What Is Oqood? Dubai's Off-Plan Registration Explained

When you buy off-plan in Dubai, there's no title deed to issue yet. The building isn't finished, so there's nothing to enter in the main property register. Your purchase goes into an interim register at Dubai Land Department instead, and that registration is called Oqood. The developer files it through the Oqood portal and you receive an electronic certificate. Below I'll walk through how it works and what I check for my clients.

Where Oqood comes from

The legal basis is Dubai Law No. 13 of 2008 Regulating the Interim Property Register (full text ↗). The law describes the interim register as DLD's written or electronic record of sale contracts and other off-plan dispositions, kept until the property is entered in the main Property Register.

Oqood itself is the DLD portal developers use for this. The service description is explicit about it: log in to the Oqood portal and select provisional sale registration (Request to register the initial sale ↗). Developers register the project itself on the same portal (Register Project ↗).

Why a buyer should care

I'd keep three provisions of Law No. 13 of 2008 in mind.

1. An unregistered sale is void. Any sale or other disposition of an off-plan unit that transfers or restricts ownership rights is void unless it's entered in the interim register (Article 3).
2. Units in the interim register can be sold, mortgaged and otherwise disposed of. The law says so expressly (Article 6).
3. Off-plan units in a project the competent authorities haven't approved can't be sold. A contract signed before approval is null and void (Article 10).

One more provision is useful to know. A developer may not charge fees on the sale or resale of units beyond administrative costs approved by DLD (Article 7).

How registration works

The DLD service page ↗ sets out these steps:

1. The developer logs in to the Oqood portal and selects provisional sale registration.
2. It picks the unit, fills in the details, attaches documents and chooses how to pay.
3. It submits the application online.
4. The buyer receives a provisional registration e-certificate by email.

DLD gives the service time as one business day.

The 90-day rule

Both the developer and the buyer sign the sale and purchase agreement. It then has to be registered in the interim register within 90 days of signing (DLD service terms ↗).

Other deadlines float around online. I'd go by the DLD service page, because that's where the current terms are published.

If the developer is slow

The DLD FAQ ↗ covers this case. If a developer refuses or delays registering the sale contract, the buyer can apply to DLD for registration and attach supporting documents.

Documents required

For individuals, DLD asks for (DLD ↗):

• a copy of the sale and purchase contract;
• a copy of a valid Emirates ID;
• for non-residents, a copy of a valid passport.

If the buyer is a minor, the guardian signs and attaches a copy of their own passport or ID.

Companies have a longer list. They need a trade licence, the licence holder's ID or passport and any power of attorney. An LLC also provides its memorandum of association legally translated into Arabic and a shareholder certificate. A foreign company's memorandum has to be ratified by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and a purchase requires a free zone NOC valid for one year. The service page has the full list for each company type.

What it costs

From the DLD tariff ↗:

You pay by Noqodi wallet or by deduction from the escrow account. Your SPA says who actually bears the fees, and developers word this clause differently, so I always ask clients to read it before they sign.

I've put every purchase cost, mortgage costs included, in one place: Dubai property purchase costs.

Oqood vs title deed

Once a developer receives the completion certificate, the law requires it to enter the project in the main register (Article 8 ↗). The DLD FAQ ↗ says fully paid units then move across and receive a title deed. A buyer who has met all their contractual obligations can also ask DLD to register the unit in their name.

If you're on a post-handover plan, this has a practical consequence. As long as you're still paying the developer, you'll hold Oqood rather than a title deed. I cover this in payment plans and post-handover pitfalls.

What I check on an Oqood certificate

When the certificate arrives, I compare it line by line with the SPA:

• the buyer names, spelled exactly as in the passports, with every co-owner listed;
• the unit number, floor and project;
• the area;
• the price;
• the developer, which should be the same legal entity as in the contract and on the project card in Mashrooi ↗.

If anything is off, get it corrected now. Fixing it years later, at handover or on resale, is a lot harder.

Reselling before handover

The law lets you sell off-plan before completion. The resale also goes through the interim register, and the new buyer is registered in their own name. You'll almost always need the developer's NOC, though, and each developer has its own conditions, such as a minimum percentage paid, no arrears and an administrative fee.

If arrears and penalties have built up, the developer may hold the NOC until they're cleared. I explain how that can be handled, including with a mortgage, in developer NOCs with arrears and penalties.

From my practice. Clients bought a studio in Pearl House, JVC, for AED 570,000 on a pre-handover plan. After handover it sold for AED 770,000. Both figures are before costs such as DLD, commissions, NOC and service charges. I'm not promising anyone a result with this example. I share it because every step, from the first instalment to the sale, went through DLD registrations and developer paperwork, and each document had to be in order.

Can you get a mortgage on an Oqood unit?

Legally, yes: units in the interim register can be mortgaged. In practice banks tend to come in near handover, either for the final payment at completion or to clear a post-handover balance. The bank has to value the property, and a finished apartment is easier to value than a construction site.

A few things the bank will look at:

• whether the Oqood details match the SPA and your documents;
• a statement of account from the developer showing what's paid, what's outstanding and any penalties;
• the developer's NOC, which you'll need for the deal.

You can read how I run these deals on handover payment mortgages.

Buying an unfinished unit from its owner

Sometimes the seller is the first buyer, not the developer. That gives you three parties: the seller, you, and the developer who issues the NOC. Before any deposit changes hands, I ask for:

• a copy of the seller's Oqood certificate, so we know the registration exists and the details match;
• a statement of account from the developer with the amount paid and the balance;
• the developer's transfer conditions, meaning fees and timelines.

The seller gets paid only as part of the formal process with the developer and DLD. Paying "in advance" isn't something I'd agree to.

After handover

When the project is complete and the unit is paid off, the Oqood is replaced by a title deed. There's usually still plenty to do once you have the keys.

From my practice. A client bought a 1BR in Seslia Tower. After the purchase I stayed in touch and helped with the instalments. Later I did the snagging, connected DEWA, cooling and gas, and bought appliances and textiles. The client flew into an apartment that was ready to live in, and I found a tenant.

Mistakes I see buyers make

• Someone signs the SPA, pays every instalment on time, and has never actually seen the Oqood certificate. Ask the developer for it and keep the PDF.
• Nobody checks the details. A misspelt name or a wrong area tends to surface years later, at handover, at the bank or on resale.
• Money goes out before the project is registered. If the project isn't in Mashrooi, there's nothing to register your contract against, so check the project first.
• Oqood gets mixed up with a title deed. You won't have a title deed while instalments are running. That's normal, but factor it into any plan to sell or refinance.
• The fee clause gets skipped. 2% plus 2% adds up to real money, and the split should be written into the SPA before you sign rather than agreed verbally.

Quick recap

• Oqood is the interim registration of your SPA with DLD during construction.
• The developer files it through the Oqood portal within 90 days of signing.
• The e-certificate comes by email; check it against your SPA.
• The DLD tariff is 2% plus 2% with small fixed fees, and the SPA decides who pays what.
• You get the title deed after completion and full payment.

If you bought off-plan and still have no Oqood certificate, or the one you have contains a mistake, message me on WhatsApp. I'll tell you where to go and what to bring. If you're still choosing a project, my developer due diligence checklist and the off-plan catalogue are good places to start.