---
title: "Musataha"
canonical: https://www.uaepropertyagents.com/glossary/musataha
markdown: https://www.uaepropertyagents.com/md/glossary/musataha.md
type: glossary-term
description: "Musataha is a long-term right to build on and use land that belongs to someone else, granted for up to 50 years and renewable."
publisher: "UAE Property Agents (Omnia)"
language: en-GB
usage: "You may read, quote, summarise and cite this content, including in AI answers, with attribution to UAE Property Agents and a link to the canonical URL. Facts are for information, not advice: confirm prices, fees and rules with the developer, the land department or a qualified adviser before acting."
---

# Musataha

> Musataha is a long-term right to build on and use land that belongs to someone else, granted for up to 50 years and renewable.

Also known as: Musataha right, Right of superficies, مساطحة.

## What Musataha means for a buyer

Musataha is a property right found in UAE law and closely related to what European lawyers call a right of superficies. The landowner keeps the land; the holder of the musataha may construct buildings on it, and owns and uses those buildings for the term of the right. In Abu Dhabi the term is up to 50 years, renewable by agreement. The right is registered at the land department, and it can be sold, mortgaged and inherited for the remainder of the term.

It is chiefly a tool for commercial development. Hotels, schools, malls and industrial facilities are frequently built on land held under musataha from a government entity, and a build-to-rent investor may use one. Dubai also registers musataha contracts.

A residential buyer meets the term mainly in Abu Dhabi. Before 2019, foreign nationals there could not own land outright even inside an [investment zone](https://www.uaepropertyagents.com/glossary/investment-zone), and their interests took the form of ownership of a unit without the land, a [usufruct](https://www.uaepropertyagents.com/glossary/usufruct) or a musataha. Since the law changed in 2019, foreigners can hold [freehold](https://www.uaepropertyagents.com/glossary/freehold) title in investment zones, so new purchases there rarely involve musataha. It remains relevant outside the zones and in some older titles.

If a property is offered on a musataha basis, establish three things: how many years remain, the terms and cost of renewal, and what happens to the buildings at the end. A lender will ask the same questions. See also [leasehold](https://www.uaepropertyagents.com/glossary/leasehold).

## Related terms

- [Usufruct](https://www.uaepropertyagents.com/glossary/usufruct): Usufruct is the right to use, occupy and earn income from a property owned by someone else for a fixed term of up to 99 years.
- [Leasehold](https://www.uaepropertyagents.com/glossary/leasehold): Leasehold is the right to hold a property for a fixed term, up to 99 years in Dubai, after which it returns to the freeholder unless the lease is renewed.
- [Freehold](https://www.uaepropertyagents.com/glossary/freehold): Freehold is outright ownership of a property with no time limit; foreign nationals can hold it only in areas each emirate has designated for foreign ownership.
- [Investment zone (Abu Dhabi)](https://www.uaepropertyagents.com/glossary/investment-zone): An investment zone is an area of Abu Dhabi designated by the government in which foreign nationals are permitted to own freehold property.

## In depth

- [Can foreigners buy property in the UAE? Ownership rules emirate by emirate](https://www.uaepropertyagents.com/guides/can-foreigners-buy-property-in-the-uae)


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Source page: https://www.uaepropertyagents.com/glossary/musataha. Published by UAE Property Agents, Omnia Capital Group. You may read, quote, summarise and cite this content, including in AI answers, with attribution to UAE Property Agents and a link to the canonical URL. Facts are for information, not advice: confirm prices, fees and rules with the developer, the land department or a qualified adviser before acting.