Your own name, a company or a DIFC foundation: who may hold a Dubai property, and what each changes

Article 4 of Law No. (7) of 2006 sets the rule: “The right to own Real Property in the Emirate will be restricted to UAE nationals, nationals of the Gulf Cooperation Council member states and to companies fully owned by these, and to public joint stock companies.” Subject to the Ruler’s approval, non-UAE nationals may be granted, “in certain areas determined by the Ruler”, freehold ownership without time restrictions, or usufruct or leasehold for up to ninety-nine years. The law defines a person as “Any natural or legal person”, but it does not say whether a company counts as a non-UAE national.

The Land Department answers that in its FAQ. Asked whether land or property can be registered in the name of a foreign company, it says: “The properties in such areas may be registered in the names of companies owned by non-UAE citizens provided that such companies are registered in one of Dubai free zones or any of the other emirates as per memorandums of understanding concluded thereof.” It names no free zone and no emirate, and we found no published list of the memorandums it refers to. Its sale registration page adds the first step for any company buyer: “The company must be registered by submitting a company registration request”.

The Land Department’s company shares sale page lists what it asks of each kind of company. For a free zone company: the licence or certificate of incorporation, the memorandum and articles of association with any amendments, a valid passport, residence permit and UAE ID of the owner, and “a no-objection certificate from the licensing entity to own a property in case of purchase only”. The DIFC Registrar issues one such certificate: its fee table, updated on 30 July 2026, lists an “NOC to register a property with DLD” at USD 500 for all DIFC legal structures, plus AED 20 in knowledge and innovation fees.

The registration fee does not change with the buyer. The sale registration page charges “Seller: 2% of the sale value Buyer: 2% of the sale value”, with AED 250 for the title deed and a service partner fee of AED 4,000 plus VAT at a sale value of AED 500,000 or more. Our DLD fees guide works the full cost through.

The DIFC Foundations Law, DIFC Law No. 3 of 2018, makes a foundation a person of its own: “A Foundation is a body corporate with a legal personality separate from that of its Founder(s) and any other person”, with “the capacity, rights and privileges of a natural person”, and “The property of a Foundation is not held by it upon trust for any other person.” A founder contributes the property that establishes it. A council of “at least two (2) members” administers it, and “A Founder or a body corporate may be appointed as a member of the Council.” The by-laws may provide for distributions to the people the law calls qualified recipients. A foundation “may not carry out any commercial activities, except those necessary for, and ancillary or incidental to, its objects.”

It is created by filing an application with the DIFC Registrar, must have a registered office in the DIFC and “shall hold a Licence”. The Registrar’s fee table lists registration of a foundation at nil and its licence at USD 350, on grant and on each renewal. A DIFC prescribed company is USD 100 to register and USD 1,000 for its licence, and the Prescribed Company Regulations restrict that licence “to the activity of a holding company” and require a corporate service provider unless the company is exempt. Those are the Registrar’s fees only; service providers and lawyers charge on top, and their fees are private.

What we could not find is a sentence, from the DIFC or from the Land Department, saying in words that a foundation may be registered as the owner of a Dubai freehold. The nearest official evidence is the Registrar’s NOC fee above, charged for all DIFC legal structures. Ask the Land Department to confirm before you build a structure around it.

The protective articles are real, and narrower than the way they are usually described. Article 14 says no disposition of property to a foundation that is valid under DIFC law is “void, voidable, liable to be set aside or defective in any manner by reference to a Foreign Law”, on grounds that include defeating rights claimed “by way of Heirship Rights”, and foreign law, in this statute, means “any law other than DIFC Law”. The same article keeps a transfer from being set aside for a founder’s bankruptcy or a creditor’s claim, except that where a court finds the founder meant to defraud a creditor and was left without the means to pay, the foundation answers for that claim up to the property transferred.

Then the limit. Article 15 refuses to recognise a foreign heirship right as “affecting the ownership of immovable property in the DIFC and movable property including a Digital Asset wherever it is situated”. A villa on the Palm or an apartment in Downtown is immovable property outside the DIFC, and for property of that kind Article 13(2)(b) says DIFC law does “not validate any disposition of immovable property situated in a jurisdiction other than DIFC in which such disposition is invalid according to the laws of such jurisdiction”. How those articles meet a Dubai title outside the DIFC, and whether holding it through a company whose shares the foundation owns changes the answer, is a question no official text we read settles. It is one for a lawyer, before the structure is set up rather than after.

