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Glossary

Ejari

Ejari is the Dubai Land Department system that registers tenancy contracts, as Law No. 26 of 2007 requires. The government fee is AED 100. Without it a lease cannot be used for a visa, and no court or government body will act on it.

What Ejari is

DLD's own tenancy guide: "EJARI is an online program developed by RERA for recording tenancy contracts for all types of property in the Emirate of Dubai, pursuant to Law No. 26 of 2007, as amended by Law No. 33 of 2008. EJARI is the first step to regulate the process of real estate lease and management."

The duty is in the law itself. Article 4(2) of Law No. 26 of 2007, as replaced by Law No. 33 of 2008: "All Tenancy Contracts or any amendments to such Tenancy Contracts related to Real Property which are subject to the provisions of this Law will be registered with RERA." The original 2007 wording spelt out the consequence, and it still describes the practice: "Judicial authorities and Government departments, authorities, and corporations may not consider any dispute or claim or otherwise take any action relating to a Lease Contract unless such Contract is registered". Since Law No. 4 of 2019, the registration function has sat with DLD directly rather than RERA: "The DLD hereby succeeds RERA in exercising all the functions related to the registration of Lease Contracts". People still say "RERA Ejari"; the counter is DLD's.

DLD never translates the word. That it means "my rent" in Arabic is a gloss from secondary sources.

What it costs, and where you do it

Service time at a trustee centre: "25 minutes (excluding waiting time)". Channels named by DLD: "DLD website(Ejari) / Dubai Rest / Trustee Centers".

Registration and renewal are one service at one price; DLD does not price a renewal separately. Who files it is a matter of the contract and the parties' access: owners and companies register as Ejari users, and a tenant can register through the app or a trustee with the signed contract, the owner's DLD-registered owner number, and Emirates ID or passport.

What it unlocks

A family visa. GDRFA Dubai's sponsor file registration lists among its requirements: "Attested lease contract issued by Ejari or ownership of a property issued by the Dubai Land Department." No Ejari, no sponsor file.

Utilities. The federal portal: "Registration of lease contracts is compulsory to connect the utility services. This includes water, electricity, gas and telecommunications services." The same page adds the cost that rides on the connection: "Tenants must pay housing fees to Dubai Municipality, which is calculated at the rate of 5 per cent of the yearly rental charges. The housing fees are added to the monthly electricity and water bills."

DEWA's own Ejari pages, the trade-licence pages and any school-admission rule could not be read on the day of writing (their sites refuse automated readers), so we don't quote them; the two lines above are the ones we can stand behind.

Renewal, notice, and the penalty that isn't a fine

There is no published fine for failing to register. The penalty is standing: an unregistered contract cannot be relied on before any court or government body, per the 2007 wording above. The notice rule most tenants meet is Article 14: "if either party ... wishes to amend any of its terms ... that party must notify the other party of same no less than ninety (90) days prior to the date on which the Tenancy Contract expires." The "register your renewal within 30 days" rule repeated on portals appears in no DLD or legislation text we could find; the only 30-day period in the law concerns termination by heirs after a party's death.

Rent increases and the index

Ejari data feeds the rental index that caps increases. Decree No. (43) of 2013, issued 18 December 2013, Article 1, sets the bands by how far the current rent sits below the average for similar units: no increase where it is up to 10% below; 5% where 11% to 20% below; 10% where 21% to 30% below; 15% where 31% to 40% below; 20% where more than 40% below. Article 3 ties the "average rental value of similar units" to "the 'Rent Index of the Emirate of Dubai' approved by the Real Estate Regulatory Agency."

On 2 January 2025 DLD launched "the Smart Rental Index 2025", noting that "in 2024, the total number of registered rental contracts exceeded 900,000". Its 16 February 2025 follow-up describes the mechanism: the increase "is determined by a smart index, which calculates the applicable increase based on data drawn from multiple factors, including rental contract values in the building, the average rental values in the area, and the building classification", and sets the transition: "The previous index will be applied if the contract was renewed before 2025. The new index will be enforced if the contract is renewed during 2025." The January release cites "Decree No. (34) of 2013" for the bands; the instrument on the legislation portal is Decree 43, and we cite that.

Short-term lets

Holiday homes and short-term rentals are permitted and regulated by the Department of Economy and Tourism, not registered in Ejari. That division is stated consistently by secondary sources and implied by DET's own permit pages, which we could not load; treat it as commonly stated.

Where this comes up

RERA · DLD · Start here

Frequently Asked Questions

This entry is part of the Home Guide Dubai glossary - the vocabulary a Dubai buyer or Golden Visa applicant actually meets, defined in plain English and kept consistent with our verified guides.