Search for the list of areas where foreigners can buy freehold property in Abu Dhabi and you will
find half a dozen different lists. Some say nine areas, some say more, and almost none agree on which.
They disagree for a reason that is more interesting than the lists themselves, and understanding it
tells you most of what you need to know about buying property in Abu Dhabi.
Why the zone lists never match
The investment areas are not written into the law. Abu Dhabi’s own real estate registration regulation
defines them as “areas to be specified by a decision from the Executive Council pursuant to the
provisions of Law no. (19) of 2005 on Real Estate Ownership, as amended.”
They are designated one at a time, by Executive Council decision. So any published list is a snapshot
of a moving target, and a list assembled from a two-year-old article is simply out of date.
The UAE Government portal, on a page last updated in December 2024, puts it this way: “There are nine
areas in Abu Dhabi, where foreigners are allowed to own real estate properties. They are: Yas Island,
Saadiyat, Reem, Mariya, Lulu, Al Raha Beach, Sayh Al Sedairah, Al Reef and Masdar City.”
That is the government’s own list with its own date attached, and it is the only list we will print.
Before you commit to anything, confirm the current designation for the specific area you are buying in —
it may have changed in either direction since.
Who regulates what
Two institutions, and people routinely mix them up.
The Department of Municipalities and Transport was created in 2019 by merging the
Department of Urban Planning and Municipalities with the Department of Transport. The Abu Dhabi
Real Estate Centre, ADREC, was established under it in November 2023, working across four
pillars: strategy, promotion, regulation and transactions management.
In practice, ADREC regulates and TAMM transacts. ADREC states plainly that account registration is not
available on its own website and that all services are accessed through the TAMM platform — our guide to
how TAMM works covers
that front door. ADREC points buyers and developers separately to DARI for escrow
account numbers, project completion rates and developer project registration.
ADREC has also launched Madhmoun, which it describes as the first governmental
Multiple Listing Service platform in the GCC, ensuring only verified properties are listed and limiting
advertising to a maximum of three approved brokers per property. If you have ever seen the same apartment
advertised by fifteen agents at five different prices, you will understand the point of it.
The four laws that matter
| Law | What it governs |
|---|---|
| Law 19 of 2005 | Real estate ownership — who may own what |
| Law 3 of 2005 | The regulation of real estate registration |
| Law 3 of 2015 | Regulation of the real estate sector — developers, brokers, off-plan sales, escrow |
| Law 13 of 2019 | The amendment to Law 19/2005 that opened freehold to foreigners in investment areas |
A common error worth avoiding: Law 19 of 2005 is the ownership law, not the sector law. The
sector law is Law 3 of 2015 — and it was amended last year by Law No. 2 of 2025, issued
by Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan as Ruler of Abu Dhabi, which rewrote a dozen articles, redefined the
licensee categories, and replaced “Owners’ Association” with “Owners’ Committee” throughout. That
amendment has had remarkably little coverage for something that changes the buyer-default rules.
What a foreigner can actually own
Law 13 of 2019 is worth quoting directly, because paraphrases of it drift:
“The right of ownership of real estate shall be limited to the following categories: a. Nationals
and their equivalent, whether natural or legal persons. b. Public joint stock companies in which the
contribution of non-Nationals does not exceed 49%. c. Any person in respect of whom a Crown Prince or
Chairman of the Executive Council Resolution is issued. The non-National natural or legal persons may own
and acquire all the principal or collateral real rights of the properties located within investment
areas, and may dispose them in any manner whatsoever.”
That last sentence is the freehold. Inside an investment area, a non-national can hold all real rights
and dispose of them freely.
You will still find guidance saying expatriates in Abu Dhabi may own “floors and apartments only, not
land”, capped at 99 years. That reflects the pre-2019 position, which set out four systems:
| System | What it gives |
|---|---|
| Ownership | Ownership deeds to residential units for 99 years, with full right to dispose (land not included) |
| Musataha | 50 years, renewable by agreement — the right to use, build on or alter the property |
| Usufruct | 99 years — the right to use the property and its facilities, without altering it |
| Long-term lease | An initial period of not less than 25 years |
The sequencing is what matters: the 2005 law established that four-system framework; the 2019
amendment opened full ownership of all real rights inside investment areas. Musataha and usufruct still
exist and are still used, particularly outside those areas. A useful detail from the same 2019 law:
anyone holding usufruct or musataha for more than ten years may dispose of it, including mortgaging it,
without the owner’s permission — and the owner may only mortgage the property with that holder’s consent.
