Before you pay anything on an off-plan property in Dubai, check the project and its escrow account yourself on the Dubai Land Department’s services — through the Dubai REST app or land.dubai.gov.ae — using the project name and developer licence. A legitimate project is registered with RERA, has an approved escrow account into which your payments must go (never to the developer’s own account), and shows a construction progress percentage you can compare with what the sales agent claims.
Quick facts
- Cost: Checking project status, developer registration and escrow details through Dubai Land Department services is free.
- Time needed: 15-30 minutes per project once you have the exact registered project name — ask the agent for it in writing.
- Where it happens: Dubai REST app and the Dubai Land Department website (project status / Oqood-related services), plus the developer’s RERA licence check.
- Golden rule: Your cheques and transfers go to the project’s escrow account in the project’s name — never to the developer’s company account or an agent personally.
Step-by-step: checking escrow and project status
- Get the registered details from the agent. Ask for the project’s exact RERA-registered name, the project number, the developer’s name and licence number, and the escrow account details from the trustee bank. A serious developer provides these immediately — hesitation or “book now, papers later” is your first red flag.
- Verify the developer is licensed. Search the developer on the Dubai Land Department website or Dubai REST’s licensed developers and projects service. Confirm the licence is active and the company named on your sales and purchase agreement (SPA) is the same company that owns the project registration.
- Find the project record. Search by project name in the Land Department’s project status service or Dubai REST. You should see the project status (active, under construction, completed or — worryingly — cancelled), the escrow account trustee bank, and the official construction completion percentage, which is updated from engineer reports.
- Compare progress with the sales story. If the brochure claims handover next year but the official completion percentage is low and barely moving between quarterly updates, ask hard questions. Check the date of the last progress update too — a stale record on an “active” project deserves an explanation in writing.
- Confirm the escrow account before paying. The payment instructions in your SPA should name an escrow account in the project’s name at the trustee bank shown in the official record. Call the bank’s published number (not a number the agent gives you) if you want extra confirmation. A developer asking for payment to its own operating account is breaking the escrow law — walk away.
- Check the land and permits basics. The project record and the developer should be able to confirm the plot is owned or properly held for development and that building permits are in place. For villa and townhouse projects, also confirm which phase your unit belongs to — phases can have separate escrow accounts and timelines.
- Read the SPA against the official record. Your SPA should state the completion date, the permitted extension period, compensation for delay, and the payment plan linked to construction milestones. Under Dubai’s off-plan rules, payments are normally released from escrow as certified milestones are reached — a plan demanding most of the price long before construction progress is a risk, even if legal.
- Register your unit on Oqood. After signing, your purchase should be registered in the Land Department’s Oqood interim registration system in your name, and you should receive the registration certificate. Check your own name and unit details are correct — this record is your proof of purchase until the final title deed at handover.
Red flags that should stop you paying
Walk away — or at minimum pause and take independent legal advice — if you see any of these: no project record on the Land Department system; payments requested to a personal or general company account; an agent who cannot produce a Trakheesi permit for the listing; a price far below comparable projects in the same area; pressure to pay a booking amount before seeing the SPA; or a developer whose other projects show as cancelled. Also search the developer’s name in Dubai news and court reporting — repeated handover delays across projects are a pattern, not bad luck.
An independent property lawyer in Dubai will review an SPA and run these checks for a fixed fee, typically around AED 3,000-8,000 depending on complexity — check the firm’s official quote for the current fee. On a purchase of several hundred thousand dirhams, that is money well spent.
Common mistakes to avoid
Trusting the show villa and the agent’s tablet. Everything an agent shows you on a screen can be marketing. The only progress figure that matters is the Land Department’s, based on certified engineer reports.
Paying the booking fee to the agency. Booking amounts for off-plan should also follow the escrow route set out in the SPA paperwork, with receipts from the developer or trustee — not cash or a transfer to a brokerage’s account without documentation.
Skipping the check on resale off-plan units. Buying an off-plan unit from an existing owner carries the same checks plus verifying the seller’s Oqood record and any developer NOC and outstanding payments — do not rely on the seller’s screenshots.
FAQ
What is an escrow account and why does it protect me?
It is a regulated account, held by an approved trustee bank for that specific project, into which all buyers’ payments must be paid. The developer can only withdraw money against certified construction progress, so your payments fund your building — not the developer’s other projects.
How do I check construction progress for my off-plan project?
Search the project name in the Dubai REST app or the Dubai Land Department’s project status service. You will see the official completion percentage and status, updated from engineer inspections — compare it with the developer’s own updates.
What happens if a project is cancelled?
Cancelled projects go through a Land Department and court process, and refunds come from the escrow account under the escrow law’s rules — which is exactly why paying into escrow matters. If your project shows as cancelled, contact Dubai Land Department promptly with your Oqood certificate and payment proofs.
