Article 10 of Dubai's Tenancy Law: Who Sets Rent-Increase Rules
When rent goes up in Dubai, the ceiling is not a number the landlord chooses. Article 10 of Law No. 26 of 2007 hands one specific power to a regulator: the Real Estate Regulatory Agency (RERA) sets the criteria for permitted rent increases across the emirate, in line with its economic conditions. That single sentence is the legal root of everything that follows — the Decree 43/2013 percentage brackets, the Rent Index that decides what an average rent is, and the reason a tenant can push back on an increase that goes beyond the cap. This page explains what Article 10 actually says, how RERA turned that authority into concrete rules, and exactly what it means when you are the landlord raising the rent or the tenant receiving the demand.
- Article 10 empowers RERA to set the criteria for rent increases in Dubai
- RERA applied it through Decree 43/2013 — the stepped rent-increase brackets
- The average market rent comes from the Rent Index, now the DLD Smart Rental Index
- A landlord cannot set an arbitrary rise; disputes are decided by the RDC
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Who sets the rules for rent increases in Dubai?
RERA — the Real Estate Regulatory Agency, the regulatory arm of the Dubai Land Department — sets the criteria for permitted rent increases in Dubai, and Article 10 of the tenancy law is the provision that gives it that authority; an individual landlord does not get to fix the increase alone.
The relationship between landlords and tenants in Dubai is governed by Law No. 26 of 2007 as amended by Law No. 33 of 2008. Most of that law tells the two parties what they may and may not do. Article 10 is different: instead of speaking to the landlord and the tenant, it speaks to a regulator. It takes the most contested question in any tenancy — how much the rent may rise — out of the hands of the stronger party and places the framework with RERA, so that increases follow published criteria rather than the pressure of the moment.
RERA did not leave that power on paper. It exercised the authority through Decree No. 43 of 2013, which sets a stepped scale of maximum increases, and through the Rent Index that measures what a fair average rent is for similar property — the index that has operated since 2 January 2025 as the Dubai Land Department Smart Rental Index. So the practical answer has three layers: Article 10 grants the power, Decree 43/2013 fixes the percentages, and the index supplies the market figure that decides which percentage applies.
For anyone reading this at a renewal, the upshot is simple. A landlord cannot lawfully impose whatever increase the market seems to allow; the rise is capped by criteria that RERA — not the landlord — controls. A tenant is not obliged to accept a demand that exceeds those criteria, and where the two cannot agree, the matter is decided by the Rental Disputes Centre applying the same rules. Article 10 is short, but it is the reason Dubai has an orderly, published answer to the rent-increase question at all.
What Article 10 actually says
In plain terms, Article 10 provides that RERA has the authority to establish the criteria for percentages of rent increase in the emirate, in line with the requirements of the prevailing economic situation. That is the whole of it — a single, deliberately broad grant of power. Notice what it does and does not do. It does not itself state a percentage, and it does not name Decree 43/2013 or any index by name; those came later as the tools through which RERA gives the article effect. What the article fixes is the who and the how: RERA is the body that decides, and its decision must track the economy rather than the wishes of either party.
The phrase in line with the prevailing economic situation is what makes the framework flexible. It means the criteria are not frozen: RERA can tighten or ease the permitted increases as the market moves, which is why the operative rules live in a decree and an index that can be updated, rather than in the primary law that would need an amendment to change. Article 10 was part of the original 2007 law and was not among the articles rewritten by the 2008 amendment, so the grant of authority itself has stood unchanged while the tools beneath it have been modernised.
What Article 10 means in practice
The way Article 10 reaches a real tenancy is through Decree No. 43 of 2013, the instrument RERA and the emirate use to put the increase criteria into figures. The decree does not set one flat percentage. Instead it links the maximum permitted rise to a gap: how far the current rent sits below the average market rent for similar units. The closer a rent already is to the market average, the smaller the increase allowed — and where the rent is within ten per cent of the average, no increase is permitted at all. This is the logic that flows directly out of Article 10: increases exist to bring under-market rents toward the market, not to let a landlord chase the market upward without limit.
