On this page
General information, not legal or investment advice. The law is quoted from its official English text on the Dubai Legislation Portal, read on 2026-10-17. For a specific project or contract, ask a UAE-qualified lawyer.
A Dubai off-plan escrow account is a bank account opened in the project’s name, where buyers’ payments go and can only be spent on building that project (Law No. 8 of 2007).
Off-plan is most of Dubai’s market. The Dubai Land Department reports 132,500 off-plan project sales transactions in 2025. According to Savills, off-plan sales were 72% of all residential transactions in 2025, up from 68% in 2024.
Almost every one of those buyers asks the same thing: “What happens to my money if the building isn’t finished?”
The answer is the escrow account. This guide walks through what the law actually says, so developers and brokers can explain it accurately, without overselling it.
The law: Dubai Law No. 8 of 2007
Off-plan escrow in Dubai rests on Law No. 8 of 2007 Concerning Escrow Accounts for Real Estate Development in the Emirate of Dubai.
Two definitions from Article 2 make the rest readable:
- “Department” means the Land Department: today’s Dubai Land Department (DLD).
- “Escrow Agent” is “the financial or banking institution accredited by the Department to manage an Escrow Account”. In practice, a bank.
The five articles every buyer conversation needs
Article 6: no escrow, no off-plan sale
“Any Developer who wishes to sell Units off-plan must submit to the Department a request to open an Escrow Account.”
The request includes, among other things, the trade licence, the land title deed, approved designs and an auditor-certified statement of the project’s estimated costs and revenues.
In plain words for the buyer: before a developer can sell off-plan, the project has to be set up with the DLD and have its own escrow account.
Article 9: the money is for this building only
The account is opened in the name of the project and is “dedicated exclusively to the construction of that Real Estate Development project”.
Two more rules in the same article:
- The developer’s creditors cannot attach the money in the account.
- A developer with several projects needs a separate escrow account for each one.
In plain words: your payments can’t be used to finish another tower, and they’re not available to the developer’s creditors.
Article 7 adds how the money gets there: payments made by off-plan purchasers are deposited in the account opened with the Escrow Agent in the name of the project.
Article 5: advertising needs written authorisation
A developer “may not advertise in local or international media”, or take part in property exhibitions, to promote off-plan sales “unless he obtains an authorisation in writing from the Department”.
For marketers: off-plan advertising is regulated at source. Brokers advertising specific units also need a DLD ad permit for each listing. See our guide to the Trakheesi permit for social media ads.
Article 14: 5% held back after completion
The Escrow Agent “must retain five percent (5%) of the total value of each Escrow Account once the Developer obtains the completion certificate”. The retained amount is released to the developer one year from the registration of units in the buyers’ names.
In plain words: even after handover, part of the money stays in the account for a year.
Article 15: if the project isn’t finished
“In the event of any emergency situation where the Real Estate Development project is not completed, the Escrow Agent of that project must, after consultation with the Department, take the required measures to preserve the rights of depositors, and ensure that the Real Estate Development project is completed, or depositors are refunded their payments.”
In plain words: the bank that holds the account, after consulting the DLD, must act to protect buyers, either by getting the project completed or by refunding them.
Be precise here. The article sets a duty on the Escrow Agent. It does not promise a timeline, and it does not say which of the two outcomes a buyer will get.
Two articles buyers rarely hear about
- Article 12: depositors “may gain access to their own accounting records, and may request copies of such records”.
- Article 8: an off-plan purchaser may ask the Department to note their purchase agreement on the registry entry of the plot. In practice, the sale itself is recorded in the DLD’s interim (Oqood) register, within 90 days of signing.
And for the developer side, Article 16 sets jail and a fine of at least AED 100,000, or either, for listed offences, including appropriating money delivered for real estate development projects.
Where RERA fits
The 2007 law speaks of “the Department”. The day-to-day regulator is RERA, which the DLD itself describes as “the regulatory arm of Dubai Land Department (DLD)” (DLD news release, 9 January 2024).
