Escrow and RERA: how your off-plan money is protected in Dubai

When you buy off-plan in Dubai, you pay for a home that does not exist yet. The law's answer to that risk is the escrow account: your money goes into a bank account that belongs to the project, not to the developer. This article explains how that works, how to check a project and its escrow account yourself, and what escrow does not protect you from. The rules are as the official pages state them on 5 November 2026.

This is general information, not financial or legal advice.

Who does what

• Dubai Land Department (DLD). The government body that registers property and off-plan sales.
• RERA (Real Estate Regulatory Agency). The DLD's regulator. It approves projects for off-plan sale, licenses brokers, and can cancel a project.
• The escrow agent. A bank accredited by the DLD that holds the project's money.
• The project consultant. An engineering firm approved by RERA that reports how far construction has gone.
• Oqood. The DLD's interim register for off-plan sales. Your purchase is recorded there until the building is finished and you get a title deed.

What the escrow law says

The main law is Law No. 8 of 2007 on escrow accounts for real estate development. In plain words:

• One account per project. A developer who wants to sell off-plan must apply to open an escrow account for that project, with an accredited bank (Articles 6 and 7).
• Buyers' payments go in. Money paid by off-plan buyers, and loans from banks that finance the project, are paid into that account (Articles 7 and 13).
• The money is for building that project. The account is only for the construction of that project, and the developer's creditors cannot seize it (Article 9).
• You can see your records. The bank reports income and spending to the DLD, and each buyer can see the records of their own payments (Articles 11 and 12).
• 5% is held back. When the building gets its completion certificate, the bank keeps 5% of the account's value. It releases it to the developer one year after the units are registered in the buyers' names (Article 14). This is a guarantee for defects.
• If the project fails. If a project is not completed, the bank, after talking to the DLD, must protect buyers: either get the project finished or refund buyers (Article 15).
• Penalties. Taking project money for other uses can lead to jail and a fine of at least AED 100,000 (Article 16).

How money leaves the account

The law does not list the release steps. The DLD's own pages fill in some of the detail:

• Payments from an escrow account are only for the contractors, consultants and marketing of the project (DLD FAQ, checked 5 November 2026).
• To start releases, a developer needs a recent DLD technical report on the project, less than 3 months old. Before the project reaches 20% completion, releases rely on a bank guarantee, the developer's own money or bank financing. After 20%, releases follow the percentage of work done (DLD, escrow account activation, checked 5 November 2026).
• When a developer asks you for an instalment, you can ask for a letter from the approved consultant that confirms the stage. The DLD says you do not have to pay unless the project has reached it (DLD FAQ).

The register and Oqood

Law No. 13 of 2008 created the interim register. Every off-plan sale must be entered in it, or the transfer is void (Article 3). A developer cannot sell off-plan before it has the land and the approvals (Article 4), and a sale made before the project is approved and registered with the DLD is void (Resolution No. 6 of 2010, Article 11).

The developer registers your sale on the Oqood portal. The contract must be registered within 90 days of signing. The DLD page lists a fee of 2% of the price for the seller and 2% for the buyer, plus AED 20 in small fees (DLD, checked 5 November 2026). In practice most developers ask the buyer to pay the full 4%: every one of the 991 projects on our site lists a 4% DLD fee. You get an Oqood certificate in your name. Keep it: it is your proof of ownership until handover. More on fees in the costs on top of the price.

Brokers are covered too. A broker who sells units in a project must pay the price into the project's escrow account, and cannot keep it or take commission out of it first (Resolution No. 6 of 2010, Article 12).

What the register shows

We looked at all 865 active projects in the DLD project register as of 12 June 2026:

• 864 of the 865 had a named escrow bank.
• 22 different banks act as escrow agents.

The banks with the most active projects:

Escrow bank	Active projects
Emirates NBD	215
Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank (ADCB)	122
First Abu Dhabi Bank	112
Dubai Islamic Bank	85
Mashreq	79
Commercial Bank of Dubai	51
Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank	47
Emirates Islamic	47
Sharjah Islamic Bank	24
United Bank Limited	21

The bank's name tells you where the account is. It does not tell you the account is healthy. That depends on how much buyers have paid in and how much has been released.

