1. Ownership and foreign investment
Ownership falls into freehold, usufruct, musataha and leasehold. Foreign freehold is permitted in designated areas — Dubai’s freehold zones and Abu Dhabi’s nine investment areas (Yas, Saadiyat, Reem, Al Maryah, Lulu, Al Raha Beach, Sayh Al Sedairah, Al Reef, Masdar City) — with usufruct or long leasehold elsewhere. Ras Al Khaimah offers freehold in defined developments. Every right must be recorded with the land authority to bind third parties.
2. Buying and selling — registration and transfer
A sale runs through a sale-and-purchase agreement and completes on registration and transfer at the land department (the DLD, or the Abu Dhabi authority via DARI), on payment of the transfer fee. Because registration perfects title, due diligence focuses on the register: the seller’s recorded title, any mortgage or restriction, service-charge arrears, and the owners’-association status.
3. Off-plan purchases and developer obligations
Off-plan sales are sold against project escrow accounts that ring-fence buyer payments. The regime has tightened: Abu Dhabi Law No. 2 of 2025 strengthens escrow controls and requires notice, a cure period and mediation before a developer can terminate an off-plan contract. Dubai’s DLD/RERA framework governs off-plan registration, cancellation and refunds. We act for purchasers and developers alike.
4. Jointly owned property, strata and service charges
Apartments and master-planned communities are governed by the jointly-owned-property regime — Dubai Law No. 6 of 2019 and the Abu Dhabi equivalent — covering common areas, the owners’ association or management company, and the annual service charge. Disputes over budgets, management and common-area use are common; Abu Dhabi’s 2025 reforms strengthened service-charge governance.
5. Leasing and tenancy
Leases are governed at emirate level — the Dubai tenancy laws (Law No. 26 of 2007 as amended, with the rent index and capped increases) and Abu Dhabi Law No. 20 of 2006 — and registered through Ejari (Dubai) or Tawtheeq (Abu Dhabi). The recurring issues are rent increases, renewal and non-renewal, eviction grounds and notice, and deposits.
6. Real-estate disputes and litigation
Real-estate litigation is a core part of this practice, and the UAE routes it through specialist forums:
- Tenancy — the Dubai Rental Dispute Settlement Centre and Abu Dhabi’s Rental Dispute Settlement Committees (Law No. 20 of 2006).
- Sale, off-plan and developer — Abu Dhabi’s ADREC “Taswea” centre and Dubai’s DLD/RERA mechanisms, including the post-2025 notice-and-mediation step before termination.
- Service-charge and owners’-association disputes; brokerage disputes; and construction disputes, frequently arbitrated.
For the wider picture — the courts, the DIFC and ADGM Courts and arbitration — see our Dispute Resolution practice; secured and mortgage-enforcement matters sit with Banking & Financial Disputes.
7. Cross-border owners and succession
For foreign owners, how UAE property passes on death turns on the succession rules that apply — including a registered will (for example a DIFC will) to direct devolution. That intersects with our Personal Status practice on wills, succession and inheritance.