Dubai rent increases, Ejari and eviction notices: how the rules work

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Kooky

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Every renewal season in Dubai brings the same three questions. How much can the rent go up? Is the lease properly registered? And can the landlord ask the tenant to leave? The answers sit in a small number of texts: a decree of 2013 that sets the ceiling on a rise, a law of 2007 that governs the relationship between landlords and tenants, and the service pages of the Dubai Land Department, which runs the Ejari register of tenancy contracts.

The backdrop in autumn 2026 is a market moving at two speeds. Khaleej Times reported on 23 September 2026 that rents on renewed contracts had slipped by about 1% since January 2026, while rents on new leases had fallen 15.3%.

This guide walks through those rules as the official texts state them: the five bands that cap an increase, the calculator that applies them, the notice that must come before a change, the registration of the lease, and the grounds on which a tenant can be asked to leave. The tenancy law is read as amended: Law No. (33) of 2008, issued on 1 December 2008 and published on the Dubai Legislation Portal, replaced Articles 2, 3, 4, 9, 13, 14, 15, 25, 26, 29 and 36 of the 2007 law, and the guide gives the amended wording of the articles it relies on.

Decree No. (43) of 2013 and Law No. (26) of 2007 as amended by Law No. (33) of 2008, on the Dubai Legislation Portal; Dubai Land Department service page for registering a tenancy contract.

The decree that sets the ceiling

The limit on a rent rise in Dubai comes from Decree No. (43) of 2013 Determining Rent Increase for Real Property in the Emirate of Dubai. According to the text on the Dubai Legislation Portal, it was issued by the Ruler of Dubai on 18 December 2013 and took effect on the day it was issued. The Dubai Land Department still lists it among its rules and regulations as the decree of rental increase in Dubai, in an entry dated 8 May 2023. Three of its features matter for everything that follows.

First, it applies when a lease is renewed. It is a rule about the step from one contract to the next, between the same landlord and the same tenant for the same property. It says nothing about the rent a landlord asks from a new tenant for a vacant unit.

Second, its scope is wide. Article 2 says it applies to landlords in Dubai whether they are private or public entities, and that it covers landlords in Special Development Zones and in free zones, including the Dubai International Financial Centre.

Third, it does not set a flat percentage. It ties the permitted rise to how far the present rent sits below the average rental value of similar units. A unit let close to the average cannot be raised at all. A unit let far below the average can be raised, in steps, towards it. Abu Dhabi, by comparison, works with a single annual cap, which the Abu Dhabi Real Estate Centre announced on 3 June 2026 it was cutting from 5% to 0% for residential, commercial and industrial renewals, temporarily and until further notice.

The five bands, one by one

Article 1 of the decree sets out five cases. Each compares the rent now being paid with the average rental value of similar units, and each gives the most the landlord may add at renewal.

The percentage is applied to the rent of the unit, not to the average. A landlord in the 5% band adds 5% of what the tenant pays today, which is less than 5% of the average.

The figures are ceilings: the decree describes the most that can be added in each case.

The five cases all concern a rent below the average. Article 1 lists no case that allows an increase for a unit already let at the average or above it.

The bands are written in whole percentages, and the decree as published does not spell out what happens to a rent that is, say, 10.5% below the average. In practice the question is answered by the calculator described below, which returns the permitted increase for the contract entered.

A worked example on one type of unit

The scale is easier to follow with numbers. The table below is a worked example, not market data. It assumes one type of unit whose average rental value is AED 100,000 a year, and five tenants in that type of unit paying five different rents. The average and the rents are illustrative figures chosen to fall one in each band.

The tenant paying the least can face the largest rise, yet still pays the least after it. Nobody in the example is taken above the average by a single renewal.

The example also shows why the average matters more than the percentage. Move the average and a tenant changes band. If the average for the unit in the second row were AED 94,000 instead of AED 100,000, a rent of AED 85,000 would sit a little under 10% below it, and no increase would be allowed.

Where the average comes from: the rental index

The decree names the source of the average in Article 3. The average rental value is determined under the Rent Index of the Emirate of Dubai, as approved by the Real Estate Regulatory Agency, known as RERA, the regulatory arm of the Dubai Land Department. The link goes back to the tenancy law itself: Article 10 of Law No. (26) of 2007 gives RERA the power to set criteria for the percentages by which rent may rise, in line with economic conditions.

The Dubai Land Department offers the index as a public service called Rental Index. Its service page describes a calculator that lets a customer work out the rental increase and the average rental in the market. The customer enters five things:

• the expiry date of the tenancy contract;
• the type of property;
• the region;
• the number of rooms;
• the current annual rent.

The page gives the service time as immediate and lists the channels: the Land Department website and its Ejari system, the Dubai REST app and the DubaiNow app.

The index itself has changed over time. Khaleej Times, in a legal column published on 4 October 2026, says the Dubai Land Department introduced a Smart Rental Index in 2025, and that contracts renewed before 2025 were assessed under the previous index. The department's service page read for this guide does not describe how the index is built, so this guide does not go further than that on its method.

