General guidance on the Dubai market, not legal, tax or financial advice. Fees and regulations change. Ask one of our consultants to confirm the current position before you commit to anything.
Three reasons, in roughly the order that they actually motivate buyers.
The honest counterweight: you are buying something that does not exist yet, from a developer whose delivery record is the only real evidence you have, and you carry construction and market risk for the years in between. Completed property gives you rent from month one and no delivery risk at all. Neither is better in the abstract.
Dubai’s off-plan framework exists because the 2008 cycle exposed what happens without one. Two instruments do the heavy lifting, and they are genuinely strong.
Escrow, under Law No. 8 of 2007. A developer selling off-plan must open a dedicated escrow account for that specific project, registered with the Dubai Land Department and supervised by RERA, before it takes a single dirham from a buyer. Your payments go into that account, not to the developer’s general funds, and money is released against verified construction milestones. The regime also caps what can be drawn for marketing at 5 per cent of total sales, and holds back 5 per cent for a year after completion to cover defects.
Oqood, the interim property register. Because there is no title deed until the building exists, your purchase is registered in the Dubai Land Department’s interim register under Law No. 13 of 2008. The sale and purchase agreement must be registered within 90 days of signing. The Oqood entry is the formal record of your rights until a title deed is issued at handover.
An off-plan purchase that is not escrowed and not registered on Oqood is not protected by any of this. Confirm both before you pay, not after.
All of this is public. None of it takes long, and it is the difference between an informed purchase and a hopeful one.
We will do these checks for any project you are considering, including ones we are not selling. If a developer’s sales team resists a question on this list, that is information.
| Cost | When it falls due | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Booking deposit | On reservation | Typically 5% to 10% of the price, set by the developer |
| DLD registration fee | At Oqood registration, early in the plan | 4% of the purchase price, plus AED 10 knowledge and AED 10 innovation fee |
| Oqood administration | With registration | A fixed developer charge |
| Staged instalments | Against construction milestones or dates | Per the payment plan in the SPA |
| Final instalment | At handover | Per the plan; post-handover plans defer part of this |
| Service charges | From handover onward | Per square foot, set after completion |
| Developer NOC, if you resell before handover | On assignment | A developer fee, plus a minimum-payment threshold |
The 4 per cent DLD fee is payable early, not at handover, and it cannot be financed. Budget for it alongside your deposit.
Mortgage finance for off-plan is available but capped considerably lower than for completed property, at around half the value, so most off-plan buyers fund the plan from income or savings and refinance at handover.
Delay is common; cancellation is rare but real. Dubai has a defined process for both, which is more than most markets offer.
RERA monitors registered projects and can intervene where a developer is failing to progress. Where a project is cancelled, Law No. 19 of 2020 provides for liquidation of the escrow account and distribution to buyers through a Special Judicial Committee established for real estate disputes. Recovery is a legal process with an outcome that depends on what remains in escrow, so it is protection rather than a guarantee.
For delay, your position comes from the SPA. Most agreements give the developer a grace period beyond the stated completion date, commonly around 12 months, before the buyer has a remedy. Read that clause specifically, because it defines how long you can be kept waiting with no recourse.
Escrow protects your money against misapplication. It does not protect you against a project completing two years late, or against the market being lower at handover than at launch. Those risks are yours.
At completion the developer notifies you, you pay the final instalment, and the unit is registered to you with a title deed replacing the Oqood entry. Before you accept it, snag it, ideally with a professional inspector. The list you produce at handover is the leverage you have; items you accept and raise later are much harder to get fixed.
Two warranty periods follow handover under UAE practice: a long structural warranty covering the building’s structure, and a shorter warranty on mechanical, electrical and plumbing installations. Confirm both periods in your SPA, as they are stated there, and keep the handover snag list on file for the duration.
Safer than its reputation, because of two things: project escrow accounts mandated by Law No. 8 of 2007 and supervised by RERA, and registration of your purchase in the interim property register under Law No. 13 of 2008. Both protect your money against misuse. Neither protects you against delay or a falling market, so the developer’s delivery record still matters more than anything else.
It is the Dubai Land Department’s interim property register for off-plan units, which have no title deed yet. Your sale and purchase agreement must be registered there within 90 days of signing, and the entry is the official record of your ownership rights until a title deed is issued at handover.
Early, at Oqood registration, rather than at handover. It is 4 per cent of the purchase price plus small knowledge and innovation fees, it is payable in cash, and it cannot be included in a mortgage. A lot of first-time off-plan buyers budget for it in the wrong year.
Usually, but on the developer’s terms. Most require that you have paid a minimum percentage of the price first, commonly 30 to 40 per cent, and that you obtain their No Objection Certificate, for which they charge. The threshold and the fee vary considerably, so check your SPA before you count on it.
Your payments sit in the project escrow account rather than with the developer, and drawdowns are tied to verified construction progress. If a project is cancelled, Law No. 19 of 2020 provides for the escrow account to be liquidated and distributed to buyers via a Special Judicial Committee. What you recover depends on what remains in the account.
We track every registered off-plan project in Dubai and refresh the list daily. Tell us your budget and we will tell you which launches are worth your attention.