Your landlord has sent a renewal notice with a higher figure. Before you agree to it, or panic about it, understand this: Dubai landlords cannot raise rent freely. The maximum increase is set by law, and it depends on one thing only.
The only question that matters
Under Decree No. 43 of 2013, the permitted increase depends on how far below the market average your current rent sits:
| Rent is below market by | Maximum increase |
|---|---|
| Up to 10% | No increase allowed |
| 11% to 20% | 5% |
| 21% to 30% | 10% |
| 31% to 40% | 15% |
| More than 40% | 20% (absolute cap) |
Twenty per cent is a hard ceiling. No matter how far below market your rent is, a landlord cannot exceed it in a single renewal.
The mistake almost every tenant makes
The percentage applies to your current rent, not to the market average.
Say you pay AED 60,000 and the official benchmark for your unit is AED 80,000. You are 25% below market, which allows a 10% increase. That 10% is calculated on your AED 60,000 — taking you to a maximum of AED 66,000.
Your landlord cannot simply move you to AED 80,000. Yet this is exactly what many renewal notices attempt, and tenants who do not know the rule often just pay it.
Check the increase you have been sent
The Dubai Rent Increase Calculator tells you the legal cap for your situation and whether the figure your landlord has proposed is lawful.
Where the benchmark comes from
The market average is not your opinion, your landlord's opinion, or a figure from a property portal. It comes from the Dubai Land Department — the rental index on the DLD website or the Dubai REST app.
Since January 2025 this has been the Smart Rental Index, which grades buildings by quality, maintenance, location and facilities rather than applying a flat area average. Get the official figure for your exact unit type and bedroom count.
The 90-day rule that voids everything
Even a perfectly lawful increase fails if the notice is late. Any change to the rent must be given in writing at least 90 days before the tenancy expires, unless your contract says otherwise.
Miss that window, and the existing rent simply rolls over for another term. Other things worth knowing:
- Rent cannot be raised mid-contract — only at renewal.
- Increases cannot be banked up across years and applied in one jump.
- Refusing an unlawful increase is not, by itself, grounds for eviction.
What to do if the increase is unlawful
- Get the official index figure for your unit from the DLD.
- Reply in writing, citing Decree No. 43 of 2013 and attaching the index output.
- If your landlord persists, file with the Rental Dispute Settlement Centre. The official index result is the primary evidence they consider.
Most landlords back down at step two, because the law is not ambiguous and they know it.
If you are thinking of buying instead
Rising rents push plenty of tenants toward purchase. Before you do, understand the real numbers: work out what a bank will actually lend you with the Mortgage Affordability Calculator, and the full transaction cost with the Property Purchase Cost Calculator — roughly 7% of the price, in cash, on top of your deposit.