Dubai property, explained › Renting
The Dubai tenancy contract
The one form every Dubai lease is written on — what each box records, what the printed terms commit you to, what to put on the extra page, how one is made, and what the law does with it when the year runs out.
Written September 2026 · 8 min read
Every home let in Dubai is let on the same piece of paper. The unified tenancy contract is the standard form the Real Estate Regulatory Agency introduced so that every lease in the emirate says the same things in the same places: two pages of boxes for the parties, the property, the term, the rent, the deposit and the cheques, a page of printed terms that neither side can strike out, and a page for whatever else the two of you agree. It is the only form the Ejari registry accepts, and the registry is the only route to a DEWA account, a family visa or a hearing at the Rental Dispute Centre, so in practice there is no other Dubai tenancy contract. What follows is what is on it, what its printed terms commit you to, what belongs on the extra page, how one is made, and what the law does with it when the year runs out.
What is on the form
| Box | What it records | Worth checking |
|---|---|---|
| Owner and lessor | The registered owner, and the person or company letting for them if it is not the owner | The name must match the title deed; a lessor who is not the owner needs a power of attorney or a management agreement |
| Tenant | Name, Emirates ID and passport number; a company's trade licence for a corporate let | The name on the contract is the name on the Ejari, the DEWA account and the visa file |
| Property | Building, unit number, plot number, Makani number, type, size in square metres, and the DEWA premise number | The premise number is on any DEWA bill for the flat, and Ejari will not register without it |
| Use | Residential, commercial or industrial | A home let as residential cannot be used as an office or a holiday let under the same contract |
| Term | Start and end dates | Almost always a year; the rent is fixed for whatever term is written here |
| Annual rent and contract value | The rent for one year, and the same figure again over the term | Write the annual figure, not the monthly one; the register, the index and any dispute read the annual rent |
| Security deposit | The sum held against damage | Conventionally 5% of the rent unfurnished and 10% furnished |
| Mode of payment | The number of cheques | One to four a year is the norm; twelve is rare and usually priced for |
The form is in Arabic and English side by side, and the Arabic governs if the two ever differ. Read the boxes as carefully as the clauses: a wrong end date or a rent typed as the monthly figure is registered as written, and the registration is what every later argument is settled on.
What the printed terms say
The second page is the regulator's, and it is the same on every contract in the city. Its clauses are the law restated, so signing them adds nothing you were not already bound by, and crossing one out changes nothing either. In substance they say that the tenant has inspected the home and takes it as found; that the rent is paid on the dates agreed and the deposit comes back at the end, less any repair beyond ordinary wear; that the home is used only for the purpose written on the form and by the tenant named on it, with no subletting or sharing without the landlord's written consent; that the tenant pays the utilities and keeps the place in order, and the landlord carries the maintenance and repair of the building and its systems unless the two of you agree otherwise; that neither side may end the contract during its term except as the law allows; and that the contract is registered on Ejari and any dispute goes to the Rental Dispute Centre. The one line most tenants read too late is the maintenance one: the law puts the burden on the landlord by default, and "unless otherwise agreed" is an invitation to move it that the next page often accepts.
The additional terms
The last page is where the contract becomes yours, and it is where the arguments come from, because anything on it that does not contradict the law is enforceable. What conventionally appears there:
- The cheque schedule, with the dates and the payee, and what happens if one is returned
- A maintenance split, most often the tenant carrying repairs up to a round figure per call-out and the landlord the rest, with air conditioning and appliances named one way or the other
- The notice a tenant gives to leave at the end of the term, conventionally sixty or ninety days, since the law sets none for a tenant leaving on the expiry date
- An early-termination clause: how much notice, and the penalty, conventionally two months' rent, since the law gives neither side a right to walk away mid-term
- The inventory for a furnished home, and who repaints at the end
- Pets, parking bays, access cards, the number of occupants, and the landlord's right to show the home to buyers or the next tenant in the final weeks
Two rules for reading it. A clause that gives away something the law grants the tenant, a waiver of the twelve months' notice to leave or of the rental index, is worth nothing at the centre; the law is not opted out of on page four. And a clause that is silent is decided by the law, not by whoever argues harder, so if the home has a chiller, a maintenance contract or a shared DEWA meter, say who pays now.
