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Buy off-plan property in Dubai: 10 checks before you sign
Before you buy off-plan property in Dubai: escrow account, contract, instalments, guarantees, charges and drawings. The checks we make for every project, with Dubai’s laws as the source.
Buy off-plan property in Dubai: checks first, signature second
Anyone planning to buy off-plan property in Dubai usually starts from a render, a payment plan and a handover date. Useful information, but it decides little: what matters is the account your money goes into, the contract you sign and the home that will actually be built.
In Dubai, unlike many other markets, the law gives precise tools to people who buy on plan. We have collected the ten checks we make before every signature, with the law or the official source whenever there is one.
The 10 checks before you buy off-plan property in Dubai
1. Is the project registered, with an escrow account?
In Dubai a developer may sell off-plan only after opening an escrow account dedicated to the project with the Dubai Land Department, as required by Law No. 8 of 2007. The application needs, among other things, the land title, the approved drawings and a certified cost plan. Ask for the project number and the escrow account number before any payment.
2. Who are you paying?
The same law requires off-plan purchasers’ payments to be deposited into the escrow account (art. 7). The transfer goes there, not to an account of the developer, of a broker or of a third company, even if you are asked to hurry.
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3. Is the advertising authorised?
A developer may not advertise an off-plan project without written authorisation from the Dubai Land Department (art. 5). A project advertised without it is already a signal not to ignore.
4. Is the contract registered in the interim register?
An off-plan sale is registered in the Dubai Land Department’s interim register (Oqood). The registration fee is 4% of the price and in off-plan sales it is usually paid by the buyer, plus administrative charges: ask for the exact calculation in writing before signing.
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5. How is the payment plan tied to the works?
Ask for instalments that follow the real progress of construction, and for the contract and its schedules to state the handover date, tolerances and penalties. A large instalment before works start shifts the risk onto the buyer.
6. What happens if you miss an instalment?
Law No. 19 of 2017 requires a 30-day notice; the developer may then terminate the contract and retain different amounts depending on progress: above 80% it may keep what was paid and claim the balance, or retain up to 40%; between 60% and 80% up to 40%; below 60% up to 25%; if works have not started for reasons beyond its control, up to 30% of the amounts paid. Read this clause before choosing a payment plan.
7. And if the project is cancelled?
If the project is cancelled, the developer must refund all payments received, under Law No. 8 of 2007. It is a strong protection precisely because the money sits in the escrow account: one more reason never to pay elsewhere.
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8. What does the guarantee cover after handover?
After the completion certificate, 5% of the escrow account is retained until one year after the units are registered to the buyers (art. 14). For structural defects, the UAE Civil Code makes the architect and the contractor liable for ten years (art. 880), and this cannot be excluded by contract (art. 882). Minor defects depend on the contract: have them listed.
9. How much does the home cost to keep every year?
In jointly owned communities service charges are approved by the regulator (RERA) and can be checked in the Dubai Land Department’s Service Charge Index. For a new project, ask for the approved budget or the real charges of buildings the same developer has already delivered.
10. What do the drawings really say?
This is where an architect’s eye matters: saleable area and internal area are not the same thing, orientation decides how much sun enters in the hottest hours, and the material specifications attached to the contract count more than the render. New buildings in Dubai must meet at least the Silver level of Al Sa’fat, Dubai’s green building system built into the Dubai Building Code: ask which level the project has.
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Why people like to buy off-plan property in Dubai
Buying off-plan lets you enter with a deposit and pay the rest as works progress, often at a launch price. The Dubai Land Department’s official price index for villas went from 97.99 in 2020 to 213.18 in 2025: a figure from the past, which explains the interest but promises nothing about the future.
Precisely because the market has risen so much, anyone who wants to buy off-plan property in Dubai today has more to check: a launch price is a good deal only if the project is delivered as promised, on time and with the quality written in the contract.
Villa or apartment: what changes when you buy on plan
Villas in communities
If you buy off-plan property in Dubai and choose a villa, it will almost always sit inside a community built by a large developer, with shared rules on façades, heights, fences and pools. Ask for those rules before signing: they decide what you will be able to change after handover.
Apartments in towers
If you buy off-plan property in Dubai in a tower, look above all at service charges, the quality of shared systems and exposure: a west façade without shading costs air conditioning for the whole life of the building.
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How to buy off-plan property in Dubai, step by step
The process is similar in almost every project, and knowing it helps you see where to stop and check. People who buy off-plan property in Dubai usually go through six moments:
- Reservation: the unit is blocked with an initial payment. Before making it, check that it goes into the project’s escrow account.
