How to find an apartment in Dubai as a newcomer

How do you find an apartment to rent in Dubai?

This guide is about renting, not buying. The search has five steps: get the documents the lease needs, search, check the broker, view and sign, then register and connect the utilities. The lease and the registration are explained in our guide to renting in Dubai, which we do not repeat. This guide is the search half.

Step 1: What does the lease need from you?

The government portal says that to conclude a lease with the landlord or the real estate agent, a tenant provides identification documents, which include a copy of the passport, a valid residence visa and the Emirates ID, in addition to post-dated cheques covering the payments for the agreed lease period (u.ae, leasing a property). So the search follows your paperwork: the visa, then the Emirates ID, then the lease. Our guide to moving to Dubai gives that order.

You can search and view earlier. If you arrive before the Emirates ID is ready, ask the landlord in writing what it accepts and when. The same page says a tenant can pay the rent in one payment or in several, as agreed with the broker or landlord.

Step 2: Where do people search?

The government names four routes: local newspapers and magazines, registered real estate brokers, private property websites, and properties rented directly from the owner (u.ae). For Dubai the page links Simsari, a property website of the Ejari system (Simsari). Large private portals such as Property Finder, Bayut and dubizzle list apartments for rent (Property Finder). For Abu Dhabi, the Department of Municipalities and Transport runs a search of vacant properties, which the portal links.

Rent depends on location and size, the portal says, and it gives no figure. We found no official average rent for Dubai to quote. The Land Department’s rental index asks for a contract end date and the property’s details, so it is a tool for existing contracts and renewals, not for a first search.

Step 3: How do you check a broker?

A broker may ask for a commission, which the government describes as up to 5 per cent of the total amount of rent. Before you pay anything:

• The licence. The Land Department offers a service to view the list of real estate brokers licensed by RERA in Dubai, on its website and in the Dubai REST app (DLD). Ask for the licence number and search it.
• Licences and permits. A second service verifies the licences and permits that the department issues to real estate practitioners through its Trakheesi system (DLD).
• The advert. The department issues real estate advertising permits covering electronic and classified advertisements (DLD). Ask the broker for the permit number of the advert that brought you in. We did not read a rule that obliges you to check it, so treat it as a useful extra question.

Our guide on how to choose a relocation company in Dubai covers the same checks for a company that searches for you.

Step 4: Viewing and signing

View the flat in person, and keep the following in writing: the rent, the number of cheques, the deposit amount and the date it is returned, and who pays the commission and the registration. We found no official figure for the deposit; our renting guide says the law leaves it to the contract. Do not pay in cash or to a personal account, and do not pay for a flat you have not seen. We found no official Dubai guidance on rental scams, so these are common-sense steps, not rules.

Step 5: Registration and utilities

Registering the lease is compulsory to connect the utilities. In Dubai, landlords must register the lease with the Land Department, and tenants pay housing fees to Dubai Municipality at 5% of the yearly rent, added to the monthly electricity and water bills. The Land Department’s Ejari service costs AED 177.75 online (DLD). After Ejari is issued, DEWA sends a welcome email with the new account number, the security deposit details and a payment link (u.ae, public utilities).

Our arithmetic on an invented yearly rent of AED 100,000, not an average: the housing fee is AED 5,000 over the year, a commission would be up to AED 5,000 and Ejari AED 177.75, so up to AED 10,177.75 in fees on top of the rent and the deposit.

What is different in Abu Dhabi?

In Abu Dhabi, landlords have to register the lease in the Tawtheeq system, and a municipality fee is levied after registration. The portal says it is 5% of the rental value or the rental index, whichever is higher, added to the monthly bill across 12 months. The Executive Council chairman’s resolution of 2018 sets the same rate with a minimum of AED 450 a year, and exempts UAE nationals for residential leases (Resolution 49 of 2018). Tenants get water and electricity after the contract is registered in Tawtheeq, with a passport, Emirates ID, the contract and an account-closing letter from the previous tenant (u.ae). Brokers there are licensed under Law No. 3 of 2015.

When is a home-search consultant worth it?

A consultant does steps 2 to 4: the search, the viewings and the check of the paperwork. It is more likely to pay off if you land with days, not weeks, if you have a family and need the registrations in order, or if you cannot view in person. If you have time and can view, you can run the steps yourself. We found no sourced fee from a UAE consultant; broker marketing quotes estimates, which our guide on what a relocation company costs sets out and labels. For the paperwork a consultant can help with, read settling in the UAE.

To see agencies for your move, get matched or open the United Arab Emirates directory. How we rank explains the order.

What we could not source

We did not find an official average rent, a deposit amount, a rule on how many cheques a landlord may ask for or official guidance on rental scams. We did not read a rule on checking an advert’s permit number. We did not cover short-term lets, free zones, freehold purchases or Sharjah. This guide is general information, not legal advice.