RERA
RERA is the regulatory arm of the Dubai Land Department: it licenses brokers and developers and oversees escrow accounts, service charges and tenancy rules.
What RERA means for a buyer
The Real Estate Regulatory Agency (RERA) was created by Dubai Law No. 16 of 2007 and sits within the Dubai Land Department. The DLD registers ownership; RERA regulates the people and companies in the market.
In practice RERA does five things a buyer should know about:
- licenses estate agencies and individual brokers, each of whom carries a broker card and number
- registers developers and off-plan projects, and supervises each project's escrow account
- issues advertising permits through Trakheesi
- approves service charge budgets before owners can be invoiced
- approves the rental index that caps rent increases, and receives tenancy registrations through Ejari
RERA also publishes the standard brokerage contracts used on resales: Form A, Form B and Form F.
Two practical points. First, check a broker's card on the Dubai REST app before sending documents or money; an unlicensed intermediary gives you no regulatory recourse. Second, RERA is a Dubai body only. People use "RERA-registered" loosely across the UAE, but in Abu Dhabi the equivalent functions belong to ADREC.
Guides that use this term
Where RERA comes up in practice, with the costs, rules and steps around it.
Questions about the buying process?
An adviser can explain how this applies to the property you're considering.
- Current price list and availability, direct from the developer
- No fee to you on off-plan purchases: the developer pays us
- One salaried adviser, not on commission, from first call to handover