Because the expiry date of the contract is one of the inputs, the result belongs to a particular renewal, not to the building or to an earlier year.

The 90-day notice, and what silence means

A permitted increase is not automatic. The tenancy law adds a rule about timing.

Article 14 of Law No. (26) of 2007, as replaced by Law No. (33) of 2008 of 1 December 2008 on the Dubai Legislation Portal, says that a party who wishes to amend the terms of the lease at renewal must notify the other party at least 90 days before the contract expires, unless the two have agreed otherwise. A rent rise is a change to the terms, so the notice of a rise belongs to this rule. The Khaleej Times column of 4 October 2026 states the same period, citing Articles 13 and 14 of the law as amended by Law No. (33) of 2008: written notice of changed terms at least 90 days before the tenancy ends or renews.

The law defines what a notice is. Under Article 2 of the 2007 text, an article the 2008 law also replaced and whose new wording was not read for this guide, it is a written notification sent by one party to the other through the Notary Public, or delivered by registered post, by hand or by another technological means approved by law.

As a worked example, take a contract that ends on 31 March in a year when February has 28 days. Ninety days before that date is 31 December of the previous year: 31 days of January, 28 of February and 31 of March. A notice that reaches the other party in the second week of January is inside the 90 days and, under the general rule, too late for that renewal unless the contract provides for a different period.

The article binds the tenant in the same way: it speaks of a party, not of the landlord.

If neither side says anything, Article 6 applies. Where the lease expires and the tenant stays in the property without objection from the landlord, the lease is renewed for the same term or for one year, whichever is shorter, and on the same terms. The rent, in other words, stays where it was.

When the two sides talk but cannot agree on the rent for the renewal, Article 13, as replaced by Law No. (33) of 2008, gives the last word to the Tribunal that hears rental disputes. It may set a fair rent using the criteria of Article 9: the criteria set by RERA for rent increases, the economic situation of the emirate, the condition of the property and the rents of similar property in comparable areas.

One more provision deserves care. Article 9, in the 2007 text on the portal, said that the rent could not be increased, and the terms of the lease could not be amended, within two years of the date of the original contract. Law No. (33) of 2008, issued on 1 December 2008, replaced that article, and the two-year rule does not appear in the new wording: Article 9 now requires the rent to be specified and lists the criteria the Tribunal uses to set a rental value.

Registering the lease in Ejari

The law also requires the lease to be registered. Article 4 of Law No. (26) of 2007, as replaced by Law No. (33) of 2008, requires the lease to describe the property clearly and to state its purpose, its term, the rent and how the rent is paid, and to name the owner where the landlord is not the owner. The same article requires every lease, and every amendment to it, to be registered with RERA.

Registration is the service the Dubai Land Department calls Register / Renew Tenancy Contract, better known by the name of its system, Ejari. The department's service page gives three channels: the Ejari system on its website, the Dubai REST app, and the Real Estate Services Trustee Centres, which are service offices that handle the transaction in person.

The fee depends on the channel.

The online total is the sum of its lines: 100, 10, 10, 55 and 2.75 make AED 177.75. At a trustee centre the four lines before tax come to AED 215, and the page shows a total of AED 220 once VAT on the partner fee is added.

Who can use which channel is set out in the conditions on the same page. Registration through the app requires the tenant and the landlord to be individuals, and the owner's data to be up to date. The trustee centre route is open only where the property is not managed by a real estate company or by an owner who has access to the Ejari system; in those cases the manager or the owner registers the contract in the system directly.

The documents are short. Through the app, the page asks for a copy of the unified tenancy contract, which is the standard lease form the department uses. At a trustee centre it asks for the original of that contract, the applicant's Emirates ID, and the power of attorney where a representative applies.

Online, the procedure runs in five stages.

At a trustee centre the documents are handed over and checked before payment. The department gives a processing time of 25 minutes there, not counting the wait. The page gives no processing time for the online channels.

The same service covers renewals as well as first registrations.

What each side owes during the tenancy

The 2007 law also sets default rules for the life of the lease. Several apply only where the contract is silent, so the contract comes first where it deals with the point.

• Payment. Article 12 says rent is paid on the dates agreed. Where none are agreed, it is paid annually in four equal instalments, in advance. As a worked example, an annual rent of AED 80,000 with no agreed schedule would fall due as four payments of AED 20,000.
• Maintenance. Article 16 puts maintenance, and the repair of defects that affect the tenant's intended use of the property, on the landlord, unless the two have agreed otherwise.
• Deposit. Article 20 allows the landlord to take a security deposit to cover the condition of the property, and requires it, or what remains of it, to be refunded when the lease expires.
• Services. Article 34 forbids the landlord from cutting services to the property or disturbing the tenant's use of it. A tenant in that position may complain to the police station for the area or claim damages before the Tribunal.

Two further articles protect the continuity of the lease. Article 7 says a valid lease cannot be ended by one party alone during its term, except by mutual consent or as the law provides. Article 28 says that the sale of the property does not affect the tenant's right to occupy it under a fixed-term lease made with the previous owner.