How to make one
- Agree the rent, the term, the cheques and the deposit, and put down a holding deposit against the landlord taking the home off the market, with a receipt that says what it is for and when it is returned
- The landlord, or the agent acting for them, prepares the contract on the unified form, most often inside the Dubai REST app, where Ejari drafts it from the property's own record and the registration follows from the same file
- Check the title deed against the owner's name, the agent's licence card, and the boxes above against what you agreed
- Both sides sign every page; the cheques and the security deposit are handed over against the signed contract, and the tenant takes a copy
- Register it on Ejari, conventionally at the tenant's cost, within the first days; the certificate is what DEWA, the school and the immigration office will ask for
- Open the DEWA account against the Ejari, and collect the keys on a dated handover with photographs
A free template is not the point of the search it appears in. The unified form is published by the Land Department and generated by Ejari for every registration, so no one needs to buy one and no other form will register. What a printed blank does not give you is the additional terms, which is the page worth an hour of thought.
When the year ends
The law does the work here, whether or not the contract mentions it. If the tenant stays on after the end date and the landlord does not object, the contract renews on the same terms for the same term, up to a year. A change to any term, the rent included, needs ninety days' written notice before the end date, and a rent rise within that notice can go only as far as the RERA rental index allows; a notice served late has no effect that year. A landlord who wants the home back at the end of the term needs twelve months' notice through a notary public or by registered post, and one of the four reasons the law lists: to sell, to live in it or house a close relative, to demolish, or to renovate in a way that cannot be done around a tenant. There is no notice, however long, that ends a tenancy at expiry for any other reason. A tenant who wants to leave on the end date gives the notice the contract says, and then the Ejari is cancelled so the next one can go on. Selling the home changes none of this: the buyer takes the contract with the keys and becomes the landlord on the same terms.
What Dubai's contracts actually look like
The Ejari register the Land Department publishes records the term, the rent and the type of every registration, and this site reads it nightly. In the twelve months to 14 September 2026 it registered 606,770 home tenancies in Dubai.
| What the register shows | Share of the year's contracts |
|---|---|
| Written for twelve months | 93.5% |
| Shorter than six months | 1.8% |
| Six to eleven months | 2.1% |
| Longer than a year, two years included | 2.5% |
| A renewal, not a new lease | 60.2% |
| Let to a company rather than a person | 21.7% |
| Starting on the first of a month | 24.3% |
The busiest months for a contract to start are January and October, with 62,000 and 60,000 registrations; April is the quietest at 41,000. New leases cluster from August to October, the moving season, and renewals are spread across the year, because a renewal starts where the last contract ended.
What the renewal clause is worth
The register keeps a renewal apart from a new lease, and the gap between them is the rental index at work: a landlord letting to a new tenant asks what the market bears, and a landlord renewing may raise the rent only as far as the index allows. Over the same twelve months, on the contracts the site's reports count:
| Layout | New lease, median annual rent | Renewal, median annual rent | The renewing tenant pays |
|---|---|---|---|
| Studio | AED 45,000 | AED 36,800 | 18% less |
| One bedroom | AED 67,742 | AED 53,361 | 21% less |
| Two bedrooms | AED 95,000 | AED 71,400 | 25% less |
| Three bedrooms | AED 150,000 | AED 120,000 | 20% less |
| All homes | AED 73,000 | AED 60,900 | 17% less |
That is the sum to keep in mind when a renewal notice arrives with an increase on it, or when a landlord weighs an empty month against a tenant who wants to stay. The community rent reports print the same two figures for every area in the city, so you can see what renewals near you actually landed at, not only what the index would permit.
Where this leads
The pages that pick up from here
Ejari →
The registration the signed contract goes through — who does it, what it costs, and the one thing that stops it.
Ejari renewal and cancellation →
The contract’s second year and its last day: what may change at renewal, and the order of things when you leave.
