How Dubai protects off-plan buyers
Off-plan means paying for a home that is not built yet. Since 2007 Dubai's law has put buyers' money in escrow, released to the developer only as the building goes up. How it works, and what happens if a buyer or a developer cannot go on.
Short answer
A developer can sell off-plan only once the project is registered with the Land Department and has an escrow account at an approved bank. Your payments go into that account, not to the developer, and are released as engineers certify the construction. If a project is cancelled, buyers can be refunded from the escrow. If a buyer stops paying, the law sets how much the developer may keep, by how far the building has got.
If a buyer stops paying
The developer must first give notice through the Land Department and a period to pay (Law 19 of 2017). Then, by how complete the project is:
| Project complete | What the developer may do |
|---|---|
| Over 80% | Keep the contract and ask for the rest, have the unit sold at auction to recover it, or cancel and keep up to 40% of the price |
| 60–80% | Cancel and keep up to 40% of the price, refunding the rest |
| Under 60% | Cancel and keep up to 25% of the price, refunding the rest |
The point: only commit to a plan you can pay with room to spare, and talk to the developer early if something changes. Selling your contract on can be better than defaulting. Selling before handover
Your own checks
The project
Find it in the Dubai REST app: its registration, escrow account and progress.
The payments
Only to the escrow account named in your sale agreement. Never cash, never a person.
The paperwork
Your Oqood certificate after registering, and a statement of account for everything paid.
Advice first, then the right project
Dubai has thousands of projects and every developer says theirs is the best. We compare them for you, in your language, and tell you honestly which we would buy.
Many developers compared
Prices, payment plans, service charges and track records side by side, not one developer's sales pitch.
No fee from you on new projects
When you buy off-plan from the developer, the developer pays our fee: the price is the developer's price.
In your language
Contracts, payment schedules and the Land Department's paperwork, explained in English or Turkish.
With you to the keys
Reservation, registration, instalments, snagging and handover: one consultant from start to finish.
Questions buyers ask us
A bank account for one project, controlled under the Land Department's rules. Buyers pay into it; the developer can take money out only to pay for certified construction.
The regulator can cancel a project that does not start or stalls, and buyers are refunded from the escrow account, through the Land Department.
Your sale agreement sets what happens on delay, and the law gives some protection on long delays. Read the delay clause before you sign; we will point it out.
Search for it in the Dubai REST app, or ask for its project number and escrow account and check them with the Land Department.
More guides
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Ownership, visas and protection
This guide is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Dubai's rules and fees change; figures are correct to the best of our knowledge on 15 October 2026. Check the latest with the Dubai Land Department or an adviser before you sign or pay.
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