Dubai is one of the few markets in the world where annual rent increases are formally capped. The cap is set by Decree No. 43 of 2013 and operates on a sliding scale tied to how far below the RERA Rental Index your current rent sits. Here is how it works in practice.
The sliding scale, in one paragraph
If your current rent is within 10% of the RERA Index value, no increase is permitted. If it's 11–20% below, up to 5% increase is allowed. 21–30% below, up to 10%. 31–40% below, up to 15%. More than 40% below, up to 20%. That's the entire scale.
How to check the index
The Dubai Land Department publishes the RERA Rental Index as a free public lookup (the Dubai REST app and the DLD website). You enter the property type, area, and unit configuration, and it returns the indicative rent range.
Compare your current rent to the upper-end of the range. The percentage difference is what determines the maximum increase.
The 90-day notice rule
Even when an increase is permitted by the index, the landlord must give 90 days' written notice before the lease end date. Without that notice, the rent rolls over at the same value — even if the market has moved.
Many tenants don't know this and pay the increase anyway. If you receive an increase notice less than 90 days before renewal, you don't have to accept it.
What if the notice is non-compliant
Two routes. First, write back to the landlord referencing Decree No. 43 of 2013 and the actual RERA Index value, and propose the lawful figure. Most landlords back down at this stage because they'd prefer to keep the tenant.
Second, file at the Rental Dispute Centre. Filing fees are modest (3.5% of annual rent, capped at AED 20,000) and the RDC enforces the law strictly.
The cap is not optional. A landlord cannot waive it in the tenancy contract, and an increase outside the cap is unenforceable. If you have a notice in hand, the first action is always: look up the index value, compare to your rent, do the math.