---
title: "Usufruct"
canonical: https://www.uaepropertyagents.com/glossary/usufruct
markdown: https://www.uaepropertyagents.com/md/glossary/usufruct.md
type: glossary-term
description: "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."
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."
---

# 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.

Also known as: Usufruct right, Right of use, Haq al-intifa, حق الانتفاع.

## What Usufruct means for a buyer

A usufruct separates the use of a property from its ownership. The holder may live in it, let it and keep the rent, for the length of the term, but must hand it back in sound condition and may not alter its fundamental character. The underlying owner keeps the bare title.

UAE law recognises usufruct as a registrable property right. In Dubai, Law No. 7 of 2006 allows foreign nationals to acquire usufruct or leasehold rights of up to 99 years in designated areas, as an alternative to [freehold](https://www.uaepropertyagents.com/glossary/freehold). In Abu Dhabi the maximum term is also 99 years, and until 2019 a usufruct was one of the main ways a foreigner could hold property. The right is recorded at the land department, which issues a usufruct certificate, and it can be sold for the remaining term.

For practical purposes a long usufruct feels similar to a [leasehold](https://www.uaepropertyagents.com/glossary/leasehold): you have a registered, transferable interest that runs down over time. The differences from [musataha](https://www.uaepropertyagents.com/glossary/musataha) are that a usufruct concerns the use of an existing property, whereas musataha is a right to build, and that a usufruct can run for longer.

Most homes now sold to foreign buyers are freehold, so usufruct is uncommon in new projects. Where it is offered, value it as a wasting asset. Check the years remaining, whether banks will lend against it, whether it can be freely sold and inherited, and what, if anything, is payable to the owner during the term.

## Related terms

- [Musataha](https://www.uaepropertyagents.com/glossary/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.
- [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/usufruct. 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.