Dubai Land Department is the sole, legally authorised entity to register and document all real estate transactions. This is done through an electronic system (e-register) dedicated to this purpose, in accordance with DLD’s specific procedures and based on certain documents and papers. The transactions undertaken by real estate developers are recorded through the developers’ self-registration system. The rest of the transactions must be completed by the owner(s) or their representatives, with an official power of attorney at the Real Estate Registration Trustee centres located in different regions across Dubai.
There are two types of real estate residencies: a three-year residency on a property whose value is AED 750,000 or more, and a five-year residency on a property whose value exceeds AED 5 million.
All real estate legislations in Dubai stress the necessity of registering all real estate transactions including ownership, transfer, or change with or without compensation in order to guarantee the rights of investors. All real estate transactions that are not registered in DLD’s registers are considered invalid.

Initial registration means registering real estate sales contracts and other legal actions off-plan before transferring them to the real estate registry, and it includes properties purchased off-plan or ready-made properties for which an initial sale certificate is issued indicating the registration of a property. This aims to preserve the rights of owners and investors.

The law requires developers to register completed projects in Dubai Land Department as soon as they receive a certificate of completion from the competent authorities. Accordingly, the real estate units that have been fully paid for will be transferred from the initial register to the Real Estate Registry and issuing the title deed/usufruct certificate for the investor.

In case the area of the property exceeds the area agreed upon in the sale contract, the increase of the unit net area shall not be considered, and the developer shall not claim the value of such increase, unless otherwise expressly agreed in the sale contract. In case the area of the property is less than the area agreed upon in the sale contract, the developer is obliged to compensate the purchaser for the change in the area of the real estate unit due to the decrease that exceeds (5%) of the net area of the unit.

If all the documents required for the procedure are available, it takes an average of 30 minutes to register a sale.

The law does not set an age limit to own a property in Dubai. However, in case a person desires to sell, donate or mortgage a property owned by a minor, in whole or in part, a judgment awarded by the competent judge approving the sale of the real estate/share of the minor issued from the Awqaf and Minors’ Affairs Foundation for the citizens holding a registration extract (Khulasat Qayed) from Dubai and from the competent court for the rest of the categories shall be submitted. In the case of a property purchase by a minor (less than 21 years old), the legal guardian shall sign the contract on behalf of the minor.

In accordance with the laws and regulations enforced in Dubai, any property or real estate unit can be mortgaged as debt security, according to the following conditions: • The property is registered in Dubai Land Department. • The mortgaged property or real estate unit must be established and has an existing insurance mortgage or verdict on the map at the time of the mortgage. • The insurance mortgage may be made only on a property or real estate unit that is valid to transact.

A mortgage portfolio means a mortgage of more than one property in one entry.