- Sale and purchase agreement: with the payment plan, the handover date, the material specifications and the attached floor plans. This is the moment to read everything, calmly.
- Registration in the interim register of the Dubai Land Department, with payment of the registration fee.
- Instalments during construction, linked to progress on site.
- Completion and inspection: before accepting the home there is a site visit to list defects and non-compliant finishes, which the developer corrects.
- Handover and title deed: once the price is paid, the property moves from the interim register to the final one.
To buy off-plan property in Dubai without surprises, the ten checks belong to the first two moments: after the contract is signed, the room for negotiation shrinks a lot.
Dubai's climate and the drawings: what an architect looks at
In Dubai the heat lasts most of the year and the sun is very strong: a well-designed home can be recognised in the drawings even before the render. When someone asks us whether to buy off-plan property in Dubai in a given project, we look at five things in the drawings.
- Orientation and shade: where the large windows are, whether there are overhangs, loggias or screens, how much sun comes in during the afternoon.
- Glass and window frames: the performance stated in the specifications, not only their size. Glass is the part of the home that lets in the most heat.
- Systems: where the air-conditioning units are, how they are reached for maintenance, how much noise they make near the bedrooms.
- External materials: sand, humidity near the sea and salt wear out finishes and frames; stated quality and ease of replacement matter.
- Usable outdoor space: a terrace in full August sun is rarely used; shade, ventilation and a pool really change how you live.
It is the same method our studio uses to design villas in Italy, where light, shade and the relationship between inside and outside come before floor area. Applied to someone else’s project, it tells you whether the home will be pleasant to live in, not just easy to sell.
The costs of buying off-plan in Dubai beyond the price
The list price is only part of the outlay. Before you buy off-plan property in Dubai, ask for the full list in writing:
- Dubai Land Department registration: 4% of the price plus administrative charges, calculated on the actual case.
- Annual service charges approved for the community or the building.
- Broker’s commission, if any, and who pays it.
- Furniture, utility connections and set-up at handover.
- Exchange rate and transfers, for anyone paying from a euro account.
The most common mistakes when buying off-plan in Dubai
- Paying outside the escrow account because «it is faster».
- Choosing a payment plan without reading the termination clause of Law 19/2017.
- Judging the home by the render instead of the specifications attached to the contract.
- Forgetting service charges, which weigh every year for the whole life of the property.
- Mistaking a launch price for a bargain: it becomes one only at handover.
These are the ten checks seen from the side of mistakes: whoever wants to buy off-plan property in Dubai with peace of mind deals with them before signing, not after.
Frequently asked questions about how to buy off-plan property in Dubai
Can a foreigner buy off-plan property in Dubai?
Yes: foreigners can buy off-plan property in Dubai in the areas where full ownership is allowed. The contract is registered with the Dubai Land Department as for a UAE buyer.
Is money paid off-plan protected?
If it goes into the project’s escrow account, yes: Law No. 8 of 2007 ties payments to the project and requires a refund if it is cancelled. Outside that account the protection is lost.
How much does registration cost?
The Dubai Land Department fee is 4% of the price, plus administrative charges; in off-plan sales it is usually paid by the buyer. Always have the exact amount calculated.
Do I need a technical adviser as well as a lawyer?
Yes: before you buy off-plan property in Dubai, the lawyer reads the contract and the architect reads the drawings, the specifications and the orientation. They are two different checks and you need both.
Have you already found the project?
Send us the brochure, the payment plan or the draft contract: with the preliminary reading we tell you in writing what the project shows, what is missing and what to check before you buy off-plan property in Dubai. The Real Estate team’s contact for Dubai is Tatiana Juma; Federico Cappellina, an Italian architect, reads the drawings. Any commercial relationship with the developer is declared before each analysis.
Sources: escrow accounts, Dubai Law No. 8/2007 (art. 5, 7, 14); termination of off-plan contracts, Law No. 19/2017 (art. 11 of Law 13/2008); decennial liability, UAE Civil Code art. 880 and 882 (Al Tamimi & Co. commentary); service charges, DLD Service Charge Index; price index, Dubai Land Department; Al Sa’fat, Dubai Media Office. Checked on 10/10/2026. This is not legal advice: the contract must be read by a UAE lawyer.
Would you like a reading of the project?
Send the brochure and the payment plan: we reply with the points to check.
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