Dubai off-plan: escrow account and Oqood – how your payments are protected

In short: when you buy an unfinished flat (off-plan) in Dubai, you do not pay money straight into the developer's pocket. Dubai Law No. 8 of 2007 requires buyers' payments to go into the project's escrow account at a bank, and the funds in it may be used only for construction. Law No. 13 of 2008 requires every off-plan sale to be entered in the Dubai Land Department's interim register (the Oqood system) – without an entry the contract is void. These mechanisms do not remove every risk, but they give the buyer real tools of control.

Updated: November 2026

Key facts

• Escrow: a developer who wants to sell off-plan must open a project escrow account; payments from buyers and financiers go into it (Art. 6 and 7 of Law No. 8 of 2007).
• Funds for construction only: the account serves solely the construction of that project and cannot be seized by the developer's creditors (Art. 9).
• Instalments and construction progress: according to the DLD, payments are linked to construction stages.
• Oqood: an off-plan sale not entered in the interim register is void (Art. 3 of Law No. 13 of 2008).
• Project cancellation: the developer must refund all payments to buyers.
• What escrow does not cover: market risk, exchange rates, finish quality and some delays – these are governed by the contract.

What is off-plan

Off-plan means buying a unit in a project that is under construction or about to start. The buyer signs a sale and purchase agreement (SPA) with the developer and pays in instalments under a payment plan, receiving the keys once construction is completed. In Poland a similar function is performed by the Polish escrow account (rachunek powierniczy) under a developer agreement – in Dubai its counterpart is the escrow account.

The escrow account – Law No. 8 of 2007

Law No. 8 of 2007 on escrow accounts for real estate development projects in Dubai contains several rules worth knowing before you sign a contract:

• Register of developers (Art. 4). A developer may operate only after being entered in the Dubai Land Department register and obtaining a licence.
• Approval for advertising (Art. 5). Advertising and offering off-plan sales requires the DLD's written approval.
• Land and documents (Art. 6). An application for an escrow account includes, among other things, the title deed to the land, the trade licence, approved plans and a statement of the project's costs and revenues.
• Payments into escrow (Art. 7). Payments from off-plan buyers and project financiers go into an account held for the benefit of the project.
• Use of funds (Art. 9). The account serves solely the construction of that project, and the developer's creditors cannot seize it.
• 5% retention (Art. 14). After the completion certificate is issued, the bank retains 5% of the account's value and releases it to the developer only a year after the units are registered in the buyers' names.
• Emergency situations (Art. 15). When a project is not completed, the bank holding the escrow is to protect the rights of those who paid in – by completing the construction or by refunds.
• Penalties (Art. 16). Offences such as selling units in fictitious projects, misappropriating project funds or using unregistered brokers carry imprisonment and a fine of not less than AED 100,000.

An escrow account may be held by a bank or financial institution licensed by the Central Bank of the UAE to take deposits and approved by RERA (the real estate regulator at the DLD). According to the Dubai Land Department FAQ, payments from the account go mainly to contractors, consultants and the project's marketing, and marketing may not exceed 5% of the value of sales.

Instalments tied to construction progress

This is the most practical rule for a buyer. The DLD explains that the payment schedule follows the construction stages: if a given stage has not been confirmed, the buyer is not obliged to pay the instalment linked to it. You can check construction progress in the DLD's project tracking service, and before paying you can ask for confirmation of the stage reached from a project consultant approved by the DLD. The buyer can also order a completion report from a RERA technical auditor – according to the DLD FAQ the fee is AED 15,000 per unit.

We describe typical schedules (for example 60/40, or with payment on handover) in the article Payment plans in Dubai: developer instalments.

Oqood – the interim register, Law No. 13 of 2008

Law No. 13 of 2008 created the interim register (Interim Real Property Register), in which the DLD records off-plan sale contracts before the units move to the main register. In practice the developer carries out the registration through the Oqood portal, and the confirmation is sent to the buyer by e-mail (description of the DLD service). The key provisions:

• Art. 3: every sale of an off-plan unit must be entered in the interim register – otherwise it is void.
• Art. 4: a developer may not start a project or sell off-plan before taking possession of the land and obtaining the required approvals.
• Art. 10: an off-plan sale contract in a project not approved by the competent authorities is void.
• Art. 8: after construction is completed, the developer enters the project in the main register, and the DLD registers the unit in the buyer's name if the buyer has fulfilled the contract.

The takeaway for a buyer: ask the developer for confirmation of registration in Oqood and keep it together with the contract. The DLD fee is also paid at registration (see Dubai property buying costs).

What happens if the project is cancelled

Under Art. 11 of Law No. 13 of 2008 as worded in Law No. 19 of 2020 – if construction has not started for reasons beyond the developer's control, or RERA has cancelled the project by a final decision, the developer must refund all payments to buyers. The DLD FAQ adds that the refund should be made within 60 days of the cancellation decision (RERA may extend this period), and if the developer does not pay, the matter goes to court.

What happens if the buyer stops paying

The same law also protects the developer. When a buyer fails to pay instalments, the developer reports it to the DLD, and the DLD sends the buyer a notice with a 30-day deadline and tries to bring about a settlement. If that does not help, the developer's rights depend on how far construction has progressed:

Project progress	What the developer can do
Above 80%	Keep the contract and demand the rest of the price, apply for the unit to be auctioned by the DLD, or terminate the contract and retain up to 40% of the unit's value
60–80%	Terminate the contract and retain up to 40% of the unit's value
Below 60% (construction started)	Terminate the contract and retain up to 25% of the unit's value

That is why the payment plan has to match what you can realistically afford – including in case the zloty weakens against the dirham. If you want to cover part of the price with a loan, remember that for an off-plan purchase a UAE bank can finance at most 50% of the unit's value – see UAE mortgages for non-residents.

Selling before handover

A unit bought off-plan can be resold before construction is completed, but according to the DLD FAQ you need the developer's no-objection certificate (NOC). The conditions for issuing it (for example, what part of the price must already have been paid) are set by the contract with the developer – check them before signing.

What escrow does not cover

• Delays: the completion date and any compensation come from the SPA – read this clause especially carefully.
• The market: the price of the unit on the day of handover may be higher or lower than on the day of purchase.
• Exchange rates: you pay in dirhams, while you usually earn in zloty.
• Finish quality: defects are reported at handover and during the warranty period set out in the contract.
• Changes to the project: the permitted scope of changes is set by the contract. If the area turns out to be smaller by more than 5% of the net area, according to the DLD FAQ the developer must compensate the difference.

Checklist before signing an off-plan contract

• Developer and project visible in official DLD services (for example the Dubai REST app) – how to check this step by step is explained in How to check a Dubai developer, project and broker.
• The project's escrow account number in the contract – and payments only to that account.
• Project advertising with a DLD permit, broker with a licence.
• Payment plan linked to construction stages, completion date, rules on delays.
• Confirmation of registration in Oqood after signing.
• Conditions for resale before handover (NOC).

How we work

The money for an off-plan unit goes into the project's escrow account – not to us and not to a broker. We see this as an advantage: it is easy to check where your payments are. We help you review the contract and the payment plan, check the project in DLD sources and prepare questions for the developer. We hold consultations in Polish, Russian, Ukrainian and English. We describe the whole buying process in the article How to buy property in Dubai from Poland. Ask about a consultation.

Frequently asked questions