Article 22 of Dubai Tenancy Law: Fees and Charges for Using the Property
Article 22 answers a question that quietly causes friction in almost every Dubai tenancy: who pays the government fees and taxes attached to using the property? Its answer is a default. Unless the lease agrees otherwise, that burden sits with the tenant — the fees and taxes due to government entities for use of the property, together with any fees or taxes prescribed for a sub-lease. What the article does not do is just as important: it does not turn the owner's service charges into the tenant's bill. This page explains what Article 22 actually says, what counts as a "use" fee and what does not, how it reads for a landlord and a tenant, and what happens when the two sides disagree over a charge.
- By default the tenant pays government fees and taxes for using the property — unless the lease says otherwise
- The tenant also bears any fees or taxes prescribed for a sub-lease
- It covers government "use" charges only — not the owner's service or owner-association charges
- The default can be changed in the contract, so read the fee clause before you sign
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What Article 22 says, in one line
Unless the lease contract states otherwise, Article 22 makes the tenant responsible for all fees and taxes due to government entities for using the property, plus any fees or taxes prescribed for a sub-lease — but it does not make the tenant liable for the owner's service or owner-association charges.
The relationship between landlords and tenants in Dubai is governed by Law No. 26 of 2007, as amended by Law No. 33 of 2008. Article 22 sits in the part of that law that allocates each side's obligations, and it deals with one narrow thing: the government fees and taxes attached to occupying and using the property. It is a default rule. Where the contract is silent, the tenant carries these charges; where the contract says something different, the contract governs.
Two boundaries make the article easy to apply. The first is the phrase "for use of the property": the charge has to be connected to occupying and using the premises, not to owning them. The second is "government entities and departments": the article speaks of official fees and taxes, not private bills between landlord and tenant. Keep those two boundaries in mind and most Article 22 questions answer themselves.
What Article 22 actually provides
In plain terms, Article 22 provides that unless the lease contract states otherwise, the tenant must pay all fees and taxes due to government entities and departments for the use of the property, as well as any fees or taxes prescribed for any sub-lease. Three ideas are packed into that one sentence. It sets a default rather than an unbreakable rule — "unless the contract states otherwise". It ties the tenant's liability to government fees for using the property. And it extends the same logic to a sub-lease: if there is a sub-lease, the fees and taxes prescribed for it follow the same default.
It is worth being precise about what the article does not say, because the gaps are where disputes grow. Article 22 does not name any particular fee, and it does not fix any amount — it points to whatever government charges the law and the competent authorities attach to using the property. It does not say the tenant pays the owner's costs of ownership. It does not say the tenant covers the building's service charges or the owners' association budget. And it does not override the contract: because it opens with "unless the contract states otherwise", a clear allocation clause in the lease displaces the default entirely.
What Article 22 means in practice
In practice, the clearest example of an Article 22 charge is the municipality housing fee. Dubai Municipality levies a fee on the occupier of residential property, calculated as a percentage of the annual rent and collected in instalments through the DEWA account. Because it is a government fee tied to using the home, it falls on the tenant by default — which is exactly why it is billed to the person living there rather than to the owner. Government fees prescribed for a permitted sub-lease follow the same logic.
The other half of the practical picture is the line the article draws around ownership costs. The building's service charges and the owners' association budget are not "fees for using the property" — they are costs of owning a unit in a jointly-owned building, and the law places them on the owner. A landlord cannot lean on Article 22 to pass those charges to a tenant. The safe habit for both sides is to read the lease's fee clause first: where it allocates a charge, that allocation governs; where it is silent, the Article 22 default fills the gap, and only for genuine government use-fees.
The terms Article 22 turns on
- Fees and taxes for use
- Official charges that government entities attach to occupying and using the property. Under Article 22 these fall on the tenant by default — the municipality housing fee collected through the utility account is the everyday example.
- "Unless the contract states otherwise"
- The opening words that make Article 22 a default, not a fixed command. A clear fee-allocation clause in the lease overrides the default, so who pays is decided by the contract first and by the article only where the contract is silent.
- Sub-lease fees
- Any fees or taxes prescribed for a sub-lease. Where subletting is permitted with the landlord's written consent (Article 24), Article 22 places these charges on the tenant by default too, unless the parties agree otherwise.
- Service charge / owner-association fee
- The cost of maintaining a jointly-owned building, budgeted by the owners' association. It is an ownership cost carried by the owner, not a government use-fee, so Article 22 does not shift it to the tenant.
- Ejari-registered contract
- The tenancy contract registered with RERA. The Centre asks for a copy of the registered contract when a case is filed, so its fee clause — showing how charges were allocated — is the document any Article 22 argument rests on.
How Article 22 reads from each side
For the landlord
- By default the tenant carries the government use-fees, so you need not absorb the housing fee
- The same default covers government fees prescribed for a permitted sub-lease
- You cannot use Article 22 to pass your service charges or owner-association fees to the tenant
- If you want a different split, put a clear fee clause in the lease — the article yields to the contract
For the tenant
- By default you pay the government fees and taxes for using the property, such as the housing fee
- You are not liable for the building's service charges or the owners' association budget
- Check the lease's fee clause before signing — a term there can shift the default either way
- Clear any government fee before handover and keep the receipts so it does not stall your file
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When Article 22 applies — worked examples
A tenant rents a flat and the contract says nothing about fees.
What is usually neededThe Article 22 default applies: the municipality housing fee, a government charge for using the home, falls on the tenant and appears on the DEWA account. With the contract silent, the tenant carries it because it is a government fee tied to use.
