Rental Security Deposits in Dubai
What the Law Actually Says About Getting It Back
Almost every guide online tells you the deposit is capped at 5% of the rent and must be returned within 30 days. Neither statement is in Dubai tenancy law. Here is what Article 20 actually obliges a landlord to do, which deductions survive scrutiny, and what it costs to force the issue.
What a Dubai Security Deposit Actually Is
When you sign a tenancy contract in Dubai you hand over a sum of money that is not rent. It is a guarantee, and it remains your money throughout the tenancy. The landlord holds it against the condition of the property and returns it, in whole or in part, when the tenancy ends.
The authority for this is Article 20 of Law No. 26 of 2007, the emirate law that governs the relationship between landlords and tenants in Dubai. Article 20 permits a landlord to take a security deposit to guarantee the maintenance of the property, and it obliges the landlord to refund that deposit, or any remaining balance, on termination of the lease.
What Article 20 does not do is just as important, and it is where most published advice goes wrong. It sets no maximum amount. It sets no number of days for the refund. The familiar 5% and 10% figures are market convention. The familiar 30-day rule is common practice. Neither is a legal entitlement you can point to, and a tenant who believes otherwise tends to discover it at the worst possible moment.
The companion provision is Article 21, which requires the tenant to hand the property back in the condition in which it was received, except for normal wear and tear or deterioration that was outside the tenant control. That exception is the whole battleground. Nearly every deposit dispute in Dubai is an argument about which side of the wear-and-tear line a particular mark, stain or broken fitting falls on.
Security Deposit at a Glance
The rules as published, September 2026
What a Landlord Can and Cannot Deduct
Article 21 draws the line at normal wear and tear. This is how that principle applies to the items that actually appear on Dubai deduction lists.
| Item on the Deduction List | Deductible | Basis | What to Insist On |
|---|---|---|---|
| Damage beyond fair wear and tear | بله | Article 21 condition obligation | Dated photographs and a repair invoice |
| Faded paint, minor scuffs, ordinary ageing | خیر | Normal wear and tear exception | Your move-in photographs |
| Unpaid rent or a dishonoured cheque | بله | Sum owed under the contract | A reconciled statement of what was paid |
| Unpaid electricity, water or cooling account | بله | Liability that follows the unit | The closing bill, not an estimate |
| Professional cleaning where condition warrants it | Sometimes | Condition on handback | Evidence the state exceeded normal use |
| Early termination penalty | Sometimes | Only if written into the contract | The exact clause being relied on |
| Routine maintenance the landlord owes | خیر | Landlord maintenance obligation | The maintenance terms of your contract |
| Upgrades or improvements to the unit | خیر | Not a restoration of condition | A written explanation of the work |
| Deterioration outside the tenant control | خیر | Article 21 express exception | The cause, in writing |
Legal basis for Articles 20 and 21, the absence of a statutory cap and the absence of a statutory refund deadline: Awatif Al Khouri, Awatif Mohammad Shoqi Advocates & Legal Consultancy, “Analysis of the Regulatory Framework and Enforcement of Tenancy Relationships in the Emirate of Dubai”, published 8 May 2026. The 5% and 10% market norms, the permitted deduction categories and the absence of a legislated refund period: PropertyManagement.ae, “Security Deposits in Dubai: What Every Landlord Must Know”, published 7 May 2026. Rental Disputes Centre fees as published in our own Rental Disputes Centre guide. General information on published law, not legal advice.
Six Moves That Protect Your Deposit
Because the law gives you no deadline to enforce, the outcome turns almost entirely on documentation. Each of these costs nothing and takes minutes.
Photograph and film every room, including the inside of cupboards, the state of the grouting, every appliance and every existing mark. Timestamped images taken before you move a single box in are the only evidence that reliably survives a dispute, because they establish the baseline against which Article 21 is measured.
Insist on a written receipt naming the amount as a security deposit, and check what your tenancy contract says about how and when it is returned. Since the law sets no deadline, whatever the contract says about timing is the closest thing to an enforceable schedule you will have.
Keep every maintenance request and every response in writing. A fault you reported and the landlord failed to fix cannot fairly reappear as a deduction at the end of the term, but only if you can show you reported it and when.
An open electricity, water or district cooling balance is one of the few deductions that is difficult to argue with. Close the accounts and obtain the clearance before the final inspection, using our guides to the DEWA move-out process و district cooling charges.
A tenancy that is not formally closed leaves the registration live and the deposit in limbo. Follow the steps in our guide to Ejari cancellation in Dubai, and ask for the outcome of the move-out inspection as a written note rather than a verbal assurance.
If money is withheld, ask in writing for each deduction, the reason for it and the invoice behind it. A landlord who can produce that list may well be entitled to the money. A landlord who cannot is in a weak position, and the request itself resolves a significant share of disputes without a filing.
Letting a property in Dubai and want the deposit handled correctly?
TruHauz manages tenancies end to end, from condition reports at move-in to documented deductions at move-out.
Three Reasons Deposits Do Not Come Back
Understanding why the system favours a slow landlord tells you where to put your effort.
There Is No Deadline to Breach
Because Article 20 specifies no refund period, delay alone is not a violation of the tenancy law. A tenant waiting for a call has no clock running in their favour. The counter is to convert the wait into a written demand with a date on it, which creates the record that a conciliator or a judge can work from.
Evidence Beats Argument
The wear-and-tear exception in Article 21 is a judgement call, and judgement calls go to whoever documented the property. In practice the party holding dated move-in images, written maintenance requests and a closing utility bill sets the terms of the discussion, regardless of how the deduction list is worded.
The Fee Floor Can Exceed the Sense
A withheld deposit is a monetary claim, charged at 3.5% of the amount claimed with a minimum of AED 500. The percentage is modest, but the floor is not, and on a small deposit the economics of filing are much worse than the headline rate suggests.
پرسشهای متداول
The questions tenants and landlords in Dubai ask most often about the security deposit.
General information on published law, not legal advice. Article references are to Law No. 26 of 2007 as it applies in Dubai. Take qualified legal advice before withholding, claiming or litigating a security deposit. If your dispute is about rent rather than the deposit, see our guides to the Rental Disputes Centre و a tenant who is not paying rent.
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