Dubai Rent Increase Rules: Notice, RERA Index and How to Object

The 90-day notice rule

A change to any term of the tenancy on renewal — the rent above all — requires notice to the other party at least 90 days before the contract expires, unless the parties have agreed a different arrangement. This applies both ways: a tenant who wants to change a term must give the same notice.

Practically, this means a landlord cannot present an increase in the last weeks of a tenancy and treat it as binding. If the notice was not given in time, the tenancy generally renews on the same terms.

Notice is about timing and proof. Keep the message, the date and the method. If you received an increase, check the date it arrived before you check the number.

How the RERA rental index works

The Dubai Land Department publishes a rental index and a calculator that compares the rent you currently pay with the average rent for comparable properties in your area and of your type. The permitted increase depends on how far below that average your current rent sits.

• If your rent is at or near the market average, no increase is permitted.
• As the gap between your rent and the market average widens, a percentage increase becomes permitted, rising in bands.
• The maximum band applies only where your rent is very substantially below the market average.
• The comparison is by area and property type, which is why two neighbours with different unit types can get different answers.

Because the bands and the underlying index values are updated by the Dubai Land Department, always run your actual figures through the current official calculator rather than relying on a percentage someone quoted last year.

How to check your own increase

1. Find your current annual rent as recorded on the tenancy contract and the Ejari certificate.
2. Confirm the exact area name, building, unit type and number of bedrooms as registered.
3. Run those figures through the Dubai Land Department's official rental index calculator.
4. Compare the permitted maximum with the increase the landlord has proposed.
5. Check the date the notice was received against the contract expiry date.
6. If either the percentage or the timing is wrong, put your objection in writing before the renewal date.

Small details change the answer: a unit registered as a one-bedroom rather than a studio, or an area name that differs from the one everyone uses locally, will produce a different index result.

How to object, and what happens next

Start with a calm written response. State your current rent, the index position, the notice date and what you are prepared to renew at. Most increases are resolved at this stage, because a landlord shown a clear index position in writing usually has no route to more.

If it is not resolved, the Rental Dispute Centre decides the question. Filing fees are calculated on the annual rent and paid at filing, so weigh the difference in dispute against the cost. Keep paying the existing rent while the position is being resolved; arrears undermine an otherwise strong case, as our tenancy disputes guide explains.

Watch for the two processes being mixed. A landlord cannot use an eviction notice as leverage to force through an increase — those are separate procedures with separate requirements, covered in the eviction notices guide.

Practical checklist

• Note the date the increase notice arrived and how it was sent.
• Confirm the contract expiry date and count back 90 days.
• Take your current rent from the Ejari certificate, not from memory.
• Confirm the registered area and unit type.
• Run the figures through the official rental index calculator.
• Respond in writing before the renewal date.
• Keep paying the existing rent while the objection is live.

Common mistakes

• Agreeing verbally to a new figure before checking the index.
• Assuming any increase is capped at a single percentage regardless of your position.
• Missing the 90-day point and then objecting after renewal.
• Comparing your rent to a neighbour's rather than to the index.
• Withholding rent as a negotiating tactic.
• Treating an eviction notice as if it were a rent increase notice.

Frequently asked questions