. The Department's frequently asked questions page says a developer needs a RERA permit to advertise a project and is exposed to legal accountability without one.

The Department has announced enforcement on that basis. Gulf News reported, on a page last updated on 2 June 2024, that the Land Department had fined three developers AED 500,000 each, AED 1.5 million in total, for promoting and marketing projects without completing the registration procedures required for off-plan projects. The developers were not named. AGBI, in a report on the same decision filed under June 2024, said the rules cited were those of Law No. (8) of 2007. Gulf News quoted Ali Abdullah Al Ali, Director of the Real Estate Control Department at RERA: "We urge all to adhere to these laws and regulations to avoid any legal action."

Brokers are inside the same perimeter. Article 16 of the escrow law makes it an offence for a developer to deal with a broker who is not on the Department's register of brokers. It is one of seven offences in that article, which carry imprisonment, a fine of at least AED 100,000, or both. The Department's frequently asked questions page says a broker needs a brokerage licence, a listing in the register and a broker card from RERA, that an unlicensed broker may lose the right to commission, and that brokers in breach face warnings, fines or black points against the broker and the office.

No announcement of fines against brokers for marketing unregistered off-plan projects could be read for this guide: the one press page consulted on that subject did not load. That part of the record is left open here, not assumed.

The warning signs official statements list

Read together, the official texts and statements give a short compliance checklist. It does not replace advice on a particular purchase.

• Registration. In the Gulf News report of June 2024, RERA's Real Estate Control Department advised investors to verify through the Dubai REST application that an off-plan project is licensed and registered with an escrow account.
• Payment route. The same statement told investors not to make any payment outside the project's escrow account. The by-law's Article 25 shows why it matters: after a cancellation, money paid outside escrow is claimed from the developer, not from the account.
• Progress. A project at 5% completion or less is the case in which, according to the Department's page, RERA sets the developer a deadline. A payment request can be tested against a consultant's letter on the completion percentage.
• Start of works. Six months without a start after permission to sell is a ground for striking off under Article 17 of the escrow law, and a failure to start despite approvals is the first ground of cancellation in the by-law.
• Advertising. An off-plan advertisement requires the Department's authorisation. The Department's page lists a copy of the advertisement among the documents that support a complaint.
• The broker. The Department's page says a broker's registration can be checked on its website or in the Dubai REST application.

What the sources read leave open

Four points could not be settled from the pages read in October 2026. The first is the number of projects cancelled, liquidated or under review, and the sums refunded: the Department's page speaks of reservations about announcing cancelled projects, and the only figure found is an unattributed press estimate from the committee's early years. The second is the ranking of purchasers when the escrow account and the developer's assets do not cover every refund: neither the by-law nor the decree states one. The third is the list of status values shown by the Project Status Enquiry service, which its page did not display. The fourth is the tribunal's own procedure, which Article 5 of the decree leaves to resolutions of the Chairman of the Judicial Council that were not read.

The by-law also carries wording that predates the 2020 amendment: its Articles 15 and 16 still refer to a developer retaining up to 30% of payments where a project has not started for reasons beyond its control, while Law No. (19) of 2020, as summarised by the Dubai Media Office, requires a full refund in that case.

Kooky, from Shaka

Kooky edits Agents Estate and builds Shaka, the payment router he made for real estate professionals. One payment comes in, and every agent, agency and party in the deal receives their signed share on closing date.

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