The second tool is the index. To know which bracket applies, both sides need to know the average market rent for the property — and that figure comes from the Rent Index of the Emirate of Dubai, published by RERA and now delivered through the Smart Rental Index launched by the Dubai Land Department on 2 January 2025. The Smart Rental Index upgraded the technology behind the average, using AI-based building classification and live contract data, but it did not change the Decree 43/2013 percentages. It is worth stressing that the increase rules bind every landlord in Dubai, including in special development zones and free zones such as the DIFC. Applying an increase then combines with the timing rules elsewhere in the law: a landlord who wants a rise at renewal must also give the tenant the ninety-day notice under Article 14, and the figure proposed must still respect the Decree 43/2013 ceiling.
The criteria in figures: the Decree 43/2013 brackets
| How far the current rent sits below the average market rent | Maximum increase permitted at renewal |
|---|---|
| Up to 10% below the average market rent | No increase permitted (0%) |
| 11% to 20% below the average market rent | Up to 5% |
| 21% to 30% below the average market rent | Up to 10% |
| 31% to 40% below the average market rent | Up to 15% |
| More than 40% below the average market rent | Up to 20% |
The Smart Rental Index changed the tool, not the brackets
It is easy to assume that a new index means new rules. It does not. The Smart Rental Index, launched by the Dubai Land Department on 2 January 2025, is a valuation tool: it modernised how the average market rent is calculated, using advanced building classification and AI-based analysis of real contract data. What it did not do is change the percentage brackets set by Decree 43/2013, and it is not a new statute. Article 10 remains the source of RERA's authority, Decree 43/2013 remains the scale of permitted increases, and the index — smart or otherwise — simply supplies the average figure that decides which step on that scale a particular tenancy lands on.
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What Article 10 means for each side
For the landlord
- You may raise the rent at renewal, but only within RERA's criteria — you do not set the ceiling yourself
- Check the Rent Index / Smart Rental Index first to see the average and the bracket that applies
- If the current rent is within 10% of the average, Decree 43/2013 allows no increase
- To apply any rise at renewal you still need the 90-day notice under Article 14
- A demand above the cap is not enforceable and invites a dispute you are likely to lose
For the tenant
- You are protected from arbitrary increases — the maximum is set by RERA's criteria, not the landlord
- You can check the same index to verify whether the increase you were asked for is within the bracket
- If your rent is close to the market average, the landlord may not be entitled to any increase
- A rise imposed without a valid 90-day notice does not bind the renewed term
- If you disagree, you can ask the Rental Disputes Centre to apply the criteria and fix the rent
When it applies: worked examples
A tenant's rent sits about 20% below the average for similar flats in the same building.
What is usually neededBecause the gap falls in the 11%–20% band, Decree 43/2013 allows a maximum increase of 5% at renewal. The landlord may propose up to that figure through a 90-day notice; anything higher exceeds the criteria RERA set under Article 10.
A landlord wants to raise the rent, but the index shows the current rent is only about 6% below the average.
What is usually neededHere the rent is within 10% of the average, so the criteria permit no increase at all. A landlord who insists is asking for something the framework created under Article 10 does not allow, and the tenant can decline and, if pressed, take the demand to the RDC.
A landlord demands a 15% increase while the index places the rent 18% below the average.
What is usually neededAn 18% gap sits in the 11%–20% band, whose cap is 5% — so the 15% demand is more than the criteria allow. The lawful ceiling is 5%; the excess is unenforceable, and if the landlord will not adjust, the tenant can ask the Rental Disputes Centre to fix the rent within the bracket.
The property is an apartment in a free zone, and the landlord assumes the increase rules do not reach it.
What is usually neededThe assumption is wrong. Decree 43/2013 applies emirate-wide, including special development zones and free zones such as the DIFC. The same brackets and the same index govern the increase. The forum is different, though: under Decree 26/2013 the RDC has no jurisdiction over rent disputes arising in a free zone that has its own courts or judicial committees, so a dispute over a DIFC lease goes to that zone's own court, not the Centre — check which regime the contract sits under before relying on either route.
Common mistakes about who sets the increase
The mistakeBelieving the landlord can set any increase the market seems to bear.
The fixArticle 10 places the criteria with RERA; Decree 43/2013 caps the rise by the gap to the average market rent, ending at 20%.
The mistakeAssuming any under-market rent qualifies for the full 20% rise.
The fixThe 20% ceiling applies only when the rent is more than 40% below the average; smaller gaps carry smaller caps, and a rent within 10% carries none.
The mistakeThinking the 2025 Smart Rental Index changed the legal percentages.
The fixThe index is a valuation tool that updated how the average is calculated; the Decree 43/2013 brackets are unchanged, and no newer statute has replaced them.
