Renting A Villa In Dubai? 5 Things You Need To Know In Advance

If you are searching for a villa for rent in Dubai, you are in luck. There are plenty of villas, starting from super luxury villas to some less stylish, but still excellent, whose rent is a bit more bearable.

However, we are not here to explain what’s available on the market and for what price. Here we offer an overview of the entire villa rental experience and what are your rights as a renter.

Here’s what matters most from the moment you find a villa you want to rent, and up to the moments when circumstances dictate you need to leave.

Ejari & RERA-registered brokers are a must!

To make your contract fully legal, it needs to be registered with Ejari. Take all of your property documents, register the contract with Ejari, pay the AED 195 Fee, and your contract’s legitimacy will be rock solid.

Furthermore, make sure that your broker owns a Broker ID Card. Don’t deal with anyone that isn’t a RERA-registered broker.

Landlords can’t raise the rent on a whim

So, landlords in UAE can’t raise the rent on their own because they feel like doing so. Instead, they need to comply with Decree No (93) that prevents them from doing so on their own.

In case some landlord decides to raise the rent on his own, the lender can submit a complaint with the Rent Committee. But if the rent raise is justified and approved by the Rent Committee, the landlord is obligated to give you a 90-days notice period. But even when the increase in the rent is approved, it is not going to be a massive one.

Eviction laws in UAE

Eviction laws in the UAE are pro-Tennant, and here is why.

If the landlord wants to kick you out from your villa or apartment, he will need to give you a formal eviction request. After you receive the formal eviction request, you still have the right to stay for as long as 12 months before leaving. You also get 12 months if the landlord wants to sell the place.

Expect to pay big chunks of your rent in advance

If you are a newcomer, you will be surprised to find out that landlords regularly ask for large amounts of the annual rent upfront. Some would even ask for a year’s rent in advance, while others might request for a series of post-dated cheques.

So, if you used to pay your rent month by month, this can feel a bit too much. But, that’s Dubai, and it is what it is. But that’s not the case with every landlord, and very often landlords and tenants work out some agreement and meet halfway.

Renting and unmarried couples

There are actual laws in the UAE that restrict unmarried couples from living together. However, if you are a foreign couple, you have no issues with the law, the local police and authorities tolerate this. Nonetheless, it can be a bit unsettling even though many expatriates are living together in Dubai, unmarried.