Facing A Rent Increase? Know Your Rights And Options Legally

In Dubai, the rental increase is subject to the provisions of Decree number 43 of 2013, determining the rent increase for real property in the emirates of Dubai (the “Decree”).

Pursuant to the said Decree, the similar average rent shall be determined in accordance with the “Rental Index” approved by the Real Estate Regulatory Agency (RERA) (Article 3). RERA is a regulatory arm of the Dubai Land Department (DLD) which regulates the relationship between a landlord and a tenant. The Rental Index is as determined by RERA, which reserves the exclusive right to specify the average rent and accordingly the percentage of rent increase in Dubai. Pursuant to the Decree, the maximum increase permitted for the rental increase is that of twenty per cent against the rent index. In order for a rental increase of twenty per cent to be applied legally by the landlord, the said property should be more than forty per cent below the average rent amount as determined by the RERA index.