Rent increases and renewals: the index, the tiers and the 90-day rule.

What actually decides how much rent can go up?

Not the landlord, and not the market in general. The cap is set by how far the current rent sits below the benchmark for comparable properties in that area — and the benchmark comes from the Dubai Land Department, not from an opinion.

This is why two neighbours in the same building can face different increases. One signed three years ago and is far below the benchmark; the other signed last year and is already close to it.

The five tiers, exactly

Decree No. 43 of 2013 sets them out plainly. If the current rent is:

Within 10% of market rent — no increase permitted. 11–20% below — up to 5%. 21–30% below — up to 10%. 31–40% below — up to 15%. More than 40% below — up to 20%.

These are ceilings, not entitlements. A landlord may increase by less, or not at all, and many do when the tenant is reliable — a good tenant who stays is worth more than a few percent.

What changed with the Smart Rental Index?

Since 1 January 2025 the Dubai Land Department replaced the old area-average calculator with the Smart Rental Index. Instead of treating every building in a community as equivalent, it rates each building from one to five stars using more than sixty factors — age, maintenance, facilities, security, sustainability, location quality.

The practical effect is that the benchmark is now building-specific. A well-run tower and a tired one on the same street no longer share a number, which makes the calculation fairer and harder to argue with.

The 90-day rule — the one that costs money

Any change to the terms of a tenancy at renewal — the rent, the number of cheques, the duration — requires written notice at least 90 days before the expiry date, unless the contract states otherwise.

Miss the deadline and the tenancy renews on the existing terms. Not negotiable, not recoverable, not fixable by a phone call in week eleven. The rent stays where it is for another twelve months.

This is the single most expensive administrative mistake in Dubai property management, and it is always the same cause: nobody was watching the date.

What if the tenant does not accept the increase?

Then it is a negotiation, and if that fails, a case for the Rental Dispute Centre. The centre looks at the index, the notice and the contract. If the increase is within the permitted tier and notice was properly served, it usually stands; if either fails, it does not.

Which is why the paperwork matters more than the argument. A correctly served notice with the index figure attached settles most disputes before they are filed.

How renewals should run inside an agency

Backwards from the expiry date. At 120 days the contract should surface for review — check the index, decide the position, talk to the landlord. At 90 days notice goes out in writing, on record. At 30 days the renewed contract and updated Ejari registration are prepared, along with the new cheques.

None of this is difficult. All of it depends on knowing which contracts are inside those windows this week.

Where agencies lose renewals

Not to competitors. To calendars. A renewal that nobody started at 120 days becomes a rushed conversation at 60 days, and a tenant who was never asked starts looking elsewhere at 45.

Renewal is the cheapest revenue a property manager has — no marketing, no viewings, no new negotiation. Our leasing module lists contracts approaching renewal in advance with days remaining, keeps the Ejari record and cheque schedule on the same file, and makes the 90-day window impossible to miss quietly.