Ownership

Property Registration & Ownership (Law 7 of 2006)

Law No. 7 of 2006, as amended by Law No. 7 of 2019, makes the DLD's Property Register the single source of truth for real property rights in Dubai: who may own, what must be registered, and what a title deed proves. The exam tests ownership eligibility, the effect of registration, easements and mortgages on division or merger, and the DLD fee table in ECR No. 30 of 2013.

Laws and legislation7 min read8 sections

Must-know for the exam

Ownership anywhere: UAE nationals, GCC nationals, companies fully owned by them, and public joint stock companies (Law 7/2006 Art. 4; in force 12 Oct 2026).
Non-UAE nationals, with the Ruler's approval and in areas he determines: freehold without time limit, or usufruct or leasehold up to 99 years (Art. 4; Regulation 3/2006).
The DLD is the only body that registers real property rights and long-term leases (Art. 6).
The register has absolute evidentiary value; its data can be impugned only for proven fraud or forgery (Art. 7). Title deeds also have absolute evidentiary value (Art. 24).
Dispositions and final rulings are not effective until recorded; registered dispositions bind all even if the disposer is in debt, unless meant to harm a creditor (Art. 9 as amended 2019).
A party who breaches an undertaking to transfer owes only an indemnity, whether or not the undertaking mentions one (Art. 10).
Agreements breaching or circumventing the law are null and void; any interested party, the DLD or the Public Prosecution may invoke this (Art. 26).
Fees (ECR 30/2013; in force 12 Oct 2026): sale 4% shared equally unless agreed; gift 0.125% (min AED 2,000); will 0.125%; long lease 4%; Musataha 1%; mortgage 0.25%.
Allotted industrial or commercial land: freehold title for 30% of market value to the beneficiary, 50% to an occupier who bought it (Decree 4/2010; in force 12 Oct 2026).
Fee evasion is fined double the prescribed fee, and a broker or developer who assists faces the same fine (ECR 30/2013 Arts. 5-6; in force 12 Oct 2026).

On this page · 8 sections

Traps that cost marks

Treating a UAE majority shareholding as enough, when Article 4 requires the company to be fully owned by UAE or GCC nationals.
Applying 0.125% and forgetting the AED 2,000 minimum on gifts.
Assuming the buyer can compel the transfer, when Article 10 confines the remedy to an indemnity.
Thinking an owner's unpaid debts stop a registered sale binding his creditors, when Article 9(b) protects it unless it was meant to harm them.
Applying the 4% to one year's rent instead of the total value of the lease contract.
Assuming an heir can deal with his share by contract alone before the inheritance and the sale are registered.
Charging the Interim Register amendment fee once per application instead of per unit.
Confusing the beneficiary's 30% fee with the occupier's 50% fee under Decree No. 4 of 2010.

Why it matters on the exam

Every transaction a broker closes ends at the DLD register. The exam checks whether you know who can buy where, why an unregistered deal gives no title, what a title deed proves, and how the fee table applies to sales, gifts, leases, mortgages and inheritance.

•Expect applied questions: a buyer of a given nationality or company structure, a seller who backs out, an heir who sells early, a plot that is split or merged.
•Fee calculations reward reading the base and the minimum or cap correctly (gift minimum AED 2,000; auction supervision cap AED 30,000; in force 12 Oct 2026).
•Law No. 7 of 2019 rewrote Article 9; test the amended text.

Who may own, and where

Article 4 of Law No. 7 of 2006 restricts ownership of real property in Dubai to four groups, and then lets the Ruler open designated areas to everyone else.

Buyer	Where	Rights
UAE or GCC national	Anywhere in Dubai	Full ownership
Company fully owned by UAE/GCC nationals	Anywhere in Dubai	Full ownership
Public joint stock company	Anywhere in Dubai	Full ownership, whatever its shareholders' nationality

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