Every year around lease renewal time, tenants and landlords have the same disagreement: how much can the rent go up. RERA publishes a calculator that answers this question. Most people do not read the rules carefully and the conversation goes badly.
Here is what the rules actually say.
The five tier system
RERA's rental increase decree (Decree 43 of 2013, still in force) sets a sliding scale based on how far below the current market rent the existing rent sits.
- If current rent is up to 10% below the RERA rental index average, no increase allowed.
- If current rent is 11 to 20% below the index, max 5% increase.
- If 21 to 30% below the index, max 10% increase.
- If 31 to 40% below, max 15% increase.
- If more than 40% below, max 20% increase.
The "RERA rental index average" is what the calculator on the Dubai REST app spits out for your unit type, your area, and your year. It is not the same as asking rents on Property Finder. It is a smoothed average based on registered Ejari contracts.
What this means in practice
If you signed a one bedroom lease in Business Bay two years ago at Dh65,000 and the RERA index average for similar units is now Dh90,000, your current rent sits 28% below the index. Your landlord can raise you by max 10%, to Dh71,500, not to Dh90,000.
That gap between your renewal cap and the market rent is what keeps long term tenants in place. The landlord can lift you only so far each year, and so the longer you stay the bigger the gap usually gets, and the more it costs them to push you out.
The 90 day notice rule
The landlord cannot impose any rent change without 90 days written notice before the lease anniversary. Not 89 days. Not "we'll talk about it next month". Ninety days, in writing, by registered means.
If the landlord misses the 90 day window, the existing rent rolls over for another full term, no change. This is a hard rule and tenants frequently miss out by not asserting it.
Same applies to non renewal notice. If the landlord wants you out at lease end, they need a 12 month notice through a notarized notice for a specific permitted reason (own use, sale to third party, demolition, or major reconstruction). They cannot evict for "we just want it back" without that path.
What to do if your landlord overshoots
Three steps.
1. Pull the RERA rental index for your unit. The calculator is at dubailand.gov.ae or in the Dubai REST app. Take a screenshot of the result.
2. Compare to what they are demanding. If they are above the cap, write back politely with the screenshot and the decree reference. Most landlords back down at this point because the next step costs them time and money.
3. If they do not back down, file a Rental Disputes Centre case. Fee is around Dh3,500 plus 3.5% of annual rent. Most cases resolve in 30 to 60 days. The Centre is tenant friendly when the math is on your side. It is not tenant friendly when the math is not.
What landlords can actually do that tenants miss
The cap applies to your current rent versus the index. It does not protect you forever.
If the index moves up because the area gets more expensive, next year's cap calculation uses next year's index, not this year's. So if the area is in a strong rental cycle, the cap effectively allows multi year compounding increases.
Numerically: if you start at 28% below index and get 10%, you might be at 25% below next year and your landlord can raise another 10%. Three or four cycles of this and the gap closes.
So the cap is not a price freeze. It is a brake. Long term tenants in growing areas still see their rent rise by the index, just spread over years.
The two practical takeaways
For tenants: know the index, watch the 90 day clock, and assert your rights in writing without escalating tone. Most disputes resolve without going to the Centre when the tenant has the numbers ready.
For landlords: the index moves up faster than the cap allows for tenants in below market units. You either accept the discount and keep the tenant (low vacancy, no re-letting cost) or push them out and re-let at full market with all the friction that involves. Run that math each year. Sometimes keeping the tenant at the cap is better total economics than evicting and starting over.
Source: RERA Decree 43 of 2013, Dubai Land Department rental disputes statistics, Dubai REST calculator.