Letting Your Dubai Flat from the UK: Ejari, Rent Rules, Holiday Lets and UK Tax

Published 16 October 2026 · satisofisi.com Editorial Desk

You can let out a flat in Dubai while living in the UK, but Dubai's rules favour sitting tenants more than many UK landlords expect. Every tenancy has to be registered, and rent rises on renewal are capped by an official index. You can only take the flat back at the end of a lease for one of four reasons, with 12 months' notice, unless the tenant breaks the lease in one of the ways the law lists.

The UAE doesn't tax your rent, but if you're UK resident, HMRC will expect it on your tax return.

Do you have to register a tenancy in Dubai?

Dubai's tenancy law requires every lease covered by the law, and any later change to a lease, to be registered with the Real Estate Regulatory Agency (RERA). You do this through Ejari, the Dubai Land Department's tenancy register.

Registering through the Land Department's Dubai REST app or website costs AED 177.75 in total, including VAT. At one of its approved registration offices (known as registration trustees), it comes to AED 220. If a management company looks after the flat for you, it normally handles the registration.

Can you get the flat back from a tenant?

Only in set circumstances. While a lease is running, neither side can end it without the other's agreement. You can ask for the tenant to be evicted before the lease ends only for breaches the law lists, such as rent still unpaid 30 days after you've served notice asking for it, subletting without your written consent, using the flat for something illegal, or damaging it.

If the tenant stays on after the lease ends and nobody objects, the lease is treated as renewed on the same terms, for the same length or one year, whichever is shorter.

At the end of a lease, you can recover the flat for one of four reasons:

• you're demolishing or rebuilding it, with the necessary permits;
• it needs major repairs that can't be done with the tenant in, confirmed by a Dubai Municipality report;
• you or a close relative (the law says first-degree) will live there, and you own no other suitable property;
• you want to sell it.

In each case the tenant must get at least 12 months' notice, through a notary public or by registered post. If you sell during a lease, the new owner takes the flat with the tenant, who can stay under the existing lease. So if you might want to sell or move in, work back from the lease end date so the notice goes out in time.

How much can you raise the rent?

On renewal, the increase depends on how far your rent is below the average for similar flats, measured against the Rent Index approved by RERA.

To change the rent or any other term at renewal, you have to tell the tenant at least 90 days before the lease ends. If the lease doesn't set payment dates, the law says the annual rent is paid in four equal instalments, each in advance; most landlords agree the schedule in the lease itself.

Can you let it as a holiday home?

You'll need a licence first. Dubai's holiday homes decree says nobody may run short-term holiday lets without a licence from the Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM). Check with the tourism authority how to apply before you list the flat anywhere, and decide whether you'll let it short-term or on an ordinary lease before you sign anything with a tenant or an agent.

Who pays the service charges?

You do, as owner, unless the lease passes them to the tenant, and even then you're still liable if the tenant doesn't pay. How the charges are set and checked is explained in our guide to Dubai service charges. Factor them, the Ejari fee and any agent's fee into your sums before you set the rent.

Do you pay tax on Dubai rental income?

Not in the UAE, which doesn't levy income tax on individuals. HMRC treats rent from property abroad as foreign income on which you may need to pay UK Income Tax, so if you're UK resident, the Dubai rent goes on your tax return.

Because no tax is paid in Dubai, there's no foreign tax to set against the UK bill. A UK tax adviser can tell you which costs you can deduct and how to report the income.

Questions UK landlords ask

Does a tenancy end if I sell the flat?

It carries on. The new owner takes over the lease, and the tenant can stay until it ends.

Can I end the lease early if I want to move in?

You'll have to wait until the lease runs out. Own use is one of the four end-of-lease reasons, and only if you have no other suitable property, with 12 months' notice.

What if the tenant stops paying?

Serve a written notice asking for the rent. If it's still unpaid 30 days later, you can ask for eviction even though the lease hasn't ended, unless the lease says otherwise.

Sources

We checked these official pages on 16 October 2026. English versions of Dubai legislation are for reference; the Arabic text prevails.

• Dubai Law No. 26 of 2007 on landlords and tenants, Articles 6, 7, 12 and 28, and Law No. 33 of 2008 amending it, Articles 4, 14 and 25.
• Dubai Decree No. 43 of 2013 on rent increases.
• Dubai Decree No. 41 of 2013 on holiday homes, Article 3.
• Dubai Law No. 6 of 2019 on jointly owned property, Article 16 (service charges when a flat is let).
• Dubai Land Department, Register or renew a tenancy contract (Ejari).
• UAE Government portal, Other taxes.
• GOV.UK (HM Revenue and Customs), "Tax on foreign income".

If you're still choosing a flat to let, the finance side is covered in our guide to Dubai mortgages for UK buyers, and you can browse new-build developments in Dubai by area.