Step by step · Abu Dhabi

Renting a home

12 of 13 steps confirmed with the regulator

Finding a place, agreeing the terms, and getting the lease registered.

Finding it4 steps

Checks2 steps

Agreeing3 steps

Transferring3 steps

After1 step

Every step, and what proves it happened

Nobody can call a step done without the paper

13 steps

1. Owner's approval of the brokerThe owner's written authority for the brokerage to act and to advertise. Filed with ADREC · Madhmoun. Without it the listing has no basis.Goes through DMT · ADREC.

The landlord

Confirmed

2. Madhmoun permit issuedAdvertising without it is the fine an agent actually gets. Filed through the ADREC Madhmoun system.Goes through DMT · ADREC.

Your agent

Confirmed

3. Listing liveWith the permit number displayed.

Your agent

Confirmed

4. ViewingsRecorded against the listing.

The tenant

Confirmed

5. Offer and terms agreedRent, the number of cheques, and the term.

The tenant

Confirmed

6. Tenancy contract signedSigned by both parties, in the unified tenancy contract form. What is signed here is what gets registered.

Your agent

Confirmed

7. Deposit and chequesThe security deposit plus the rent cheques. Five per cent of the annual rent unfurnished and ten furnished is the usual figure — market convention, not a rate fixed in law, so it is whatever the contract says. The deposit is held by the landlord until hand-back and is not rent; get the condition of the unit recorded before it changes hands.

The tenant

Confirmed

8. Tenant identity checkEmirates ID or passport and visa status. The registry asks for it, so it gates the step after this one rather than this one.

The tenant

Confirmed

9. Tawtheeq registrationRegistering the lease is what unlocks DEWA/utilities, parking and school admission. Not a listing permit — a different thing entirely.Goes through DMT · ADREC.

The landlord

Confirmed

10. Utilities connectedThe lease registration is what the utility provider asks for.

The tenant

Confirmed

11. Move-in permitMost managed buildings require the owners association's move-in permit before keys — the registered lease, a refundable move-in deposit and a booked lift slot. Ask the community management for theirs; it is the step that most often delays a move by a week.

Your agent

Confirmed

12. Handover and inventoryKeys, access cards and parking, against a written condition report with photographs. The report is what the deposit is judged against at the end, so it is worth the twenty minutes.

Your agent

Confirmed

13. Renewal noticeServe notice before the term ends if the rent or the terms are to change — miss the window and the existing terms roll on. Ask Department of Municipalities and Transport · ADREC for the period that applies; it is not Dubai's ninety days everywhere.Goes through DMT · ADREC.

The landlord

Not confirmed

Somewhere else in the UAE?