Registration is not paperwork — it is the transaction
This is the single most important legal point for a buyer, and it is easy to miss.
Registration of a transaction creating, transferring or removing a real right is mandatory, and
non-registration means those rights are “considered as having not been created, transferred or removed”
— both between the parties themselves and as against anyone else. The same applies to leases running
longer than four years.
An unregistered sale is not a weakly documented sale. It is, in law, not a sale. Our guide to
Tawtheeq, Abu Dhabi’s
tenancy registration system covers the rental side of the same principle.
Where a mortgage is involved, the order is fixed: redemption of the existing mortgage first, then the
transfer of ownership, then the new or replacement mortgage.
Buying off-plan
Off-plan is where the 2025 amendment bites, and where the protections are strongest.
Every project has an escrow account — a regulated bank account dedicated to that
development, into which all buyer payments and project finance are deposited, and from which funds can be
withdrawn only in line with verified construction milestones. Only financial institutions meeting ADREC’s
standards may act as the Account Trustee managing it.
Two statutory limits are worth knowing. Money may not be disbursed from the escrow account except to
establish and complete the project and make finance payments, and it is expressly prohibited to use the
escrow account to pay for the land. Any disbursement before 20% of construction is complete requires a
bank guarantee.
For a project to be registered at all, the developer must hold planning approval from the Department,
own the land — by grant, donation, purchase or lease — and be licensed as a primary or subsidiary
developer. Registration happens on DARI.
If a buyer defaults, Law 2 of 2025 sets out a sequence that favours resolution over
forfeiture. The developer must notify the buyer through a notary public or by registered mail, demanding
payment within 60 days. After 15 days the developer must notify the Department, enclosing the Account
Trustee’s certificate of breach, and the Department then invites the parties to an amicable settlement
before the 60 days expire. Only then can the contract be terminated. The unit may be resold 30 days
after removal, with proceeds paid into the escrow account. Deductions are capped: 25% of the sale
contract value where the project is up to 60% complete, and 40% where completion exceeds 60%.
Our guides to Oqood, the
Dubai equivalent and to
buying
off-plan in Dubai show how differently the two emirates handle the same problem.
The fees we can confirm
| Fee | Amount |
|---|---|
| Off-plan disposition registered in the Initial Real Estate Register | 2% of the property value, split equally between seller and buyer, capped at AED 2 million per transaction |
| Transfer from the Initial Register to the Real Estate Register | AED 1,000 (donation AED 200; bequest AED 100) |
| Mortgage registration | 0.1% of the mortgage value, capped at AED 2 million per transaction |
| Broker commission | 2% of the sale and purchase contract, capped at AED 500,000 |
Two qualifiers on that first line get dropped almost everywhere: the 2% is split equally between the
two parties, and it applies to off-plan dispositions in the Initial Register. We could not find a
published percentage for a standard secondary-market transfer, so we are not quoting one — ask ADREC or
your conveyancer rather than trusting a “2% transfer fee” claim you read on a listings site.
For what you are buying into, our guides to
Saadiyat and Yas,
to how Abu
Dhabi property has performed against Dubai, and to
renting under the 0% rent
cap cover the market. Buyers considering residency should read our guide to the
UAE
Golden Visa — noting that we are not quoting a property threshold for it here, because we could not
verify a current one against a primary source.
Primary sources: the Abu Dhabi Real Estate Centre’s
rules
and regulations library, which publishes the full text of Laws 19/2005, 3/2015, 13/2019 and 2/2025;
ADREC’s about
page and FAQ; the
UAE Government portal on
expatriates
buying property in the UAE;
DARI; and
TAMM’s
housing and property services. This article is general information, not legal or investment
advice.
