Buying off-plan in Dubai means paying for something that does not exist yet. The law that makes that survivable is not widely read, and it protects buyers more than most people realise — provided the transaction is registered. Here is how the system works.
The Interim Property Register
Off-plan sales are governed by Law No. 13 of 2008 Regulating the Interim Property Register, issued on 14 August 2008. The register itself is defined as the records kept by the Land Department, written or electronic, “in which sale contracts, Off-plan Sales, and other off-plan legal dispositions of real property are registered prior to inclusion in the Property Register.”
Article 3(1) carries the sentence every off-plan buyer should know. Any disposition of an off-plan unit must be entered in the Interim Property Register, “and any sale or any other legal disposition that transfers or restricts ownership or any ancillary rights will be void unless entered in that Register.”
Not unenforceable, not penalised — void. An unregistered off-plan purchase is legally nothing.
A note on terminology: the statute never uses the word “Oqood”. That is the name of the Land Department system through which registration is submitted, and what the market calls the resulting interim record. It is a registration entry, not a title deed — and the interim register does not confer ownership in the way the permanent Property Register does. Keep that distinction, because sales literature often blurs it.
What the developer must do before selling you anything
The law front-loads the obligations onto the developer, and each is a question you can ask.
Under Article 4, no developer may start a project or sell units off-plan before taking possession of the land and obtaining the required approvals. Under Article 10, no developer or broker may enter a private off-plan sale contract in a project not approved by the competent entities — “Any contract which is entered into prior to obtaining such approval will be null and void.”
Registering a project with the Land Department requires the developer to own land in a freehold or long-term-lease area — preliminary sales certificates are rejected — and to provide 30% assurance: either 30% of construction completed, a 30% bank guarantee, or 30% cash deposited in escrow. Project registration costs the developer AED 150,000.
There is also a marketing control worth knowing. Under the escrow law, a developer may not advertise in local or international media, nor exhibit to promote off-plan sales, without written authorisation from the Land Department.
Escrow: where your money actually sits
This is the strongest protection in the framework, and it comes from Law No. 8 of 2007 Concerning Escrow Accounts for Real Estate Development.
Payments from purchasers and financiers go into an account in the name of the real estate development project — not the developer. Article 9 states the account is “dedicated exclusively to the construction of that Real Estate Development project. No attachment may be imposed on the payments deposited in this account for the benefit of the creditors of the Developer.”
Two consequences follow. Where a developer runs several projects, each must have its own separate escrow account — money cannot be moved from your building to rescue another. And if the developer’s own creditors come calling, they cannot reach the project account.
| Escrow protection | Detail |
|---|---|
| Retention | The escrow agent retains 5% of the total account value once the completion certificate is issued, released to the developer one year after units are registered to purchasers |
| Loan proceeds | If the developer mortgages the project, the finance institution must deposit the loan into the escrow account |
| Oversight | The escrow agent must give the Land Department regular statements; the Department may demand information and audit at any time |
| Emergency | If the project is not completed, the agent must act — after consulting the Department — to complete the project or refund depositors |
| Your records | Depositors may access their own accounting records and request copies |
Penalties are real: jail and/or a fine of at least AED 100,000 for developing without a licence, knowingly offering units in fraudulent projects, or misappropriating project money. A developer is struck off the register on bankruptcy, or on failing without acceptable reason to start construction within six months of being permitted to sell off-plan.
If you default
The consequences are graded by how far the building has got, under the 2020 amendment to the 2008 law. The developer notifies the Land Department, which serves 30 days’ notice on the purchaser and attempts mediation. After that:
| Project completion | Developer’s remedy |
|---|---|
| Over 80% | Retain all payments and claim the balance, pursue public auction, or terminate retaining up to 40% of contract value |
| 60–80% | Terminate unilaterally, retaining up to 40% of contract value |
| Below 60% | Terminate, retaining up to 25% |
Refunds are due within one year of termination or sixty days of resale, whichever is earlier.
Reselling before handover
Article 6 permits off-plan units entered in the Interim Property Register to be sold, mortgaged or otherwise disposed of — the statutory basis for assignment before completion. Article 7 restrains what the developer can charge you for it: no fee on sale, resale or other disposition “except those administrative costs which are approved by the Department.”
Getting your title deed
Under Article 8, developers must enter completed projects in the permanent Property Register once they receive the completion certificate, including registering sold units in the names of purchasers who have met their contractual obligations. The Department may also do this on the purchaser’s request or its own initiative.
On fees, we are going to be straight with you: the Land Department publishes a 2% seller / 2% buyer split for property sale registration, but that page covers ready property and does not mention off-plan. We could find no official page stating the fee basis for an off-plan registration, and the widely quoted figures come from brokers rather than the Department. Ask the Land Department or your conveyancer for the applicable schedule rather than trusting a blog — including this one.
What to check before you sign
The Land Department publishes three free tools, and using them takes ten minutes. Check the Licensed Developers list; check the Approved Escrow Account Trustees list; and run a Project Status Enquiry, which returns registration and completion status, unit counts, start and completion dates, developer details, bank escrow account information, location and inspection photos.
If a project is not on the register, or the escrow trustee is not on the approved list, that is the end of the conversation.
For the market view, see our guides to buying off-plan and expected returns, to buying versus renting and to service charges after handover. Once you let the property, our guides to Ejari and to rent disputes and eviction rules apply.
This article is general information, not legal advice. Primary sources: Dubai Law No. 13 of 2008 (PDF), Dubai Law No. 8 of 2007 on escrow accounts (PDF), DLD project registration and the DLD Project Status Enquiry.
