Renting in Dubai: Ejari, the deposit and the cheques

A fast-growing city

Dubai had 4.58 million residents at the end of 2025, about 332,000 or 7.5% more than a year earlier, according to the Dubai Data and Statistics Establishment as reported by Zawya (Zawya, recorded in our research on 5 October 2026). This guide covers the paperwork of a Dubai tenancy, using the government’s own pages.

Ejari: the registered contract

Ejari is the Dubai Land Department’s system for registering a tenancy contract. The department says its service lets customers register or renew a tenancy contract in the emirate, and the result is an e-contract registration certificate, the official proof of a registered tenancy (Dubai Land Department).

What the department lists:

• Who can register: tenants and landlords who are individuals, licensed property management companies, and legal representatives with a power of attorney.
• Documents: through the app, a copy of the Unified Tenancy Contract. At a trustee centre, the original contract, the Emirates ID and a power of attorney where one applies.
• Fees: AED 177.75 online, AED 220 in person at a trustee centre.

Why bother? Article 4 of Law 26 of 2007, the Dubai landlord and tenant law, says lease contracts are registered with the Real Estate Regulatory Agency (RERA), and that courts cannot consider disputes unless the contract is registered (Law 26 of 2007, Dubai Legislation Portal). An unregistered lease leaves you without that route. The legislation portal publishes the 2007 text. Later changes exist, so check the current version with a lawyer.

What a tenant provides

The UAE government portal says the tenant provides identification documents: a copy of the passport, a valid residence visa and the Emirates ID, and post-dated cheques covering the payments of the agreed lease period. Rent can be paid in one payment or in several, as agreed with the broker or landlord (u.ae, leasing a property).

That is a reason to get your residence visa and Emirates ID in order early. See our guide to the residence visa and Emirates ID.

The housing fee and the broker

The government names two costs on top of the rent:

1. The housing fee. In Dubai, the housing fee to Dubai Municipality is 5% of the yearly rent, added to the monthly electricity and water bills. In Abu Dhabi, the Tawtheeq municipality fee is 5% of the rental value or the rental index, whichever is higher, added to the monthly bills over 12 months.
2. The broker’s commission. The portal says some brokers may ask for a commission of up to 5% of the total rent.

Ask who pays each, and put it in writing.

Broker marketing pages quote flat fees instead: a broker blog of 5 April 2026 gives AED 5,000 to AED 20,000 for a relocation and AED 8,000 to AED 25,000 for a full corporate package (Gaia Realty). Those are marketing figures, so treat them as estimates.

The deposit

Article 20 of Law 26 of 2007 lets a landlord take a security deposit from the tenant to ensure the upkeep of the property when the lease ends. The landlord has to refund it, or the remainder, at the end. We did not find an amount or a refund deadline in the sources we read. So before you pay, ask for three things in writing:

• the amount of the deposit;
• what it can be used for;
• the date by which it is returned.

Rent at renewal

According to the government, rent increases in Dubai are governed by Law No. 43 of 2013 and are compared with the average rent in the area using the RERA rental increase calculator. The Dubai Land Department’s rental index tool asks for the contract end date, the property type, the current yearly rent and the property’s specifications (Dubai Land Department). We did not find the percentages at an official source, so we give none. Run the calculator before you accept a landlord’s figure.

If there is a dispute

The government names the Rental Dispute Centre in Dubai, the Rent Dispute Settlement Committee in Abu Dhabi and the Rental Regulation Department in Sharjah. Dubai’s centre sits with the Land Department.

Checking a broker

Our research notes that a Dubai broker needs a broker licence issued through the Land Department, which can be checked with RERA, and that Abu Dhabi licenses brokers under Law No. 3 of 2015 through ADREC. The Dubai point comes from a secondary source, and whether an agency that negotiates a lease for a fee needs a licensed broker is a question for a lawyer. Ask any broker for the licence number before you pay a commission.

What we could not source

We did not find an official statement of a standard deposit percentage, of rent increase percentages, or of how long a landlord has to refund a deposit. We also did not cover short-term lets, free zones or freehold purchases. Check the Land Department and a lawyer licensed in the UAE.