Dubai developers fined for off-plan sales violations

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Three developers in Dubai were fined AED1.5 million ($408,441) for failing to comply with the regulations for off-plan sales.

The Dubai Land Department (DLD) imposed fines of AED500,000 on each of the unnamed developers for promoting and marketing real estate projects without completing the required registration procedures.

The regulations are mentioned in Law No. 8 of 2007 on Real Estate Development Escrow Accounts in Dubai.

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The escrow account is a bank account designated for a real estate project, where the funds collected from buyers of off-plan units are deposited. This account aims to regulate the construction process of the units sold, ensuring the protection of investor rights.

The Real Estate Control Department continuously monitors the market in Dubai to ensure that all real estate companies comply with the laws and regulations governing real estate activities, Ali Abdullah Al Ali, director of the Real Estate Control Department at the real estate regulatory agency (Rera), DLD, said.

He advised developers to adhere to the laws and regulations to avoid legal action, urging investors not to make any payments outside the project’s escrow account.

Industry insiders in April said Dubai’s off-plan market is treading a delicate line between the risk of having too many properties and the threat of project delays.

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“There’s plenty of supply coming in,” said Haider Tuaima, director of real estate research at consultancy Valustrat.

Data from Valustrat reveals that more than 26,700 apartments and almost 4,000 villas were completed in 2023, meeting 55 percent of initial estimates.

Experts told AGBI that Dubai developers are offering 1 percent payment plans to maintain interest in an increasingly crowded off-plan sales market and delay an anticipated slowdown after years of record growth.

While some prime projects don’t need to offer such incentives, Ziad Hinnawi, sales director at RAK Properties, said one of his newer projects – which was marketed with a 1 percent plan – immediately sold out, illustrating the appetite among buyers for the alternative financing scheme.