Relocating to Dubai
What renting in Dubai actually costs
Median registered rent, last 12 months
AED 65,000a year
Across 614,925 tenancy contracts registered with the Dubai Land Department in the last twelve months. Not asking prices, not an estimate, and not a portal average: the amounts tenants actually signed.
If you are weighing up a move, rent is the number that decides whether the offer works. It is also the number everybody guesses at, because the portals publish what landlords are asking and nobody publishes what tenants agreed. Every tenancy in Dubai is registered, so the second figure exists. Here it is, by size and by community.
By size, across all of Dubai
The middle column is the median: half of everything registered went for less, half for more. The range either side is the middle half of the market, which is a more honest picture of what you will be quoted than a single number can be.
- Studio108,904 contracts
40,000
middle half 32,500 to 48,000 a year
- 1 bedroom225,734 contracts
58,418
middle half 46,000 to 75,000 a year
- 2 bedrooms183,116 contracts
77,846
middle half 60,000 to 105,000 a year
- 3 bedrooms64,341 contracts
133,702
middle half 98,511 to 180,000 a year
- 4 bedrooms22,713 contracts
205,000
middle half 156,000 to 280,000 a year
- 5 bedrooms7,868 contracts
280,000
middle half 200,000 to 400,000 a year
By community, and by bedroom
The twenty-four communities with the most registered tenancies, which is where most people moving here end up. Which one you pick moves your rent more than any other choice you make. A one bedroom is a median AED 112,000 in Downtown and AED 40,000 in International City.
| Community | StudioStudio | 1 bed1 bedroom | 2 bed2 bedrooms | 3 bed3 bedrooms |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jumeirah Village Circle | 47k | 70k | 95k | 150k |
| International City Phase 1 | 30k | 40k | 55k | 110k |
| Dubai Silicon Oasis | 41k | 55k | 76k | 124k |
| Business Bay | 65k | 85k | 128k | 185k |
| Discovery Gardens | 42k | 60k | 77k | — |
| Dubai Marina | 60k | 89k | 137k | 210k |
| Arjan | 45k | 68k | 93k | 150k |
| Dubai Hills Estate | 70k | 90k | 140k | 245k |
| International City Phase 3 | 38k | 49k | 61k | 88k |
| Downtown Dubai | 70k | 112k | 175k | 295k |
| Dubai Sports City | 40k | 56k | 80k | 125k |
| Jumeirah Lakes Towers (DMCC) | 58k | 80k | 120k | 140k |
| Dubailand Residence Complex | 38k | 51k | 65k | 94k |
| Dubai Production City (IMPZ) | 38k | 56k | 78k | 95k |
| Al Furjan | 46k | 68k | 100k | 170k |
| Meydan One | 48k | 73k | 100k | 130k |
| Town Square | 42k | 60k | 85k | 143k |
| Dubai Creek Harbour | — | 95k | 145k | 210k |
| Barsha Heights (Tecom) | 60k | 68k | 88k | 122k |
| Damac Hills 2 | 37k | 47k | 85k | 90k |
| The Gardens | 42k | 67k | 86k | 86k |
| Sobha Hartland | 65k | 86k | 140k | 190k |
| Dubai South Residential District | 40k | 52k | 79k | 145k |
| Damac Hills | 44k | 70k | 118k | 190k |
Median registered annual rent in thousands of dirhams, last 12 months. A dash means fewer than 30 contracts of that size were registered in that community, so we do not publish a median for it. Community names are the Land Department’s, with the common name first.
Why these numbers differ from a portal’s
Three reasons, and they all matter when you are budgeting.
- A registered rent is agreed, an advertised rent is hoped for. These figures come from contracts that were signed and filed. What you see on a listing site is an asking price, and the gap between the two is the negotiation you have not had yet.
- Homes only. A third of every tenancy registered in Dubai is commercial, and mixing the two produces nonsense. Business Bay is the clearest case: most of its registered contracts are offices, with a median around a quarter of what a flat there costs. This page counts residential homes and excludes offices, shops, warehouses and labour accommodation.
- An annual figure, because that is how Dubai works. Tenancies register as a yearly amount and are then split into cheques. Fewer cheques usually means a lower annual rent, so the same flat has more than one right answer depending on how you pay. Budget for the possibility of being asked for the year up front.
Renting first, buying later
Almost everybody rents for the first year, and that is usually the right call. Twelve months here tells you which community you actually want. Communities that look interchangeable on a map rent for very different money. What changes the arithmetic afterwards is that the rent never stops, while Dubai charges no annual property tax on a home you own. If you get to that point, the thing worth knowing is what comparable homes in that building actually registered at, which is the rest of this site.
Moving from a specific country
What changes country to country is not the rent. It is what you are leaving: the property tax you stop paying, the capital gains treatment, and whether your own country keeps taxing you after you go. Each guide sets one country against Dubai side by side.
- From the United States
- From the United Kingdom
- From India
- From Russia
- From China
- From Pakistan
- From Canada
- From Germany
- From France
- From Nigeria
- From Saudi Arabia
- From Turkey
- From Egypt
Source: tenancy contracts registered with the Dubai Land Department, covering the twelve months to the most recent update of our copy of the register. Residential homes only. Figures are medians of registered annual amounts and are not a forecast, a valuation or an offer. Visa, residence and tax rules are set by the UAE government and by your own country, and they do change. Confirm both with official channels or a qualified adviser before you act. This page is general orientation, not legal, tax or financial advice.