For an owner who is not Muslim, Dubai’s own route is simpler: Law No. (15) of 2017 applies Dubai legislation to a Dubai property and lets a will take precedence over intestate succession, as our wills and inheritance guide explains. If the property sits in a UAE company, the shares are what the heirs inherit, and the DIFC Courts Business Owners Will “can encompass up to five (5) separate shareholdings in any free zone or UAE onshore company situated in the UAE”, provided the company is incorporated in the UAE.

For an individual who holds it without a licence, rent from a Dubai home sits outside UAE corporate tax. The Federal Tax Authority’s guide says so plainly: “Personal Investment income and Real Estate Investment income is not considered to be derived from a Business or Business Activity and, therefore, does not fall within the scope of Corporate Tax.” Real estate investment means activity by a natural person in the sale, leasing, sub-leasing or renting of land or real estate in the UAE “that is not conducted, or does not require to be conducted, through a Licence from a Licensing Authority.” The Authority’s natural person page lists real estate investment income among the income streams that are not a business.

A company is on the other side of that line. Article 11 of Federal Decree-Law No. (47) of 2022 makes a resident taxable person of “A juridical person that is incorporated or otherwise established or recognised under the applicable legislation of the State, including a Free Zone Person.” Article 3 sets 0% on taxable income up to a threshold the Cabinet fixes and 9% above it, and the government portal gives that threshold as AED 375,000. A company that holds the property is a taxable person in its own right, so its income is assessed under that law, at those rates and with any relief it qualifies for. The same property held by a person without a licence is outside it.

A foundation is a juridical person too, but Article 17 lets a family foundation apply to the Authority “to be treated as an Unincorporated Partnership” where all of its conditions are met. Among them: it was established for identified or identifiable natural persons, or a public benefit entity; its principal activity is to “receive, hold, invest, disburse, or otherwise manage assets or funds associated with savings or investment”; and its main purpose “is not the avoidance of Corporate Tax.” The Authority’s June 2026 guide to family foundations sets out the conditions in full. How your home country taxes a company or a foundation you control is a separate question, which this page does not answer.

The Land Department publishes two routes. A sale to the company is registered like any other, at 2% of the sale value from the seller and 2% from the buyer. The gift registration service is the other: it covers transferring a property without compensation to “first-degree relatives; mother, father, spouse, or children or to companies”, at “0.125% of the property valuation with a minimum fee of AED 2,000”, and a company that is not yet registered with the Land Department must first apply for company registration. The page sets no other condition on the company, such as that you own it, so confirm eligibility with the Land Department before relying on the gift rate.

GDRFA Dubai’s page for the investor Golden Residence says “The residence permit is valid for 10 years and can be extended if the same conditions are met.” Its real estate route reads: “The applicant must own a property or a group of properties with a total value of no less than AED 2 million.” The value is certified by a Land Department property status statement, a share in a jointly owned property counts if the share itself is worth at least AED 2 million, and a lien is placed on the property for the life of the visa.

The page says nothing about a property held through a company, either way. It has a separate route for “An investor or partner in a company within the UAE” whose share of the company’s assets is worth at least AED 2 million, which is a different category with its own documents. If the visa is part of the reason you are buying, ask GDRFA before you choose the name on the title.

A will is the simpler instrument for most owners, and our wills and inheritance guide sets out how one is registered and what it costs. The Golden visa calculator checks a purchase against the AED 2 million line, and the cost of buying calculator adds the registration fees, whichever name is on the title. If you are still choosing the property, the Dubai off-plan hub lists the projects we track.

Everything below was either not on an official page we could read on 2 October 2026 or would need a reading we did not do, so it is not stated above.

• Which free zones and emirates have the memorandums the Land Department’s FAQ refers to. It names none, and we found no official list naming the DIFC, DMCC, JAFZA or RAK ICC.
• An official sentence, from the DIFC or the Land Department, that a DIFC foundation or prescribed company may be registered as the owner of a Dubai freehold.
• Whether the Land Department registers a free zone company whose owner holds no UAE residence permit or ID. Its document list asks for both and we found no published exception.
• The Land Department’s company registration service and its fee, which we could not find on its site.
• Any fee or registration on the transfer of shares in a company that owns a Dubai property.
• The texts of Cabinet Decision No. (116) of 2023 and Cabinet Decision No. (49) of 2023. The AED 375,000 threshold is quoted from the government portal, and the rule for natural persons from the Federal Tax Authority’s guide.
• How a free zone company’s rental income is treated under the free zone rules, and any relief a particular company may claim.
• The DIFC Foundations Regulations, which can vary the fees in the law, and what corporate service providers and lawyers charge.
• Structures in Abu Dhabi or the ADGM, which this page does not cover.
• How your home country taxes a company or foundation you control.