The mistakeTreating a rent increase as automatic once the criteria allow one.
The fixEven a permitted rise must be proposed through the 90-day notice under Article 14; without valid, timely notice the renewed term keeps the existing rent.
The mistakeConfusing the article that sets the increase criteria with the article that fixes a disputed rent.
The fixArticle 10 empowers RERA to set the increase criteria; Article 9 is what the Tribunal uses to fix a disputed rent using those criteria and comparable rents.
What you need to check an increase against Article 10
- The Ejari-registered tenancy contract, showing the current rent and the renewal date
- A Rent Index / Smart Rental Index result for the property, giving the average market rent for similar units
- The calculation of the gap between the current rent and that average, to identify the bracket
- The 90-day notice under Article 14, if a change to the rent is being proposed at renewal
- Emirates ID and the title deed or trade licence, as relevant to the party and the property
- Any prior correspondence about the proposed rent, kept with clear dates
Where MANJAZ fits in
MANJAZ is a publisher and service provider, not a court and not a law firm, and it never guarantees a particular result. What we do is practical: check a proposed increase against the Decree 43/2013 brackets and the Smart Rental Index, work out the gap and the bracket that applies, review or prepare the 90-day notice so its wording and timing are sound, and organise the tenancy file so the figures are backed by the right documents. Where the file must move between Arabic and other languages, we arrange certified and legal translation, and we can follow up the procedure at the Rental Disputes Centre when a dispute cannot be settled directly.
Whether you are a landlord planning a renewal increase or a tenant weighing a demand you think is too high, the value is in getting the numbers and the timing right before anything is served. The correct average, the correct bracket, a figure that respects the ceiling and a clean record of what was proposed are what most often decide the outcome — and they are the easiest things to get right early.
Questions and answers
Article 10 gives RERA — the Real Estate Regulatory Agency — the authority to set the criteria for rent-increase percentages in Dubai, in line with the emirate's economic conditions. It does not state a percentage itself; it grants the power that RERA then applied through Decree 43/2013 and the Rent Index.
RERA decides the criteria, not the individual landlord. Under the authority in Article 10, the maximum increase is fixed by Decree 43/2013 as a stepped percentage tied to how far the current rent sits below the average market rent, and the Rental Disputes Centre applies those criteria if the parties disagree.
The maximum is 20%, and it applies only when the current rent is more than 40% below the average market rent. Smaller gaps carry lower caps — 15%, 10% and 5% — and a rent that is within 10% of the average may not be increased at all under Decree 43/2013.
No. The Smart Rental Index, launched on 2 January 2025, is a valuation tool that updated how the average market rent is calculated using AI-based classification and contract data. It did not change the Decree 43/2013 percentage brackets and it is not a new law; Article 10 and the decree still govern.
The criteria set the maximum a landlord may impose; they are a ceiling, not a target. A landlord cannot force a higher figure, and a tenant who disputes an increase can rely on the Decree 43/2013 cap. If the two cannot agree, the Rental Disputes Centre fixes the rent within the criteria rather than above them.
Yes. The rent-increase framework built on Article 10 — Decree 43/2013 and the Rent Index — applies across the emirate, including special development zones and free zones such as the DIFC. The same brackets and the same index apply. The dispute forum differs, though: under Decree 26/2013 the RDC has no jurisdiction over rent disputes arising in a free zone that has its own courts or judicial committees, so a DIFC lease dispute goes to that zone's own court rather than the Rental Disputes Centre.
Article 10 empowers RERA to set the criteria for permitted increases across the emirate — it works at the level of the framework. Article 9 works at the level of a single tenancy: it is how the Tribunal fixes a disputed rent, using RERA criteria and comparable rents, when the parties have not agreed a figure.
Official sources
- Dubai Legislation — Law No. 26 of 2007 (landlord & tenant) — original text; Arts 2, 3, 4, 9, 13, 14, 15, 25, 26, 29, 36 amended by Law 33/2008
- Dubai Legislation — Law No. 33 of 2008 amending Law 26/2007
- Dubai Legislation — Decree No. 43 of 2013 (rent increase)
- Dubai Land Department — Smart Rental Index announcement
- Rental Disputes Centre — About the Centre
This content is for general information and awareness. It is based on the legislation and official sources available at the time of the last review, and procedures may differ according to the facts of each case and updates issued by the competent authorities. It is not legal advice, and MANJAZ is the publisher of this explanation, not the authority that issued the legislation.
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