Replaces Articles 2, 3, 4, 9, 13, 14, 15, 25, 26, 29 and 36 of the tenancy law: twelve months' notice through a notary public or registered mail for end-of-lease evictions, 90 days' notice to change renewal terms including rent, and tribunal power to set fair rent by reference to RERA criteria; in force on Gazette publication.
Law No. (33) of 2008 is the amending law that gives the Dubai tenancy law its current shape. Issued by the Ruler of Dubai on 1 December 2008 and in force on the day of its publication in the Official Gazette (Article 2), it does one thing: Article 1 supersedes eleven articles of Law No. (26) of 2007, namely Articles 2, 3, 4, 9, 13, 14, 15, 25, 26, 29 and 36, with new text. Everything else in the 2007 law stands. The amending law has not itself been amended and remains in force.
The new Article 3 applies the law to land and real property leased out in the Emirate and keeps only one exclusion, premises provided rent-free by employers as staff accommodation; the 2007 exclusion of hotel establishments is gone. The new Article 4 lists the particulars a lease must contain and requires registration with RERA, dropping the 2007 sentence that barred courts and government bodies from acting on an unregistered contract.
The rent provisions are rewritten. The new Article 9 removes the two-year freeze of the 2007 text; rent must be specified, and where it is not and cannot be proved it is the rental value of similar property, which the Tribunal fixes using RERA's increase criteria, the economic situation, the property's condition, comparable rents in the area and any rent legislation in force. The new Article 13 lets either party propose to amend terms or raise or reduce the rent before expiry, with the Tribunal determining a fair rent if they disagree, and the new Article 14 keeps the 90-day pre-expiry notice for such a change. The new Article 15 allows a property to be let before construction is complete, with the lease allocating who pays to finish it.
The new Article 25 is the provision most often litigated. Before expiry the landlord may evict only on the listed grounds, which now add leaving business premises unoccupied for 30 consecutive or 90 non-consecutive days a year, and the notice must go through a notary public or by registered mail. On expiry the grounds are demolition and reconstruction, comprehensive maintenance certified by Dubai Municipality, the owner's own or first-degree relatives' use where the owner has no suitable alternative property, and sale of the property; the landlord must give at least 12 months' notice before the eviction date, again through a notary or registered mail, replacing the 90 days of the 2007 text. The new Article 26 extends the bar on re-letting after a personal-use eviction to two years for residential and three years for non-residential property, with fair compensation to the tenant otherwise. The new Article 29 keeps the tenant's 30-day right of first refusal after redevelopment, and the new Article 36 moves the power to issue implementing regulations from RERA to the Chairman of the Executive Council.
Landlords and tenants of land and real property leased out in the Emirate of Dubai, their sub-tenants, heirs and successors in title, and the Tribunal that decides their disputes; the only exclusion is accommodation an employer provides to its staff free of rent.
| Article 1 | Supersedes Articles 2, 3, 4, 9, 13, 14, 15, 25, 26, 29 and 36 of Law No. (26) of 2007 with the replacement text set out in the amending law; the remaining articles of the 2007 law are untouched. |
| Article 3 (as replaced) | The tenancy law applies to land and real property leased out in the Emirate, excluding only real property provided free of rent by natural or legal persons as accommodation for their employees. |
| Article 4 (as replaced) | A lease must describe the property, state the purpose, term, rent and payment method, and name the owner if the landlord is not the owner; all leases governed by the law and any amendments to them are registered with RERA. |
| Article 9 (as replaced) | Rent must be specified; where it is not and cannot be proved, it is the rental value of similar property, which the Tribunal determines using RERA's rent-increase criteria, the economic situation, the property's condition, comparable rents in the area and any rent legislation in force. |
| Article 13 (as replaced) | Before expiry the landlord and tenant may amend the lease terms or reconsider increasing or reducing the rent for renewal; if they cannot agree, the Tribunal may determine a fair rent under the Article 9 criteria. |
| Article 14 (as replaced) | A party wishing to amend any term on renewal must notify the other no less than 90 days before the lease expires, unless the parties have agreed otherwise. |
| Article 25 (as replaced) | Pre-expiry eviction only on listed grounds (including rent unpaid 30 days after notice and business premises left vacant 30 consecutive or 90 non-consecutive days), with notice through a notary public or registered mail; expiry eviction only for demolition, comprehensive maintenance, the owner's own or first-degree relatives' use with no suitable alternative property, or sale, on at least 12 months' notice served the same way. |
| Article 26 (as replaced) | After an eviction for the owner's own or family use, the property may not be let to a third party for two years if residential or three years if non-residential, failing which the Tribunal may award the tenant fair compensation. |
| Article 36 (as replaced) | The Chairman of the Executive Council, rather than RERA, issues the regulations, bylaws and resolutions required to implement the tenancy law. |
| Article 2 | The amending law is published in the Official Gazette and comes into force on the day of publication. |
No fines are imposed. The consequences are civil: an eviction notice that does not meet the form and period in the replaced Article 25 is ineffective, a tenant who leaves business premises vacant beyond the stated periods or fails to pay within 30 days of notice can be evicted, and a landlord who re-lets inside the two- or three-year bar in the replaced Article 26 owes the tenant fair compensation fixed by the Tribunal.
When a client's landlord wants the premises back, this is the law we check the notice against. We look for the 12-month period, service through a notary public or by registered mail, and a ground that the replaced Article 25(2) actually lists; a notice by email or WhatsApp, or one citing the landlord's wish to re-let at a higher rent, does not qualify and we say so to the landlord before the client is pressed to move. For office tenants we warn of the vacancy ground in Article 25(1)(d), which matters to clients who hold a Dubai lease mainly to support a licence and visas, and we make sure the premises are in use. On renewal, we send or answer the 90-day notice under Article 14 and use the RERA index that Article 9 now points to when the rent is in dispute.
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