That release, about appointing a bank as an escrow trustee, describes the set-up in practice:
- The bank is “an approved bank authorised by DLD to oversee real estate development escrow accounts”.
- The custodian sets up “an independent escrow account for each project”, opened “based on the project approval certificate”.
- RERA “is responsible for providing the necessary data to the account custodian”.
How to explain escrow to a buyer in 60 seconds
A script a sales team can adapt. Every line maps to an article above.
- “This project has its own escrow account at a bank accredited by the Dubai Land Department.” (Arts. 2, 6, 9)
- “Your payments go into that account, in the project’s name.” (Art. 7)
- “That money can only be used to build this project, and the developer’s creditors can’t touch it.” (Art. 9)
- “After completion, 5% stays in the account for a year after units are registered.” (Art. 14)
- “If the project stalls, the bank, after consulting the DLD, has to act to protect buyers: complete the project or refund them.” (Art. 15)
- “You can ask for your own accounting records.” (Art. 12)
Then hand over the project’s escrow details in writing. Buyers can check them on the DLD’s Project Status Enquiry, which has an escrow account section for each project. The DLD’s Dubai REST app also shows off-plan buyers the percentage of completion and the escrow account number.
What not to say
- “Your money is guaranteed.” The law ring-fences the money and sets duties on the Escrow Agent. It doesn’t use the word guarantee.
- “You’ll get a full refund if anything goes wrong.” Article 15 says completed or refunded, after consultation with the DLD.
- Anything about returns or price growth. That’s investment promotion, and not what escrow is about.
- “RERA holds your money.” The bank (Escrow Agent) holds it; RERA and the DLD regulate.
Using escrow in your marketing, accurately
Buyers who are comparing projects respond to clear answers. A few things that work without overstating anything:
- Put the escrow explanation on the project landing page, in four or five lines, not in the small print.
- Send it in the first WhatsApp reply to a new enquiry, before the brochure.
- Train every agent on the same script, so the answer doesn’t change by who picks up.
- Keep the payment plan next to it: what is paid at booking, during construction and at handover, and that those payments go into the escrow account.
How we build project landing pages that carry this kind of explanation: real estate web design in Dubai.
Where the leads come from, and how fast to reply, is covered in real estate lead sources in Dubai.
A short contrast: Spain does it differently
Spain has no escrow account in this sense. Under the first additional provision of the Building Act (LOE), a developer taking payments before handover must guarantee their refund, plus legal interest, with an insurance policy or bank guarantee, and deposit them in a special account. Advertising must name the insurer or guarantor and the bank.
So Spain protects buyers mainly by guaranteeing a refund. Dubai protects them by controlling what the money can be used for. Neither maps onto the other, so don’t sell one as the other.
Selling in Spain? Leer la versión para España (in Spanish).
Frequently asked questions
It’s a bank account opened in the name of a specific project, where off-plan buyers’ payments are deposited. Under Dubai Law No. 8 of 2007, the money is dedicated exclusively to building that project, the developer’s creditors cannot attach it, and each project needs its own account, held by a bank accredited by the Dubai Land Department.
The money is held by the Escrow Agent, a financial or banking institution accredited by the Dubai Land Department. The law refers to the Department; in practice RERA, which the DLD describes as its regulatory arm, oversees the system and provides data to the bank that acts as account custodian.
Under Article 15 of Law No. 8 of 2007, the project’s Escrow Agent must, after consultation with the Dubai Land Department, take measures to preserve depositors’ rights and ensure the project is completed or buyers are refunded. The law sets this duty but does not promise a timeline or say which outcome a buyer gets.
Article 14 requires the Escrow Agent to retain 5% of the account’s total value once the developer obtains the completion certificate. That amount is released to the developer one year after the units are registered in the buyers’ names. It’s a holdback after handover, set by law, not a fee.
No. Article 5 of Law No. 8 of 2007 says a developer may not advertise off-plan sales in local or international media, or promote them at exhibitions, without written authorisation from the Dubai Land Department. Brokers advertising specific units also need a DLD advertising permit for each listing.