Dubai Land Department broker register
How to check a Dubai real estate agent
Two checks, both free, both on the Land Department’s own services, and both worth doing before you sign anything or send anybody money. The first is whether the agent is licensed. The second is the one almost nobody does: whether they have ever actually registered a transaction.
All 32,166 currently licensed Dubai brokers, with the transactions recorded against each broker number:
Look up an agent1. Is the agent licensed, and is the licence current?
Ask for their BRN, the Broker Registration Number. It belongs to the person, not to the company: an agent completes the Dubai Real Estate Institute training, passes the RERA exam and is issued their own number and broker card. Working at a licensed brokerage is not the same thing as being licensed. A professional will have their BRN on their card, their email signature and their listings, and will hand it over without hesitating.
Then check it yourself rather than taking a screenshot they send you. The Land Department publishes the list of licensed real estate brokers, searchable by name or number, and it shows which brokerage they are with and when their licence expires. The same page will show you nothing at all if the number is not real.
2. Is the brokerage licensed?
The company has its own number, the ORN or Office Registration Number, which is separate from the agent’s. The Land Department publishes the list of licensed real estate brokerage companies the same way. Both numbers should check out, and they should match each other: an agent whose registered brokerage is not the one on their business card is worth a question.
3. Is the listing itself permitted?
Every property advertisement in Dubai carries its own permit, issued through the Land Department’s Trakheesi system, and the permit number belongs on the listing. A permit is issued against a real property with a real contracted seller, which is why a listing without one is the single most common sign of a property that is not genuinely for sale. The Land Department’s service to validate licences and permits checks a permit number directly.
The check almost nobody does
4. Has this agent ever actually registered a transaction?
A current licence means somebody passed an exam and paid a fee. It is necessary and it is not the same as experience. Of the 32,166 brokers licensed in Dubai right now, 19,129 have no transactions recorded against their broker number on the Land Department’s register. That is not a scandal and it is not an accusation: people are newly licensed, people move across from other work, and some transact under a colleague’s number. It is a fact to ask about before somebody advises you on a two million dirham purchase.
We publish that count for every licensed broker, because the Land Department publishes it and nobody else puts it where a buyer can find it. Every other Dubai agent directory orders agents by reviews, editorial scores or paid placement. This is the regulator’s own number, with no rating of ours attached to it.
Look up an agentWhat the transaction count does and does not mean
The Land Department publishes a single transaction count against each broker number and does not break it down by type, so it may include both sales and leases. A broker who works mainly in leasing can show a high count without having sold a home; a broker who sells a handful of expensive villas can show a low one. It is a record of registered activity, not a measure of value and not a judgement of anybody’s service. Read it as something to ask about, the same way you would read a gap on a CV.
Licence and permit checks are services of the Dubai Land Department and should always be run against their own channels at the time you are buying. Transaction counts are as published by the Land Department and are not an assessment by Dubai Diligence. This page is general orientation, not legal advice.