The RERA rental index →
The rule that caps a rent increase at renewal, and the ninety days’ notice a change to any term needs.
The rent increase calculator →
The index worked on your own contract’s figures, with the date the landlord’s notice was due by.
The Rental Dispute Centre →
Where a contract is argued over — what it hears, what a case costs, and the notices most cases turn on.
The eviction notice →
The only way a landlord ends a tenancy against the tenant’s will — twelve months, four reasons, a notary — and why a waiver of it on page four is void.
DEWA and the move-in →
The account that opens against the Ejari — the deposit, the premise number, and the housing fee that rides on the bill.
Chiller-free →
The term the printed page decides by silence — who pays the district cooling — and what it costs when it lands on the tenant.
Dubai property prices and rents →
Registered rents by community, renewals and new leases kept apart — what a renewal actually lands at near you.
Property management in Dubai →
For the landlord: the contract drawn up, the cheques collected and the notices served on time, and what a manager costs.
Questions people ask
The tenancy contract, answered
How do I get a tenancy contract in Dubai?
The landlord, or the agent acting for them, prepares it on the unified tenancy contract form — the Land Department’s standard lease, usually drafted inside the Dubai REST app from the property’s own record. You agree the rent, term, cheques and deposit, check the owner’s name against the title deed, sign every page, hand over the cheques and deposit against the signed contract, and register it on Ejari. The Ejari certificate, not the contract, is what DEWA, the school and the immigration office ask for.
Can I download a Dubai tenancy contract for free?
Yes. The unified form is the Land Department’s own and is published on its site; Ejari generates the same form for every registration, so no one needs to buy a template and no other form will register. What a blank does not give you is the additional-terms page — the cheque schedule, the maintenance split, the notice and early-exit clauses — which is the page worth your time.
What happens when my 12-month tenancy contract ends?
If you stay and the landlord does not object, the law renews it on the same terms for the same term, up to a year. Any change — the rent included — needed ninety days’ written notice before the end date, and a rise can go only as far as the RERA rental index allows. If you want to leave on the end date, give the notice the contract says, hand over, and have the Ejari cancelled so the next tenant’s can go on.
Is a tenancy contract valid without Ejari in Dubai?
It binds the two of you, but the city does not recognise it: DEWA will not open an account, the immigration office will not sponsor a family on it, and the Rental Dispute Centre will not hear a case on it. Registration is mandatory by law and costs AED 120 plus AED 20 in fees through the Dubai REST app, conventionally paid by the tenant. Register in the first days, not when the DEWA counter asks.
Can a landlord refuse to renew a tenancy contract in Dubai?
Only with twelve months’ notice through a notary public or by registered post, and for one of four reasons the law lists: to sell, to live in it or house a close relative, to demolish, or to renovate in a way that cannot be done around a tenant. There is no other ground for ending a tenancy at expiry, and a landlord who takes a home back to live in it may not re-let it to someone else for two years afterwards without owing the tenant compensation.
Can I break a tenancy contract early in Dubai?
Not as of right — the law gives neither side a way out during the term. The contract’s early-termination clause governs: conventionally a notice period and a penalty of two months’ rent, though the figure is whatever the additional terms say. With no clause, it comes down to what the landlord will agree to, and the Rental Dispute Centre if they will not.
How many cheques is a Dubai tenancy contract paid in?
The form has a box for it. One to four a year is the convention and a single cheque often buys a lower rent; six or twelve are rarer and usually priced for. The cheques are post-dated to the schedule on the additional-terms page. Since 2022 a returned cheque is, for most amounts, a civil matter enforced directly rather than a criminal one, which is why the dates and the payee on the schedule matter more than they did.
What is the security deposit on a Dubai tenancy contract?
A sum the landlord holds against damage, entered on the form and returned at the end of the tenancy less any repair beyond ordinary wear. The law fixes no amount; the convention is 5% of the annual rent unfurnished and 10% furnished. A deposit withheld without a reason is the commonest small case at the Rental Dispute Centre, so take dated photographs at the handover in and out.
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.