How to check a project and its escrow account

Do this before you pay a booking amount.

1. Get the details from the developer or broker. Ask for the project's name as registered with the DLD, the project number, the escrow bank and the escrow account number. Ask the broker for their RERA card.
2. Open Project Status Enquiry. It is on the DLD website and in the Dubai REST app (go to the information services and choose Project Status Enquiry, or search "Project Status" in the app). Search by project name, project number or land number (DLD, checked 5 November 2026). You can also message the DLD on WhatsApp at 8004488.
3. Read the result. Check the developer's name, the project status, the completion percentage, the start date and the expected completion date. The Dubai REST app also shows the escrow account number for off-plan projects (DLD, 15 December 2023).
4. Match the account. The escrow bank and account number on your payment request must match the ones in the DLD record. If they do not match, stop and ask why.
5. Pay by bank transfer or cheque to the escrow account. Keep the receipt and check that the payment shows on your statement from the developer.
6. Check the Oqood. After you sign the SPA, ask for the Oqood certificate. If you have not had it within a few weeks, ask the developer for the registration number and confirm it with the DLD.

If the project does not appear at all, it may be listed under another name. Ask the developer for the project number. If they cannot give one, do not pay.

Red flags

• You are asked to pay into a personal account, a broker's account, or the developer's company account that is not the escrow account.
• You are asked to pay in cash, or in crypto, for the unit price.
• The project is "launching soon" and you are asked for a deposit to "reserve" before it is registered. Under the law, a sale before registration is void.
• The escrow bank or account number on your invoice is different from the DLD record.
• The developer will not give you the project number or the consultant's progress letter.

Some payments are not escrow payments and can go elsewhere, such as a broker's commission on a resale or a developer's admin fee. Ask for a receipt for each, and make sure the unit price itself goes to escrow.

What escrow does not protect you from

Escrow protects the money you pay from being used for other things. It does not protect you from:

• Delays. A project can be late and still be fully compliant. See do Dubai developers hand over on time.
• Price falls. If the market falls, your home may be worth less than you paid. Escrow does not change that.
• Changes to the home. Finishes, layout or size can differ from the brochure within what the SPA allows. The law does protect you if the area is smaller than agreed: the developer must compensate you unless the difference is minor (Law No. 13 of 2008, Article 12).
• Your own default. If you stop paying, the developer can end the contract and keep part of what you paid, up to a limit that depends on how far construction has gone.
• Costs after handover, such as service charges.

If RERA cancels a project, the refund comes first from the escrow account. The rules set a deadline of 14 days for the escrow refund, and 60 days for the developer to cover any shortfall (Resolution No. 6 of 2010, Articles 25 and 26). In practice, refunds from a cancelled project can take much longer, and they can be less than you paid if the escrow money is not enough.

If you live abroad

You can do every check above from abroad: the DLD website and the Dubai REST app work outside the UAE, and you pay by international transfer to the escrow account. Be extra careful with payment details sent by email or WhatsApp. Call the developer on a number from its official website to confirm them. See buying off-plan from abroad.

For the full process, read buying off-plan in Dubai.

Sources

• Law No. 8 of 2007 concerning escrow accounts for real estate development in Dubai, Dubai Legislation Portal, checked 5 November 2026: dlp.dubai.gov.ae
• Law No. 13 of 2008 regulating the interim real property register, checked 5 November 2026: dlp.dubai.gov.ae
• Executive Council Resolution No. 6 of 2010, implementing bylaw of Law No. 13 of 2008, checked 5 November 2026: dlp.dubai.gov.ae
• Dubai Land Department, escrow account activation, checked 5 November 2026: dubailand.gov.ae
• Dubai Land Department, request to register the initial sale (Oqood), checked 5 November 2026: dubailand.gov.ae
• Dubai Land Department, Project Status Enquiry, checked 5 November 2026: dubailand.gov.ae
• Dubai Land Department, frequently asked questions, checked 5 November 2026: dubailand.gov.ae
• Dubai Land Department, Dubai REST app update, 15 December 2023: dubailand.gov.ae
• Our analysis of the DLD project register as of 12 June 2026 (DLD open data; bank names translated from Arabic). These are our own counts, not official DLD statistics.
• Our 991 published projects, November 2026.