The landlord tries to bill the building's annual service charge to the tenant.
What is usually neededArticle 22 does not support this. The service charge is an ownership cost of a jointly-owned building carried by the owner, not a government fee for using the property, so it cannot be shifted to the tenant unless the parties have expressly and lawfully agreed a different arrangement.
The lease expressly says the landlord will bear the housing fee.
What is usually neededThe express term controls. Because Article 22 opens with "unless the contract states otherwise", a clear clause placing the housing fee on the landlord displaces the default, and the landlord pays it for the term of that contract.
A tenant sublets a room after obtaining the landlord's written consent.
What is usually neededAny government fee or tax prescribed for that sub-lease falls on the tenant by default under Article 22. Subletting itself is only lawful with the landlord's written consent under Article 24, and the sub-lease fees follow the same default allocation.
When a charge is disputed, who decides
A charge dispute under Article 22 is decided the same way as any tenancy dispute in Dubai: by the Rental Disputes Centre, the specialised judicial body established by Decree No. 26 of 2013 and part of Dubai Land Department, where the parties cannot resolve it themselves. The Centre reads the contract first, because Article 22 yields to it, and then applies the default where the contract is silent. Neither side's say-so settles the point; it is decided on the lease and the record of what each charge actually is.
Most Article 22 arguments turn on one question of characterisation: is the charge a government fee for using the property, or an ownership cost dressed up as a use-fee? A claim is far stronger when it rests on documents — the registered lease and its fee clause, the utility statement showing the housing fee, and, where the disagreement is about a service charge, the owners' association invoice that shows it is an ownership cost. The case is won on what the papers show the charge to be, not on the force of the assertion.
Article 22 is not a route to charge the tenant service fees
The single most common misreading of Article 22 is to treat it as authority for a landlord to bill the tenant for the building's service charges or the owners' association budget. It is not. The article is limited to fees and taxes due to government entities for using the property. Service charges are an ownership cost of a jointly-owned building and remain with the owner. If a landlord wants a tenant to contribute to any such cost, that has to be an express, lawful contract term — it does not come from Article 22, and it cannot be assumed.
The documents an Article 22 question relies on
- The signed, Ejari-registered tenancy contract — especially any fee-allocation clause
- The DEWA account statement showing the municipality housing fee
- Receipts or proof of any government fee or tax paid for using the property
- The sub-lease agreement and the landlord's written consent, if the property is sublet
- The owners' association or service-charge invoice, to show a charge is an ownership cost
Common mistakes on both sides
The mistakeA landlord passing the building's service charge to the tenant as a "use fee".
The fixArticle 22 covers government fees for use only; service charges are an ownership cost and stay with the owner unless the contract expressly and lawfully agrees otherwise.
The mistakeA tenant ignoring the housing fee because "the landlord should pay it".
The fixBy default the housing fee is the tenant's, as a government charge for using the home; only an express clause in the lease can move it to the landlord.
The mistakeSigning a lease without reading the fee clause.
The fixArticle 22 is a default that the contract can change; a fee clause can shift charges either way, so read it before you sign and keep the registered copy.
The mistakeLeaving a government fee unpaid at the end of the tenancy.
The fixClear the housing fee and any government charge before handover and keep the receipts; an outstanding fee can stall a renewal, a handover or a deposit refund.
Article 22 — questions and answers
Article 22 provides that, unless the lease contract states otherwise, the tenant must pay all fees and taxes due to government entities and departments for using the property, as well as any fees or taxes prescribed for a sub-lease. It is a default rule that the contract can change, and it is part of Law No. 26 of 2007, as amended by Law No. 33 of 2008.
By default the tenant pays it. The municipality housing fee is a government charge for using the property, so under Article 22 it falls on the tenant and is collected through the DEWA account — which is why it is billed to the occupier. The only way it moves to the landlord is an express clause in the lease saying so.
No — not through Article 22. Service charges and owner-association fees are an ownership cost of a jointly-owned building that the law places on the owner, not a government fee for using the property. Article 22 does not shift them to the tenant, and a landlord who wants the tenant to contribute would need an express, lawful contract term.
The tenant, by default. Article 22 places any fees or taxes prescribed for a sub-lease on the tenant unless the parties agree otherwise. Subletting itself is only lawful with the landlord's written consent under Article 24, and the government charges for it follow the same default.
Yes. Article 22 applies "unless the lease contract states otherwise", so a clear fee-allocation clause overrides the default. Who pays is decided by the contract first and by Article 22 only where the contract is silent, which is why the fee clause is worth reading closely before signing.
If you cannot resolve it, the Rental Disputes Centre decides. It reads the contract first, because Article 22 yields to it, then applies the default where the contract is silent. The question usually comes down to what the charge really is — a government use-fee or an ownership cost — so keep the lease, the utility statement and any service-charge invoice.
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: review the lease's fee clause against the Article 22 default, help you tell a genuine government use-fee apart from an ownership cost that has been mislabelled, assemble the contract, utility statements and receipts into a clear, ordered bundle, prepare the documents needed to raise or answer a charge or to file at the Rental Disputes Centre, and arrange certified and legal translation where the file must move between Arabic and other languages.
Whether you are a tenant asked to pay a charge you think is not yours, or a landlord who wants to allocate fees clearly and defensibly, the value is in getting the characterisation right and putting it in writing: a lease that says who pays what, and evidence of what each charge actually is. Most fee questions are settled by that clarity long before anyone reaches the Centre.
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. 26 of 2013 (Rental Disputes Centre)
- 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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