The deadline for Dubai developers to register under the pre-registration system for off-plan properties has been extended from the first week of November to the year-end, said a senior government official.
“Those who have launched projects prior to the introduction of the pre-registration system and were selling off-plan now need to register by year-end. We will initiate strict action if they fail to do so,” Mohammed Sultan Thani, Assistant Director-General of the Dubai Land Department, told Emirates Business. “We will not penalise developers across the board and will deal with them individually. But anyone not following the law will have to face strict action.”

However, following the issuance of Law No 13 of 2008, developers now have to register all their units prior to launch with the Land Department and only then can they proceed with their sales.

Law No 13, which regulates initial property registration in Dubai, aims to create further consumer ease and protection within the Dubai real estate market by introducing a mandatory system of

pre-registration at the Land Department for off-plan sales contracts for property units. Under the new law, any off-plan sales that are not registered will be invalid.

Off-plan sale refers to the selling of real estate units based on an architectural plan of the property before the structure is built. The onus of registration under the law lies on the developer and not on the first purchaser. But during a secondary sale the seller has to inform the department and register the deed by paying the necessary charges. In case of home mortgages, banks will have to register the deals and not the mortgagee, said Thani.

Developers say they have already initiated the registration process. “We get all our units registered with the Land Department before the sale process,” said Tarek Kandil, CEO of Define Properties