Ending a tenancy in Dubai, and getting the property back.
An owner who wants to sell, move in or renovate can end a tenancy, but only on the grounds the law lists and only with twelve months' notice served the right way. Here is what that involves.
A Dubai landlord can end a tenancy at expiry on three grounds: you want to sell the property, you or a first-degree relative will live in it, or it needs demolition or major works that cannot be done around a tenant. Each one needs twelve months’ written notice, served through a Notary Public or by registered mail. Wanting a higher rent is not a ground, and a notice based on it will fail.
In short
Law No. 26 of 2007, as amended by Law No. 33 of 2008, governs the whole question. Article 25 lists the grounds and nothing outside that list works.
The notice period is twelve months and it runs to the eviction date, not to the next renewal date. Owners conflate the two constantly.
Service has to be through a Notary Public or by registered mail. A WhatsApp message, an email or a letter handed over does not count.
Ending a tenancy mid-term is a narrower question. It usually turns on a serious breach and a 30-day notice to put the breach right first.
Changing locks or cutting utilities is illegal here, and it hands the tenant a counterclaim even where they are the one at fault.
The grounds the law allows
Dubai gives a tenant a good deal of protection at the end of a contract. A tenancy does not end because the term is up. It renews, unless you have given notice on one of the grounds Article 25 sets out, in the way the article requires.
There are three of them in practice. You intend to sell the property. You or a first-degree relative intend to live in it. Or the building needs demolition, or works so substantial that they cannot be carried out with someone living there. The reason you put in the notice is the reason you are tied to later, so it is worth being accurate rather than picking whichever sounds strongest.
| Reason | When it applies | Notice required |
|---|---|---|
| You intend to sell | At expiry | 12 months, notarised |
| You or close family will live in it | At expiry | 12 months, notarised |
| Demolition or major works | At expiry | 12 months, notarised |
| Serious breach by the tenant | Mid-tenancy | 30 days to remedy |
| You want a higher rent | Not a ground | Use Decree 43 instead |
Law No. 26 of 2007 as amended by Law No. 33 of 2008, Article 25. Notice at expiry must be served through a Notary Public or by registered mail. Position current at September 2026.
The last row is the one that sends owners down the wrong path. A tenant paying well below market is a rent problem, and Dubai treats rent and possession as separate questions with separate instruments. Serving an eviction notice because the rent is low will cost you a year and then fail.
Serving it properly
Two things decide whether a notice stands: what it says, and how it reached the tenant. The second is where most cases are lost. Service must be through a Notary Public or by registered mail, and nothing else satisfies it.
That rules out the channels owners reach for first. A WhatsApp message is not service. An email is not service. A signed letter pushed under the door is not service, even if the tenant replies to it and acknowledges receiving it. The requirement is about proof and formality rather than about whether the tenant knew.
Get the dates right as well. The twelve months run to the date you want the property back, not to the next renewal. If a contract expires in March and you serve notice in January, the tenancy renews in March and the eviction date falls the following January. Working backwards from the date you need the unit is the only way to avoid losing a year.
Ending a tenancy early
Everything above concerns the end of a contract. Ending one partway through is a different and much narrower question, and it turns on the tenant being in serious breach rather than on anything you want to do with the property.
The usual pattern is a thirty-day notice giving the tenant the chance to put the breach right, and only then a case if they do not. Non-payment is the common example. Subletting without permission and using a residential unit for something it is not licensed for are others. The bar is higher than at expiry, and the process is slower than most owners expect when they start it.
If it reaches the Rental Dispute Centre
A tenant who disagrees with a notice, or who stays on regardless, puts the matter in front of the Rental Disputes Settlement Centre. It sits inside the Land Department and hears rental cases for the emirate. Filing costs 3.5% of the annual rent, with a floor of AED 500 and a ceiling of AED 20,000. Most cases are heard within about thirty days.
One practical point catches foreign owners out. The Centre works in Arabic. Every document you rely on, the tenancy contract, the notice, the Ejari certificate, the cheque records, has to be in Arabic or carry a legalised Arabic translation. A file submitted in English alone will not be accepted, and arranging translation after you have filed wastes time you have already paid for.
Before you serve anything
Work backwards from the date you need the unit.
Decide when you want possession, count twelve months back from it, and serve before that date arrives. Owners who start from the contract expiry instead usually discover they have given themselves a renewal cycle they did not intend.
Check whether rent is the real issue.
If what you want is a higher return rather than the property itself, the rent increase route under Decree 43 is faster and does not cost you a tenant. Look up where your rent sits against the RERA index before you decide that possession is what you are after.
Put the reason in writing and keep to it.
The notice has to state the ground. If you serve on the basis that you are selling and then re-let the unit instead, you have handed the tenant an argument. Choose the reason that is true and be prepared to stand behind it.
Get the Arabic translations done early.
If there is any prospect of a hearing, having the contract, the Ejari registration and the notice translated and legalised before you need them removes a delay at the point when delay is most expensive.
General information for property owners, current at September 2026, and not legal advice. Eviction depends on the wording of your contract and the facts of your own case. Take advice from a lawyer before you serve notice, because a defective notice usually cannot be fixed without starting the twelve months again.
Questions
- Can a landlord evict a tenant in Dubai to sell the property?
- Yes. Selling is one of the grounds Article 25 of Law 33 of 2008 allows at the end of a tenancy. You give the tenant 12 months' written notice stating that reason, served through a Notary Public or by registered mail. The notice has to say why, and the reason you give is the one you are held to if the tenant later challenges it.
- How much notice does a landlord have to give to evict in Dubai?
- Twelve months, and the clock runs to the eviction date rather than to the renewal date. Those two dates are often months apart, which is where owners trip up. A notice served nine months before a contract expires does not shorten the twelve months. It just means the tenancy renews once more before the eviction date arrives.
- Can I evict my tenant to increase the rent?
- No. Wanting more rent is not one of the permitted grounds, and a notice built on it will not survive a challenge. Rent is handled under a different instrument, Decree 43 of 2013, which sets how far you can raise it at renewal based on how far below the RERA index the current rent sits. If the rent is the problem, that is the route.
- Does an eviction notice have to go through a notary?
- It has to be served through a Notary Public or by registered mail. A message on WhatsApp does not count. Neither does an email, or a letter handed to the tenant at the door, however clearly it is written and however obviously it was received. Landlords lose cases on service rather than on substance more often than they lose on the grounds themselves.
- What happens if the tenant will not leave after the 12 months?
- The matter goes to the Rental Disputes Settlement Centre, the judicial body inside the Land Department that hears rental cases. Filing costs 3.5% of the annual rent, with a minimum of AED 500 and a maximum of AED 20,000, and most cases are heard within about 30 days. Bring the notarised notice, the tenancy contract and the Ejari registration.
- Can I change the locks or cut the electricity if the tenant stops paying?
- Never, whatever the tenant owes. Changing the locks, disconnecting DEWA or moving belongings out is self-help eviction, and it is illegal in Dubai. It turns a case you were winning into one where the tenant has a counterclaim against you for damages. The unpaid rent does not excuse it and does not cancel it out.
- Rent increases and what the law allowsThe Decree 43 route, for when the rent rather than the tenant is the problem.
- Rent increase checkerWhere your rent sits against the index, and the increase you could take instead.
- What it costs to sell in DubaiIf selling is the reason for the notice, this is the bill at the other end.
Mulki keeps every renewal date and notice window, so neither arrives as a surprise.
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