Off-plan homes accounted for 72% of Dubai home purchases in the third quarter of 2026, according to Cavendish Maxwell, so most buyers in the emirate are paying for a home that has not yet been built.
The same data, reported by The National on 7 October, shows a market that has slowed: sales worth AED 72.6 billion in the quarter, 47% less than a year earlier, across 34,000 transactions, down 38%. S&P Global Ratings put the fall in prices between the end of 2025 and September 2026 at 5% to 15%, and Cavendish Maxwell linked the caution to the conflict in the region since late February. A slower market does not change the law, but it makes the protections around off-plan payments, and their limits, more relevant for American and British buyers.
Where your payments go
Dubai Law No. 8 of 2007 requires a developer selling off-plan to pay buyers' money into an escrow account dedicated to the project. As the Dubai firm HAS Law Firm explains, those funds may only be released in line with construction progress, so the developer cannot use one project's deposits to finance another. If the regulator, RERA, cancels a project by a reasoned decision, the developer must refund everything received, according to the Dubai advocate Ahmed Al Zarooni, quoted by Khaleej Times.
The sale itself is recorded in the Interim Real Estate Register, known as Oqood, under Law No. 13 of 2008. Registration records your interest in the unit and helps prevent the same unit being sold twice.
Checks before the first payment
- Find the project. Search the Dubai Land Department project status enquiry or the Dubai REST app by project name or number, and check the completion percentage, the escrow account and the developer.
- Pay only into the escrow account. Confirm the account number, bank and project link before transferring anything, and never pay an individual or a broker's account.
- Check the broker. Ask for the RERA card number, and scan the Madmoun QR code on any advertisement to confirm that the project, unit and price match.
- Read the sale and purchase agreement. Compare the unit, price, payment plan, handover date and default terms with what you were shown.
- Confirm Oqood registration. The agreement should be registered within 90 days of signing, and you should receive an electronic certificate.
These steps are taken from a buyer's guide published by Sobha Realty, one of Dolce Vita's Dubai partners, and match the official tools named in it. A Dubai lawyer acting only for you can carry them out and review the contract.
If you cannot keep up the payments
Payment plans run for years, and circumstances change. Article 11 of Law No. 13 of 2008, as amended by Law No. 19 of 2017, sets out what a developer may do, and Khaleej Times summarised it on 10 October. The developer must first notify the Land Department, which gives the buyer 30 days to pay or settle. After that, the developer's options depend on how far the unit has been built: above 80% completion it can keep the contract and pursue the balance, seek an auction or terminate and keep up to 40% of the unit's value; between 60% and 80% it can terminate and keep up to 40%; below 60% it can terminate and keep up to 25%. The rest is returned to the buyer. These are maximums, and Mr Al Zarooni stresses that the developer's rights are not absolute and can be challenged in court or arbitration.
If the developer is late
Delays happen in any market. HAS Law Firm lists the remedies a buyer can seek when a developer defaults: performance of the contract, termination, recovery of instalments and fees, and compensation for losses such as extra rent or financing costs, provided the breach, the damage and the link between them are proved. RERA supervises developers and cancelled projects, and courts can appoint independent experts. Much depends on the wording of the contract, especially the handover date and any grace period, so read those clauses before signing rather than after a delay.
Costs, and the tax back home
Budget for the registration fee charged at Oqood, reported by Khaleej Times at 4% of the price, plus administration and trustee charges; confirm the current fees with the Land Department or your lawyer, as some have changed over time. Remember the tax at home too: US citizens report income and gains worldwide to the IRS, and UK residents declare rent from a Dubai flat to HMRC as overseas property income. Our article Dubai after the 2026 slump sets out the market figures in more detail.
Off-plan can suit buyers who want a new home on a staged payment plan, and it carries the risks of any purchase made years before completion. Dolce Vita works with the Dubai developers Arada, Azizi, Binghatti and Sobha and with the agency haus & haus as partners. None of this is legal or investment advice.
Dolce Vita handles sales and lettings across the UK from Mayfair, and helps clients buy abroad through partner agencies. If you are selling or letting a UK home to fund a purchase in Dubai, or would like an introduction to a partner there, we can help. Request a valuation; we acknowledge the same working day and return a written valuation within 24 to 48 hours.
Hanane Dawson, Founder
Sources: Cavendish Maxwell Q3 2026 data and S&P Global Ratings, via The National, 7 October 2026; HAS Law Firm (Mohamed Adel), Off-plan property disputes in Dubai, Mondaq, 14 July 2026; Khaleej Times, Missed off-plan payments in Dubai, 10 October 2026, citing Dubai Law No. 13 of 2008 as amended by Law No. 19 of 2017 and Law No. 8 of 2007; Sobha Realty (a Dolce Vita partner), How to verify an off-plan property in Dubai, 9 September 2026; Khaleej Times, Buying property in Dubai, 1 August 2022 (fees).