Step by step · Dubai

Renting a home

14 of 14 steps confirmed with the regulator

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

Finding it4 steps

Checks2 steps

Agreeing4 steps

Transferring3 steps

After1 step

Every step, and what proves it happened

Nobody can call a step done without the paper

14 steps

1. Form A — Landlord's authority to market for leaseThe owner's written authority for the brokerage to act and to advertise. Filed with Trakheesi. Without it the listing has no basis.Goes through RERA · DLD.

The landlord

Confirmed

2. Trakheesi permit issuedAdvertising without it is the fine an agent actually gets. Filed through the RERA Trakheesi system.Goes through RERA · DLD.

Your agent

Confirmed

3. Listing liveWith the permit number displayed.

Your agent

Confirmed

4. ViewingsRecorded against the listing.

The tenant

Confirmed

5. Form I — Broker-to-broker commission splitOnly when a second brokerage brings the tenant. Agree the split before terms are agreed, not after.Goes through RERA · DLD.

Your agent

Confirmed

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

The tenant

Confirmed

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

Your agent

Confirmed

8. 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

9. 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

10. Ejari registrationRegistering the lease is what unlocks DEWA/utilities, parking and school admission. Not a listing permit — a different thing entirely.Goes through RERA · DLD.

The landlord

Confirmed

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

The tenant

Confirmed

12. 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

13. 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

14. Renewal noticeNinety days' notice before the term ends to change rent or terms — miss it and the existing terms roll on.Goes through RERA · DLD.

The landlord

Confirmed

Somewhere else in the UAE?