UAE Law and Practice Contributed by: Duncan Pickering, Nicola de Sylva, Sean Cope and Marta Almeida, DLA Piper LLP
DLA Piper Middle East LLP POB 121662 Standard Chartered Tower Level 10 Dubai UAE
Tel: +971 4 438 6100 Fax: +971 4 438 6101 Email: dubai.reception@dlapiper.com Web: www.dlapiper.com/en-ae/locations/middle-east/dubai
1. General 1.1 Main Sources of Law
A particular growth area is branded residential pro - jects, with Dubai having the largest number of com - pleted schemes and pipeline schemes in the EMEA region. A noteworthy trend is the increase in stan - dalone branded residential projects (without a hotel component). The UAE is taking positive steps towards regulating and embracing digital finance. Dubai Land Depart - ment is in the process of a phased roll-out of the world’s first government‑backed, blockchain‑based real estate title tokenisation system, enabling legally recognised fractional ownership and secondary mar - ket trading under full regulatory oversight. Sharjah is also emerging as an increasingly active real estate market following the introduction of new and amended real estate legislation designed to enhance transparency, investor protection and market confi - dence. 1.3 Proposals for Reform There is no formal requirement in the UAE to make public any proposals for reform. 2. Sale and Purchase 2.1 Categories of Property Rights In the UAE, five main types of property interests can be held, namely: • absolute ownership (freehold); • usufruct interest;
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) Civil Code (Federal Law No (25) of 2025), and the UAE Constitution pro - vide regulation of property and property transactions at a federal level. Federal Law No (25) of 2025, effec - tive from 1 June 2026, repeals and replaces the former Civil Code (Federal Law No (5) of 1985) in its entirety. Each of the Emirates within the UAE enacts its own laws relating to real estate ownership. Within the Emirates are “free zones” which are author - ised to issue their own laws and regulations. For example, the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) and the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) have real estate laws that differ from the remainder of Abu Dhabi and Dubai. This guide focuses on Abu Dhabi and Dubai, which are the main commercial hubs and attract the most foreign investment into real estate in the UAE. 1.2 Main Market Trends and Deals The Dubai real estate market continues to attract record foreign direct investment inflows, with the UAE ranking first globally in the Greenfield FDI Per - formance Index in 2025. The authors have noticed a trend of regional developers partnering with inter - national developers on large-scale development pro - jects as an alternative means of sourcing international investment.
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