Dubai property, explained › Renting
Ejari
The Dubai Land Department’s registry of tenancy contracts — why every lease is registered, who does it, what it costs, and what you cannot do without the certificate.
Written September 2026 · 4 min read
Ejari is Arabic for "my rent", and it is the name of the Dubai Land Department's registry of tenancy contracts. Every residential and commercial lease in the emirate is registered on it, by law, and the registration produces a certificate with a number on it. That number is what the rest of Dubai's administration reads. DEWA will not open an account without it; the immigration authority asks for it when you sponsor a family; schools, telecoms and parking permits ask for it; and the Rental Dispute Centre will not hear a case on a contract that was never registered. It is the difference between a private arrangement and a tenancy the city recognises.
What it is for
The registry exists so that the terms of every tenancy in Dubai are on record in one place: the rent, the term, the parties, the property. Two things follow from that. The first is protection. A registered contract binds both sides to what it says, and either side can hold the other to it in front of the Rental Dispute Centre. The second is the rental index. The RERA rental index, which caps what a landlord may ask at renewal, is built from Ejari's own data, and the rent it reads as your current rent is the one on your registration. The registered rents on this site's reports are the same records, read back out: every rent figure on a community report is an Ejari contract.
Who registers it
The regulation places the duty on the landlord, or on the agent or management company acting for the landlord, and RERA has said so more than once. In practice it is done by whoever the contract says, and often by the tenant, because the tenant is the one who needs the certificate first. Agree at signing who will do it and by when; a good agent does it for the tenant the same week. The fee is conventionally the tenant's.
What it costs
| Route | Fee | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Dubai REST app | AED 120 + AED 20 | The department's own fee, plus the AED 10 knowledge and AED 10 innovation fees |
| Typing centre or trustee office | Typically around AED 220 | The same fee, plus the centre's service charge and the VAT on it |
| Renewal | The same, each year | A renewal is a fresh registration of the renewed contract |
The department's fee is regulation; the typing centres set their own service charge, so the total there varies by a few dirhams from one counter to the next.
What you need
- The signed tenancy contract, on the unified Ejari form: the standard contract RERA introduced so that every lease in the city says the same things in the same places
- A copy of the landlord's title deed
- The landlord's passport or Emirates ID
- The tenant's passport, residence visa and Emirates ID
- The DEWA premise number of the property, which is on any DEWA bill for it
- For a company tenant, the trade licence and the signatory's ID
A tenant whose visa is still being issued can usually register on the passport and the entry stamp, with the Emirates ID added afterwards. Ask the centre before you queue.
Where to do it
Online, through the Dubai REST app, which is the department's own and the cheapest route; or in person at a RERA-approved typing centre or a real estate services trustee office. The certificate is issued the same day once the documents are accepted, and arrives as a PDF with the Ejari number on it. Keep it where you can find it. You will be asked for it more often than for the contract itself.
The one thing that goes wrong
A property holds one active Ejari at a time. When a tenant leaves, the landlord has to cancel that registration, and if it has not been done, yours will not go on. It is the commonest reason a registration fails, and it is usually discovered at the DEWA counter, with the movers booked. Before you sign, ask whether the previous Ejari has been cancelled, and if the landlord is vague, ask to see the cancellation.
Renewal, and the end
Each renewal is registered again, with the renewed contract and the same fee, and the new certificate carries the new term and the new rent. That is where an increase that was never served properly gets caught: the registered rent is the rent, and the index reads it from here. When you leave, the Ejari is cancelled, DEWA is closed against the final reading, and the deposit conversation begins. A cancelled Ejari is also what the next tenant is going to ask you about.
Where this leads
The pages that pick up from here
The RERA rental index →
The rule that decides how much the rent can rise at renewal — and it starts from the rent on your Ejari.
Property for rent →
What is on the market with McCone today, and what renting here costs beyond the rent.
The area guides →
Every Dubai community, with what it sells for and rents for from the registers.
Questions people ask
Ejari, answered
What is Ejari?
Ejari is the Dubai Land Department’s registry of tenancy contracts, run by its regulator RERA. Registering a lease is mandatory, and the certificate it produces is the proof of tenancy that the rest of Dubai’s administration runs on — DEWA, visas, schools, the Rental Dispute Centre.
Who registers the Ejari, the tenant or the landlord?
The regulation places the duty on the landlord or the agent managing the property, and in practice it is done by whoever the contract says. Agree it at signing. The fee is conventionally paid by the tenant.
How much does Ejari cost?
The department’s own fee is AED 120, plus AED 10 knowledge and AED 10 innovation fees, through the Dubai REST app. A typing centre adds its service charge, and the total there is typically around AED 220. It is paid again each year at renewal.
What documents do I need for Ejari?
The signed unified tenancy contract, a copy of the landlord’s title deed, the landlord’s passport or Emirates ID, the tenant’s passport, visa and Emirates ID, and the DEWA premise number of the property — a recent bill carries it. A company tenant adds its trade licence.
Do I need Ejari to connect DEWA?
Yes. DEWA will not open a residential account without an Ejari, and the same certificate is asked for when you sponsor a family visa, enrol a child at school, apply for a parking permit, or bring a dispute to the Rental Dispute Centre.
Why will my Ejari not register?
Usually because the previous tenant’s Ejari is still active. A property holds one active registration at a time, and the landlord has to cancel the old one before the new one can go on. Ask whether it has been cancelled before you sign.
Regulation here is stated as regulation, and what the market merely does is marked as convention. Figures were checked in September 2026; the rest of the set is written the same way.