RERA Security Deposit Rules in Dubai, Explained

What are the RERA rules on security deposits?

RERA — the Real Estate Regulatory Agency, the regulatory arm of the Dubai Land Department — does not publish a separate security deposit rulebook. The binding rules come from Article 20 of Dubai Law No. 26 of 2007: a landlord may take a deposit to guarantee the property's condition and must return it, or the remainder after justified deductions, when the lease ends. RERA's role is the machinery around that rule: the standard tenancy contract that records the deposit, the Ejari registry that makes it enforceable, and the ecosystem the Rental Dispute Settlement Centre (RDC) relies on when deposits are contested.

Deposit amounts RERA practice recognises

The accepted market norm in Dubai is 5% of annual rent unfurnished, 10% furnished. These are conventions rather than legislated caps, but they are the figures rulings and standard contracts orbit around. A materially higher deposit is legal if agreed — it simply needs to be in the registered contract. The deposit amount should always appear in the RERA-format tenancy contract before it goes into Ejari; an amount that exists only in a side conversation is very hard to prove later.

Deductions: what survives scrutiny

When a deposit dispute reaches the RDC, the question is always evidence. Deductions that survive are itemised, priced at real cost, and tied to damage beyond ordinary wear and tear (Article 21 puts normal ageing on the landlord's account, not the tenant's). Deductions that fail are round numbers with no invoices, blanket "cleaning and repainting" charges the contract never required, and claims with no move-in condition record to compare against.

• Move-in and move-out condition reports, with dated photos
• Invoices or quotes for each claimed repair
• Final utility and chiller statements
• The registered contract showing the deposit amount

RERA or the Rental Dispute Centre — who do you actually go to?

For a withheld deposit, the destination is the RDC, the judicial body attached to the Dubai Land Department. Filing a rental case costs 3.5% of the annual rent (minimum AED 500, capped at AED 20,000); a standalone deposit claim is charged at 3.5% of the amount claimed with the same AED 500 floor. Settle amicably during conciliation and half the basic fee comes back. The practical steps are in our step-by-step guide to getting your deposit back.

For landlords and property managers: stay effortlessly compliant

Every rule above is easier to satisfy when the deposit never becomes loose cash. With Akara, the deposit is held on the tenant's card — documented, never charged, released in seconds, with an audit trail that is exactly the evidence the RDC asks for. Purpose-built for UAE property teams.