Your landlord wants more rent

Step one: was the notice valid at all?

Under Article 14 of Law 26/2007 (as amended by Law 33/2008), a party that wants to change any term of the lease — rent included — must notify the other party at least 90 days before the contract expires. Not 60. Not "when we send the renewal paperwork".

If that notice did not reach you in time, the increase does not apply to this cycle: the contract renews on the existing terms. This single line resolves a large share of disputes before anything else is discussed, and it is the first thing to check — count backwards from your contract end date and find the date the notice actually arrived.

Keep the evidence of when. A WhatsApp message with a timestamp, an email header, a courier receipt. If the landlord later claims the notice went out earlier, the burden of showing proper service is theirs, but a dated screenshot of what you received settles the argument fast.

Step two: what is the legal ceiling?

Decree No. 43 of 2013 ties the permitted increase to how far your current rent sits below the market average for your unit:

• Within 10% of the average → no increase permitted
• 11–20% below → up to 5%
• 21–30% below → up to 10%
• 31–40% below → up to 15%
• More than 40% below → up to 20%

Two things trip people up. The percentage applies to your current rent, not to the market average — 10% on AED 60,000 is AED 6,000, not the AED 20,000 gap. And the "market average" is not what similar flats are listed for on property portals; it is the figure the Dubai Land Department's index returns for your building. Reading the index against your own contract covers how to pull that number and the traps in it.

Run both numbers through the RERA rent increase calculator before you reply to anyone. In a large number of cases the honest answer is "zero" — a rent already at market level is fully protected, however confidently the increase letter is worded.

Step three: reply in writing, once, with the arithmetic

A short written reply does more than a phone call, because it becomes evidence. What belongs in it:

• The date the notice was received, and whether that met the 90-day requirement.
• The index figure for your building and the resulting maximum under Decree 43/2013 — attach the printout.
• What you are prepared to renew at, stated as a number.
• A clear statement that you intend to renew and will continue paying rent on the existing terms in the meantime.

That last point matters. Withholding rent while you argue is the one move that converts a strong position into a weak one: non-payment for 30 days after formal notice is an Article 25(1) ground to evict you during the term. Pay the old rate, on time, and keep the receipts.

Step four: the Rental Disputes Centre

If the landlord will not move, the Rental Disputes Centre (RDC) at the Dubai Land Department decides the matter. Under Article 13, where the parties cannot agree on renewal terms, the tribunal may determine the fair rent using the criteria in Article 9 — in practice, the index.

The economics usually favour filing. The registration fee is 3.5% of the annual rent, with a floor of AED 500, and cases start with a conciliation stage aimed at settling within 15 days. Against a disputed AED 12,000 increase, a few thousand dirhams of fees and a month of process is a rational trade. Filing at the RDC sets out the exact fees, the documents, and the timeline. One procedural detail to plan around: a formal legal notice must be served and one month must pass before the lawsuit can be registered.

"Then we won't renew" — what that threat is actually worth

Refusing an unlawful increase is not a ground for eviction. Dubai's law lists the grounds exhaustively, and disagreement over rent is not among them.

At the end of a lease, Article 25(2) allows a landlord to require the property back for exactly four reasons: demolition or reconstruction; restoration or maintenance that cannot be done with the tenant in place (verified by a Dubai Municipality technical report); use by the owner or a first-degree relative, where the owner has no other suitable property; or an intention to sell. Even then, the landlord must serve notice of the reason at least 12 months before the eviction date, through a Notary Public or by registered mail. A WhatsApp message saying "we need the flat" is not that notice.

And there is a tail. Under Article 26, a landlord who evicts for personal or family use may not let the property to a third party for two years (residential) or three years (non-residential); breaching that entitles the former tenant to claim fair compensation. It is worth checking the listing portals a few months after you leave.

The other direction: your rent is above market

The slabs cap increases; they do not force reductions. If the index says your building averages well below what you pay, the landlord is under no obligation to cut your rent — but you have a straightforward negotiating position at renewal, and if the landlord seeks an increase on top of an already-above-market rent, the permitted increase is zero. Where a tenancy has drifted far above the index, tenants do file at the RDC for a reduction under the Article 9 fair-rent criteria; outcomes vary with the evidence, so treat it as a case to be argued rather than an automatic entitlement.

A four-week plan

1. Week 1 — Locate the notice, date it against the 90-day rule, pull the index figure for your exact building, compute the cap.
2. Week 2 — Send the written reply with the arithmetic attached and a specific renewal number. Keep paying the current rent.
3. Week 3 — No movement? Serve a formal legal notice through a Notary Public. The one-month clock to filing starts here.
4. Week 4 onward — Assemble the file: Ejari, tenancy contract, index printout, notice and proof of service, payment records, the full written exchange. Register the case once the month has elapsed.

Renewing under protest. If you sign the higher contract to keep the home and register it with Ejari, you have made the new rent the agreed rent — challenging it afterwards is considerably harder than challenging it before signature. Decide before you sign, not after.