Buying property in Abu Dhabi: who can own, what registration costs, when you can resell

Ownership in the emirate rests on Law No. (19) of 2005 concerning Real Estate Ownership. As first written, Article 3 limited ownership to UAE nationals and legal persons fully owned by them, with GCC citizens allowed inside the Investment Zones, and Article 4 gave non-UAE nationals ownership of floors, not the land, in those zones, plus usufruct of up to 99 years and Musataha of up to 50 years.

Law No. (13) of 2019, issued on 16 April 2019 and published in the Official Gazette on 30 April 2019, replaced both articles. The new Article 3(2) reads: “The non-National natural or legal persons may own and acquire all the principal or collateral real rights of the properties located within investment areas, and may dispose them in any manner whatsoever.” Outside the investment areas, ownership stays limited to nationals and their equivalent, public joint stock companies in which the non-National contribution does not exceed 49%, and any person named in a Crown Prince or Chairman of the Executive Council resolution. The new Article 4 lets the holder of a usufruct or Musataha of more than ten years dispose of it, mortgage included, without the owner’s permission.

The 2019 law says “investment areas” without listing them. Article 1 of the 2005 law defines Investment Zones as “Zones designated by a resolution of the Executive Council”, so each zone rests on its own resolution. The federal portal u.ae names nine: Yas Island, Saadiyat, Reem, Mariya, Lulu, Al Raha Beach, Sayh Al Sedairah, Al Reef and Masdar City. That list does not include every area now sold to foreign buyers: Modon offers Wadeem Gardens on Hudayriyat Island on a freehold basis to buyers of all nationalities. Before you offer, ask the developer which resolution covers the plot and get written confirmation of the title that will be registered. Older stock can still sit on a usufruct or Musataha, which is a right for a term, not ownership of the land.

Article 6 of the 2005 law says no ownership right, nor any real right that comes from it, passes between the parties or to anyone else without registration. For a unit bought off-plan, Article 27 of Law No. (3) of 2015 sets up the Initial Real Estate Register, and a sale of an off-plan unit binds neither the parties nor anyone else until it is recorded there.

The registration runs on DARI. According to DARI’s help centre, only the real estate developer starts it; the request goes to the Department of Municipalities and Transport for approval; the party named to pay then pays; and a certificate of sale is issued for the unit. The fee is 2% of the total sale price, and AED 10,000 is added in the case of late registration, which DARI puts at 21 days from the contract’s date. On an AED 5,000,000 villa that is AED 100,000, or AED 110,000 if registered late. Our cost of buying calculator applies the same 2% to your own price.

DARI does not say whether the buyer or the developer pays; it refers only to the party who will pay the due fees, so your contract decides it. Article 16 of the 2015 law bars the developer from collecting registration fees or other fees on the sale beyond administrative fees within a maximum set by the Department.

Al Reem Island and Al Maryah Island are the exception. ADGM’s Registration Authority governs the registration of real property interests there, under the ADGM Real Property Regulations. So on those two islands the DARI fee above, and the Law No. (3) of 2015 escrow rules below, may not be the ones that apply. Ask the developer which registry the unit will be recorded in.

Article 15 of Law No. (3) of 2015 says no unit may be sold off-plan unless, among other conditions, the project has the approval of the competent entities, the developer holds rights to the land, the developer has opened a project escrow account, and the Department has approved the disclosure statement for the unit. Article 18 requires the developer to open that account for the project, “where all the amounts paid by the buyer of the real estate units” are deposited, one account for each project, with the money allocated exclusively to building that project and settling its financing payments.

The same Article 15 says the buyer pays according to the actual completion percentage of the works, unless otherwise agreed with the developer, so the payment plan in your contract is what binds you.

Law No. (2) of 2025 replaced Article 19, on paying money out of the account. It bars using the account to pay the land price or broker commissions, and says “No amounts deposited in the Project Escrow Account shall be disbursed unless the Developer has completed at least (20%) of the construction works”. An earlier payout is allowed only if the developer gives bank guarantees worth at least 20% of the total value of the construction works, under a mechanism set by Administrative Decision No. (24) of 2025, which we did not read. Articles 15 and 18 were not changed by that law. Ask the developer for the escrow account details of your project and pay into that account, not to anyone else.

Article 29 of the 2015 law lets a unit recorded in the Initial Real Estate Register be offered for sale, mortgaged or otherwise disposed of according to the Executive Regulations, and Article 28 makes the seller of an off-plan unit responsible for registering the assignment. Neither article sets a minimum that must be paid before you sell, and we did not read the Executive Regulations they refer to. The condition we could confirm is the developer’s own.

Modon gives one for Wadeem Gardens on Hudayriyat Island: the villa “may be resold prior to handover, provided that at least 20% of the total purchase price has been paid and all applicable project requirements and guidelines are met.” Other developers and other projects can differ, so read the resale clause in your own sale agreement before you rely on selling early.

ICP’s entry permit service for real estate investor residency, the permit issued so the investor can complete the Golden Residency procedures, gives a duration of 10 years and these conditions: a letter from the real estate registration department confirming the investor owns property worth at least AED 2,000,000; “The property must be fully owned by the investor”; valid health insurance within the UAE; and a passport valid for no less than 6 months. It lists AED 100 each for the application, issuance and smart services fees of that entry permit. Those three fees are for the permit only; the page gives no total cost for the residency itself.

The federal portal u.ae, which credits ICP as its source, gives 5 years for real estate investments. The two official pages disagree, so confirm the duration when you apply. Neither page says whether an off-plan unit or a property bought with a mortgage counts; ICP decides that on the application. A property worth AED 2,000,000 or more meets the value condition only; it settles none of the others.

The Abu Dhabi off-plan hub lists the projects we track in the emirate. The two launches we cover in depth are Aldar’s Talay villas at Marsa Al Saadiyat and Modon’s Wadeem Gardens, and the islands they sit on have their own guides: Saadiyat Island and Hudayriyat Island.

Everything below was either not on an official page we read on 25 September 2026 or would need a reading we did not do, so it is not stated above.

• The Executive Council resolutions that designate Abu Dhabi’s investment areas, which we did not read. The 2019 law refers to them without listing them, and the u.ae list of nine does not include Hudayriyat Island.
• Administrative Decision No. (24) of 2025, which sets how escrow money can be paid out before 20% of the construction is complete, and the Executive Regulations that say how the completion rate is estimated.
• Fees for registering a ready (completed) property, a mortgage, or the move from the Initial Real Estate Register to the Real Estate Register at handover. The DARI article we read covers the off-plan sale only.
• How an off-plan resale is registered on DARI and what it costs. The DARI articles we read cover only the developer’s own sale. Nor did we read the Executive Regulations of the 2015 law, which govern how a unit in the Initial Real Estate Register may be resold.
• Aldar’s resale-before-handover terms for Talay, which were not on a page we read. Ask for the clause in the sale agreement.
• Whether an off-plan or mortgaged property qualifies for the Golden Visa, which ICP decides on application.
• Service charges, rents, yields and price growth. No official page we read publishes them for these projects, and this guide makes no investment claim.
• The ADGM registry’s own fees and off-plan rules for Al Reem Island and Al Maryah Island.
• Inheritance, wills and tax in your home country.