RERA rent calculator: check a Dubai rent increase

The official RERA rent calculator is the Rental Index service of the Dubai Land Department (DLD): you enter a property's details and current rent, and it gives the allowed rent increase and the average rent for the area. A Dubai landlord can raise the rent on renewal only if the current rent is more than 10% below the average for similar units in the official Rental Index. Decree No. 43 of 2013 Determining the Increase in the Real-Estate Rentals in the Emirate of Dubai then caps the rise at 5%, 10%, 15% or 20% of the current rent, and notice is due at least 90 days before the lease expires unless the contract says otherwise.

Take your current rent from your Ejari and the average from DLD's Rental Index calculator, not from an advertised rent. Our calculator handles every band, including rents up to 10% below the average; for the official figure, use DLD's calculator. Ours applies the decree to the two numbers you enter and does not look up the index, so its result is a guide, not a legal ruling.

The rent increase bands (Decree No. 43 of 2013)

Article 1 of the decree sets the maximum increase "upon renewing the real-estate leases". The middle column quotes each clause of Article 1 exactly as the decree prints it.

"Average" means the Rent Index of the Emirate of Dubai approved by RERA (Article 3).

We read the gap as a share of the average, not of your rent, because each clause measures it against "the average market rental rate". The sum is: (average minus your rent) ÷ average × 100. The increase, by contrast, is a percentage of your current rent: "5% of the rent value of the real-estate unit" in band (b).

The bands do not join up. Nothing in the decree covers a rent between 10% and 11% below the average, between 20% and 21%, or between 30% and 31%. Exactly 10% is covered only by DLD's Tenancy Guide, which treats it as no increase. Our calculator flags these gaps instead of picking a band.

Each band is a ceiling, not an automatic increase.

Worked examples at an average rent of AED 100,000

Illustration only: these rents are invented to show the arithmetic and are not market data.

• AED 85,000: (100,000 minus 85,000) ÷ 100,000 = 15.0%, in the 11% to 20% band. 85,000 × 5% = 4,250; 85,000 + 4,250 = 89,250.
• AED 89,500: (100,000 minus 89,500) ÷ 100,000 = 10.5%. Band (a) ends at 10% and band (b) starts at 11%, so the decree does not settle this case.
• AED 60,000: exactly 40.0%. That is not "more than 40%", so the 15% band applies, not the 20% band: 60,000 × 15% = 9,000; 60,000 + 9,000 = 69,000.
• The other rows follow the same steps: 75,000 × 10% = 7,500; 65,000 × 15% = 9,750; 55,000 × 20% = 11,000.

The 90-day notice rule

The 90-day notice period comes from Article 14 of Law No. 26 of 2007 Regulating the Relationship between Landlords and Tenants, in the form substituted by Law No. 33 of 2008, issued on 1 December 2008:

"Unless otherwise agreed by the parties to a Lease Contract, where either party wishes to amend any of its terms pursuant to Article (13) of this Law, that party must notify the other party of this intent no less than ninety (90) days before the date on which the Lease Contract expires."

The opening words matter: a tenancy contract can set a different period, so read yours before relying on 90 days. DLD's frequently asked questions put the rule more briefly: "Owner can increase rent based on Rental index, with a prior notice of 3 months to be served to tenant". The Rental Disputes Center's FAQ gives the same 90 days.

Illustration only: a lease expiring on 31 March 2027 gives a date 90 days earlier of 31 December 2026, counting back through 31 days of January, 28 of February and 31 of March. That count is our reading. The law does not say how the days are counted, or whether notice must be sent or received by that date.

Ending a lease follows other rules. The 2007 text of Article 14 also covered a party who did not wish to renew; the 2008 replacement covers only changes to the terms. A landlord seeking eviction falls under Article 25(2), as replaced in 2008: notice of the reasons "at least twelve (12) months before the date of eviction", served "through a Notary Public or by registered mail". A tenant who will not renew must tell the landlord at least 3 months in advance, according to DLD's Ejari FAQ page.

The Smart Rental Index 2025: what changed

Launched on 2 January 2025, the Smart Rental Index relies, in DLD's words, on "an advanced building classification system that considers all technical and service-related aspects of properties". Each building is assessed on its technical and structural characteristics, the quality of finishes and maintenance, the building's location and spatial value, and the level of services and facilities.

The index covers all residential areas in Dubai, including key areas, special development zones, and free zones, and DLD cites the continuous updating of standards to keep pace with market changes. The same announcement introduced a "Model Tenant Classification" system to classify tenants' credit ratings through Ejari.

The announcement refers to the same system of increases, so the bands above still come from Decree No. 43 of 2013. DLD's announcement also summarises the bands, and its summary does not match the decree: it gives the decree number as 34 rather than 43, and it attaches the 20% band to rents that exceed the average by more than 40%, where Article 1(e) of the decree attaches it to rents more than 40% below the average. The table above follows the decree. DLD's calculator and service pages do not say whether the calculator now draws on the 2025 index.

Because the rating is per building, look up your own unit rather than a neighbouring tower, even within one district such as Business Bay.

Where the average comes from

DLD's Rental Index service runs on the DLD website, the Dubai REST app and the DubaiNow app. You enter the contract expiry date, property type, area, number of rooms and current annual rent. A residential unit can be found by DEWA premise number, Ejari contract number or area; our Ejari guide explains where the contract number comes from. The service gives the rental increase and the average rent for the area, and DLD lists the service time as immediate.

DLD's calculator has separate tabs for residential, commercial, industrial, industrial land and staff accommodation property. Furnishing makes no difference: DLD's Ejari FAQ page says the rental index applies to all residential units, furnished or unfurnished.

An advertised rent is an asking price, not the index. Nor are our area guides: they show median rents on new leases from DLD contracts, not the RERA index, and how we calculate the Dubai figures explains why renewals are left out.

When the index applies, and when it does not

For a new lease, DLD's FAQ is direct: "The rental index is indicative and is not mandatory for the new lease". It becomes mandatory when the parties disagree about the rate of increase when renewing. Under Article 2, the decree applies to all landlords in Dubai, including the special development areas and the free zones.

If landlord and tenant cannot agree, Article 13 of the law, as replaced in 2008, applies. Before the lease expires, the parties may "amend any of its terms or reconsider increasing or reducing the Rent". Failing agreement, the Tribunal may determine a fair rent using the criteria in Article 9, the first of which is "the criteria for determining the percentage of Rent increase prescribed by RERA".

To file a renewal or rent case, the Rental Disputes Center charges 3.5% of the annual rent (minimum AED 500, maximum AED 20,000), plus AED 100 for process service and AED 10 each in knowledge and innovation fees. The first document the Center lists is a copy of the latest lease (Ejari).

The decree sets only maximum increases; Article 13's wording also lets the parties agree a lower rent at renewal.

How we checked

On 1 October 2026 we read Decree No. 43 of 2013 on DLD's website, Law No. 33 of 2008 on the Dubai Legislation Portal, DLD's Rental Index service page, its frequently asked questions and Ejari FAQ, and the Smart Rental Index announcement. Where the decree leaves a gap between bands, the calculator says so rather than choosing one. This page explains the published rules and is not legal advice.

Common questions

A renewal cap limits how fast an existing tenant's rent can rise; our rental-yield worked example shows how rent assumptions move a return. Buying a tenanted home? Our investment advisory page sets out the rental evidence to ask for. Landlords can find what an owner brief should cover on our property management page, or contact us with the lease dates and the DLD index result.

Cite as: Firswood Properties, RERA rent calculator: check a Dubai rent increase, 2 October 2026.