Tenancy Agreement Dubai
In a Dubai tenancy, the rent for the current term is contract; the rent for the next term is law. A landlord cannot raise rent mid-term, and at renewal the permitted increase is not a negotiation from zero — it is capped by Decree No. 43 of 2013 against the RERA rental index for comparable units in the area.
The decree sets the maximum increase by how far the current rent sits below the average market rent for similar units: no increase where the rent is up to ten percent below the average; up to five percent where it is eleven to twenty percent below; up to ten percent where twenty-one to thirty percent below; up to fifteen percent where thirty-one to forty percent below; and up to twenty percent where the rent is more than forty percent below the average. The reference point is the RERA rental index, applied through the official rent calculator on the Dubai Land Department’s channels — run the unit through it before any renewal conversation, whichever side of it you are on.
Under Article 14 of Law No. 26 of 2007 as amended, a party wanting to amend the renewal terms — rent included — must notify the other at least ninety days before expiry, unless the contract sets a different arrangement. A rent increase first mentioned thirty days out is not validly noticed for that renewal. The corollary for tenants: the ninety-day window is also your calendar for deciding, negotiating, and — once the renewal is signed — registering it without a gap.
Agreement signed? It counts for nothing until it is registered.
Send the signed contract to ejaries and the Ejari registration is completed the same day, certificate delivered electronically.
The rent clause should state the current rent and the payment schedule, and stay silent on promising future increases — a clause purporting to fix next year’s rise outside the decree’s caps is unenforceable where it exceeds them. The honest drafting position: this year’s rent is yours to negotiate; next year’s ceiling is the index’s.
tenancyagreement.ae is an independent reference operated by Cendale Documents Clearing Services FZCO, a private documents-clearing company licensed in Dubai (Trade Licence 78065). It is not a government website and is not affiliated with the Dubai Land Department, RERA, or the Ejari system. Nothing here is legal advice.
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Last reviewed: June 2026