Key points

  • Law No. 13 of 2008 created the interim real property register: every sale (or mortgage) of an off-plan unit must be entered in it — otherwise the disposition is void.
  • The developer may neither market nor dispose of units before taking possession of the land and obtaining the approvals of the competent authorities.
  • The entry, known as "Oqood", is maintained by the Dubai Land Department; upon completion, the unit moves from the interim to the final register and the title deed is issued.
  • Law No. 9 of 2009 clarified purchaser default: the developer's rights are graduated according to the actual construction progress — no arbitrary termination.
  • The mechanism complements the mandatory escrow account of Law No. 8 of 2007: money is ring-fenced, the sale is registered, progress is measured.

Why an interim register rather than just a contract?

Before 2008, off-plan buying rested on contract quality alone. Law No. 13 of 2008 moved protection from the contractual to the regulatory field: entry in the interim register, kept by the Dubai Land Department, is what gives the sale legal existence. The sanction is radical — nullity of the unregistered disposition — and that is precisely what makes it effective: no serious player can afford to operate off-register.

What do you verify before signing an off-plan sale?

Three things, in this order. First, that the developer has the right to sell: the law forbids marketing until it has taken possession of the land and obtained the approvals of the competent authorities (as detailed by implementing Resolution No. 6 of 2010). Second, that the project has its escrow account under Law No. 8 of 2007 — we devoted a dedicated article to it. Third, that the sale will be entered in Oqood in the name of the purchaser or its vehicle: that entry, not the brochure, constitutes the right.

What happens if the purchaser stops paying?

Law No. 9 of 2009, amending Article 11 of the 2008 law, replaced the developer's contractual discretion with a statutory scale: its rights upon purchaser default depend on the project's actual completion level, as assessed by the regulator. The further the works, the more the developer may retain; the less advanced, the more the purchaser recovers. The spirit is clear: align the consequences of default with the physical reality of the operation, not with bargaining power.

What this says about the market

Dubai is often described as speculative. The legal machinery says otherwise: an enforceable interim register, mandatory escrow, marketing conditional on land possession, defaults governed by scale. It is an institutionalised market — provided you work like an institution: verifying entries, not promises — the method our Emirati operations follow. Article d'information générale, vérifié à la date de publication. La réglementation évolue : chaque opération appelle l'analyse de conseils locaux habilités.