Dubai Tenancy Contract

A Dubai tenancy contract is the legally-required rental agreement between a landlord and tenant in Dubai. Every rental — apartment, villa, commercial — must use the official DLD Unified Tenancy Contract (currently version 1.4) issued by the Dubai Land Department. Custom-drafted contracts are not accepted by Ejari registration and have no legal standing in the Dubai Rental Dispute Centre.

There are two paths: visit a typing centre and pay AED 150–300, or generate the same official DLD contract online for free in under 3 minutes using our platform. Online generation uses AI to read your title deed and Emirates ID, auto-filling every required field — eliminating the typo errors that cause Ejari rejection.

To draft a flawless contract, you generally need three core documents. Having these ready will make the generation and signing process incredibly fast:

DLD Contract Fields Explained

The DLD Unified Tenancy Contract has 6 main sections: Owner/Landlord, Tenant, Property Details, Contract Period, Financial Terms, and Additional Terms. The most error-prone fields are Plot Number, Property Number, and DEWA Premises Number — mismatches here are the number one cause of Ejari rejection.

Rent and Deposit Rules

Annual rent in Dubai is typically paid via post-dated cheques (1, 2, 4, 6, or 12 cheques). Security deposits are strictly capped by law:

• Unfurnished Properties: Capped at 5% of the annual rent.
• Furnished Properties: Capped at 10% of the annual rent.

Anything above these caps is unenforceable. Rent increases at renewal are governed by the RERA Rent Index, which determines maximum permissible increases based on the neighborhood average.

Ejari Registration

Once both parties sign the contract, the tenant must register Ejari within 30 days. Without Ejari, you cannot connect DEWA water and electricity, renew your residence visa, enrol children in school, or take rental disputes to RERA.

Dubai requires a brand-new DLD contract for every renewal — there is no automatic extension or simple addendum to extend time. Furthermore, the landlord must give exactly 90 days written notice prior to contract expiry for any rent increase or major changes.

Most changes mid-tenancy require a fresh DLD contract rather than a simple amendment. Adding a co-tenant, transferring to a new tenant, or substantial term changes typically need new Ejari registration too. It is highly recommended to finalize all terms before initial signing to avoid early exit penalties.

Dubai Law No. 26 of 2007 (and Law No. 33 of 2008) regulates the landlord-tenant relationship. Tenants have rights to 90-day rent-increase notice, 12-month eviction notice for personal use, deposit refund within 30 days, and dispute filing at the RERA Rental Dispute Centre.

Landlords can evict for non-payment with 30 days notice and have rights to RERA-compliant rent increases depending on the current market average of the neighborhood.