Eviction before the lease ends

A landlord in Dubai cannot simply ask a tenant to leave mid-term. Article 25(1) of Law No. (26) of 2007 lists the cases in which eviction may be sought before the lease expires. As replaced by Law No. (33) of 2008, issued on 1 December 2008 and published on the Dubai Legislation Portal, the article lists nine:

• the tenant fails to pay the rent within 30 days of being served a notice to pay, unless the parties have agreed otherwise;
• the tenant sub-lets the property without the landlord's written approval;
• the property is used for an illegal purpose, or one that breaches public order or morals;
• business premises are left unoccupied without a valid reason for 30 consecutive days, or 90 non-consecutive days in a year, unless the parties have agreed otherwise;
• the tenant makes changes that endanger the safety of the property in a way that cannot be reversed, or damages it wilfully or through gross negligence, or lets others do so;
• the property is used for a purpose other than the one agreed, or in breach of planning, construction or land-use rules;
• the property is likely to collapse, which must be proved by a technical report issued or certified by Dubai Municipality;
• the tenant fails to perform an obligation under the law or the contract within 30 days of being served a notice to perform it;
• a competent government entity requires the property to be demolished and rebuilt for the urban development of the emirate.

Two of these grounds carry a period of grace. For unpaid rent and for a breach of another obligation, the tenant has 30 days from the service of the notice to put things right, and the ground exists only if that does not happen. The amended article says the landlord's notice is served through the Notary Public or by registered mail. The other cases are stated without a notice period in the text read.

In every case the list describes when eviction may be sought, not a power the landlord exercises alone. Rental disputes go to the Rental Disputes Centre in Dubai, as the Khaleej Times column of 4 October 2026 notes, and the Dubai Land Department says rental disputes can be filed and followed in the Dubai REST app. The centre's own fees and procedure were not read on an official page for this guide and are not described here.

Eviction at expiry: the grounds and the 12-month notice

The second half of the article, Article 25(2), covers the end of the term. As replaced by Law No. (33) of 2008, it lets a landlord seek eviction when the lease expires in four cases:

1. the owner wishes to demolish and rebuild, or to add construction that prevents the tenant from using the property, and holds the necessary permits;
2. the property needs restoration or comprehensive maintenance that cannot be carried out with the tenant in place, as shown by a technical report issued or certified by Dubai Municipality;
3. the owner wishes to recover the property for personal use, or for the use of a first-degree relative, and proves that he owns no suitable alternative;
4. the owner wishes to sell the property.

How much notice these four cases require is the point on which the 2007 and 2008 wordings differ.

The page of the 2007 law on the Dubai Legislation Portal carries the text as issued on 26 November 2007 and shows no note of later amendments; the amending law sits on a separate page of the portal. The period that applies to a notice is the twelve months of the amended article.

What follows the eviction is clearer. Under Article 26, as replaced by Law No. (33) of 2008, where the Tribunal lets the landlord recover the property for personal use or for a first-degree relative, the landlord may not let it to someone else for at least two years in the case of residential property and three years in the case of non-residential property, counted from the recovery. If the landlord does, the tenant may ask the Tribunal for fair compensation. The 2007 text gave one year.

Article 29 covers the other grounds. After demolition and reconstruction, or after renovation, the former tenant has a right of first refusal to return, at a rent set under Article 9, the article whose criteria the Tribunal also uses to fix a renewal rent, according to the wording of Law No. (33) of 2008. The tenant must take up that right within 30 days of being notified by the landlord.

When the tenancy ends

The end of a lease has its own paperwork. Article 21 requires the tenant to hand the property back in the condition in which it was received, allowing for ordinary wear and tear and for damage beyond the tenant's control. If the two sides disagree about that condition, the matter goes to the Tribunal. The deposit, as noted above, is refunded in full or in part at expiry under Article 20. The law read for this guide sets no figure for the deposit.

The registration is then closed. The Dubai Land Department's Cancel Tenancy Contract service cancels an expired contract for a property that has been vacated. According to its service page, cancellation is free through the Dubai REST app or the Ejari system, and costs a service partner fee of AED 40 plus VAT at a Real Estate Services Trustee Centre, where the processing time is given as 25 minutes. A contract that is still running can also be cancelled at a centre, but the page then requires a letter from the property owner requesting the cancellation, in addition to the original contract and the applicant's Emirates ID.

Some lets fall outside these rules. Article 3 of the 2007 text, which the 2008 law also replaced and whose new wording was not read for this guide, excludes hotel establishments and accommodation that an employer provides free of charge to its employees. Long-term leases and usufruct rights are registered under a separate part of the Land Department's fee schedule, in Dubai Executive Council Resolution No. (30) of 2013, which charges the owner 2% and the tenant 2% of the value of the property.

Three matters were not checked on official pages and are left out of this guide: the fees and procedure of the Rental Disputes Centre, any limit on the amount of a security deposit, and the amended wording of Articles 2 and 3 of the tenancy law.

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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