Eviction Notice Dubai
The 12-Month Rule, the Four Lawful Grounds, and When a Notice Does Not Stand
Most eviction notices served in Dubai fail on one of three things: the reason given is not a reason the law recognises, the notice period is short, or the notice was delivered in a way the statute does not accept. This guide sets out what Dubai’s tenancy law actually requires — read from the legislation itself — so that a tenant can tell a valid notice from a defective one, and a landlord can avoid serving the second by accident.
Two Different Evictions, Two Different Rules
Dubai’s landlord and tenant relationship is governed by Law No. (26) of 2007 Regulating the Relationship between Landlords and Tenants in the Emirate of Dubai, issued on 26 November 2007, as amended by Law No. (33) of 2008, issued on 1 December 2008. Both are published on the Government of Dubai Legislation portal, and Article 25 is where every eviction question in the emirate begins.
The single most useful thing to understand is that Article 25 contains two separate regimes, and people routinely apply the wrong one. Article 25(1) deals with eviction before the lease has expired. It is fault-based: the tenant has done something, or failed to do something, that the law treats as serious enough to end the tenancy early. Article 25(2) deals with eviction on expiry of the lease. Nothing is alleged against the tenant at all — the landlord simply wants the property back for one of a small number of purposes the law permits.
The notice requirements are completely different, and this is where confusion becomes expensive. A landlord dealing with unpaid rent works to a thirty-day notice under Article 25(1). A landlord who wants the property back for personal use or to sell it works to a twelve-month notice under Article 25(2). Serving the wrong notice for the wrong ground does not simply delay matters; it produces a notice that does not do the job the landlord thinks it is doing.
Article 25(2) is also a closed list. There are four grounds, and only four. A landlord who wants a higher rent than the rental index permits, who has fallen out with a tenant, or who would simply prefer someone else in the property, is not describing a lawful ground for eviction at expiry. That is not a technicality — it is the substance of the protection the law gives tenants in Dubai.
One practical point sits underneath all of this. The tenancy the notice is trying to end has to be a tenancy the system can actually see, which in Dubai means one registered through Ejari. A registered contract fixes the term, the rent and the parties in a form the Rental Disputes Center can work from, and it is the document against which the twelve months and the expiry date will be measured. Where the ground relied on is intention to sell, the sale itself follows an entirely separate process — set out in our guide to selling property in Dubai — and a landlord should not assume the two timetables align without checking.
Eviction in Dubai at a Glance
The statutory essentials in one place
Every Lawful Ground, and the Notice That Goes With It
The grounds below are those set out in Article 25 of Law No. (26) of 2007 as amended. The distinction that matters most is the right-hand column: whether the ground allows the landlord to act during the tenancy, or only when it expires.
| Ground | Provision | Notice Required | When It Can Be Used |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tenant fails to pay rent | Article 25(1) | 30 days from service of a notice to pay | During the term |
| Sub-letting without written consent | Article 25(1) | Per the provision | During the term |
| Use for an illegal or immoral purpose | Article 25(1) | Per the provision | During the term |
| Commercial premises left vacant — 30 consecutive days, or 90 non-consecutive days in a year | Article 25(1) | Per the provision | Commercial only |
| Damage to the property, or alterations that endanger its safety | Article 25(1) | Per the provision | During the term |
| Building at risk of collapse, certified by Dubai Municipality | Article 25(1) | Per the provision | Safety ground |
| Breach of the tenant’s obligations, uncured after notice | Article 25(1) | 30 days from service of notice | During the term |
| Demolition and reconstruction of the property | Article 25(2) | ۱۲ ماه, notary or registered mail | On expiry only |
| Major maintenance or renovation that cannot be done while occupied | Article 25(2) | ۱۲ ماه, notary or registered mail | On expiry only |
| Owner’s personal use, or use by a first-degree relative, where the owner has no alternative suitable property | Article 25(2) | ۱۲ ماه, notary or registered mail | On expiry only |
| Owner intends to sell the property | Article 25(2) | ۱۲ ماه, notary or registered mail | On expiry only |
Source: Article 25, Law No. (26) of 2007 Regulating the Relationship between Landlords and Tenants in the Emirate of Dubai, as amended by Law No. (33) of 2008, as published on the Government of Dubai Legislation portal (dlp.dubai.gov.ae). Retrieved 18 August 2026. Where the table states “per the provision”, the ground is listed in Article 25(1) but the notice mechanics are those set out in that provision and, in practice, in the Rental Disputes Center’s procedure — they are not a single fixed period across every ground.
Six Things to Test on an Eviction Notice
Whether you have received a notice or are about to serve one, these are the points on which Dubai eviction notices most often succeed or fail. Work through them in order.
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Ground, Period, Service — and Then the Centre
A valid Article 25(2) notice has to clear three separate hurdles, and a failure at any one of them is enough. What follows is how each is tested in practice, and what the twelve months actually lead to.
It Must Be One of the Four
Demolition and reconstruction, major maintenance that cannot be done with the tenant in place, personal use by the owner or a first-degree relative, or intention to sell. The notice should say which one it relies on. A notice that gives no reason, or a reason outside the list, is asking the Centre to enforce something the statute does not provide for.
Twelve Months, From Service
The law requires the tenant to be notified of the reasons at least twelve months before the date of eviction. The clock starts when the notice is served, which is why the notary stamp or the registered-mail record matters as much as the letter. Landlords who date a notice generously but serve it late are counting from the wrong day.
Notary Public or Registered Mail
The statute names the channels. A notice that never went through one of them is vulnerable however plainly the tenant read it, because the landlord will struggle to prove the date on which the twelve months began. This is the most common and the most avoidable defect in Dubai eviction notices.
پرسشهای متداول
The questions Dubai tenants and landlords ask most often once a notice has been served.
General information, not legal advice. This guide summarises publicly available provisions of Dubai Law No. (26) of 2007 as amended by Law No. (33) of 2008, as published on the Government of Dubai Legislation portal and retrieved on 18 August 2026, together with commentary retrieved the same day from Khaleej Times (Ashish Mehta, 8 February 2026), HAS Law (Mohamed Adel, 22 May 2025), Property Finder (27 April 2026) and Keyper (15 May 2025). Individual cases turn on their own documents and facts, and provisions may be amended. Take qualified legal advice before acting on, contesting or serving an eviction notice.
Get the Notice Checked Before You Act
Tenants: before you commit to moving, it is worth knowing whether the notice you hold is actually valid. Landlords: it is far cheaper to serve one correct notice than to discover twelve months later that yours does not stand. Send us the document and the tenancy contract.
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