What is the regulation for serving a notice period to vacate a Tenant in Dubai

What is the regulation for serving a notice period to vacate a Tenant in Dubai?  Our Dubai Property Experts can advise.

You may read conflicting statements regarding the notice period due to the Tenant & Landlord Laws being incorrectly interpreted.

There are limited reasons a Landlord can request a Tenant to vacate however this does not include the option for renting the property at a higher amount.   The most common and permitted reasons are to recover the property for own use or to sell the property.

If an owner would like to live in the property themselves or allow immediate family to occupy the premises then a minimum of 12 month notice is required to give the Tenant.

If the owner would like to sell the property but would like the option to vacate the Tenant in order to sell as vacant possession a minimum notice of 12 months is required.

In both of these cases the 12 month notice must be served correctly in writing by the notary public or registered mail. In the event of a dispute it will be a requirement to prove this notice and its contents were received by the Tenant. The most secure and advisable method would be through the notary public. A copy of the 12 month notice is lodged at the Courts and a designated Courier can hand deliver to the Tenant and obtain proof that this notice is confirmed as received by the Tenant.

This 12 month notice can be served to the Tenant at any time during the tenancy provided there are no terms in the Tenancy Contract that dictate otherwise.

This notice is a minimum of 12 months and depending on issuance date and duration of the existing tenancy term will determine the earliest date you request the Tenant to vacate. You should include within the Notice the �vacating date� you are requesting the Tenant to leave.

If you are serving the notice to the Tenant within the last 3 months of the existing Tenancy you will be required to give the Tenant an option to renew the tenancy contract for one full year term and vacate on the new expiry date.
If the Tenant receives the notice prior to 90 days before expiry of the current lease you can opt to request a renewal of the lease only until the end of the 12 month notice and therefore reducing the next contract term. Landlords should consider that rental increases are approved only on annual contracts and therefore reducing the next contract term to less than one year could impact any rental increase.
Exclusive Links recommend owners to serve 12 month notice by Notary Public (if present in Dubai or have a valid power of attorney) and to give the Tenant an option to renew the Tenancy for one full year term at time of renewal and hopefully this may help avoid any disputes with the Tenant.

In the event of a dispute a case can be filed by Landlord and/or Tenant at the Rental Dispute Center.  If recovery of the property was for own (family) use, proof of residency and no alternative owned properties could be a requirement to support the claim during a formal hearing.  If the owner wished to sell the property in Dubai then supportive documents to prove this intention would be beneficial.

Vacating a Tenant to sell the property after issuance of this official notice does not allow the same owner to rent the property again at any time in the future.  Retracting the notice or issuing a new notice with an extended term to current Tenants could help avoid periods of vacancy and loss of revenue.

Recovering the property for own/immediate family residential use does not permit the owner to rent the property again for at least 2 years.
 
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