A glossy render, a "today only" discount and a confident sales agent are not enough to decide whether you should hand over a deposit for a unit in Dubai. The good news is that almost everything you need to check before buying does not require a lawyer or an insider contact. The Dubai Land Department (DLD) and its regulator, RERA, publish a developer's status, a project's registration number, its escrow account, its advertising permit and a broker's license number in one free public app.
That app is Dubai REST, the official digital platform of the Dubai Land Department for owners, tenants, brokers and developers. It is the same tool used to register Ejari tenancy contracts, and it lets you check any project or any party to a deal in a few minutes. Below is a practical walkthrough of how that verification actually works inside DLD's own registries, not a list of generic "insider tips."
If, after all these checks, you still need to send money into a developer's escrow account, it is worth understanding exactly how that protection is structured. See our guide to escrow accounts in Dubai for the details.
Step 1: Install Dubai REST and find the verification tools
Everything below happens in one place. Dubai REST is DLD's free app for iOS and Android. It pulls directly from the official property register: project status, escrow information, broker and developer licenses, Ejari history and a property map. The same license and permit checks are also mirrored on the DLD website through the "Validate Real Estate Licenses and Permits" e-service, so you can run the check in a browser if you would rather not install the app.
This is not a third-party listings aggregator. It is a direct interface to the DLD database. If a project, developer or broker cannot be found there, that is not a "system glitch." It is a signal that what you are looking at has not been legalized as a Dubai transaction.
Step 2: Confirm the developer is actually registered
Selling property off-plan in Dubai is only legal for a developer that has completed the Register Project procedure with DLD. That process includes proof of land ownership or a valid lease, evidence of financial capacity, and opening a dedicated escrow account before any units go on sale. Financial capacity, per the same procedure, means one of: completion of 30 percent of construction, a bank guarantee covering 30 percent of construction, or a cash deposit equivalent to 30 percent, held at the trustee institution. If a sales manager calls themselves a "developer" but the company name does not appear when you run it through the license and permit validation service, hold off on any payment until you know who you are actually dealing with: a subcontractor, a marketing agent, or an unrelated entity.
Step 3: Check the project itself by its registration number, not the name on the brochure
A project's marketing name and its official DLD registration do not always match, and the same development is sometimes sold under different brand names at different sales phases. The reliable way to check is by registration number, not by name, through the Real Estate Project Status Enquiry service inside Dubai REST. It shows the project's official status, its physical construction completion percentage and the developer of record. If the system cannot find the project at all, it has no official DLD registration at the time of the check, and units in it cannot legally be sold, regardless of what the developer's own website claims.
It is worth reopening the same check before every major milestone payment on your payment plan. The completion percentage shown here is not a marketing figure; it is a number DLD reconciles against actual construction progress.
Step 4: Find the escrow account number and confirm your money is not going straight to the developer
This is the single most important check for an off-plan purchase. If you are still weighing off-plan against a ready unit, the risk and cash-flow comparison between the two is covered in our guide to off-plan versus ready property in Dubai. Under Law No. (8) of 2007 Concerning Escrow Accounts for Real Estate Development in the Emirate of Dubai, every project must have its own escrow account held by a bank trustee approved through DLD's Approval/Renewal of an Account Trustee and Auditing Company process, and buyer payments must go into that specific account, never into the developer's own corporate bank account. The escrow account number tied to a project appears in the same project status check inside Dubai REST.
If a developer asks you to send a deposit or an installment to an account that does not match the registered escrow account, or to a third-party account "to speed things up," that breaches the structure set out in law and is a reason to stop and investigate, not to accept a verbal explanation.
Step 5: Check the advertising permit (Trakheesi) on the specific listing
Every property listing for sale or rent in Dubai is required to carry a Trakheesi permit number, the advertising-permit system that DLD administers through RERA. The official process for obtaining one is described in the Real Estate Ad Permit service: in effect, it confirms that a specific listing for a specific unit has been cleared by the regulator, rather than posted at will. You can check a listing's Trakheesi number the same way you check a developer's license, through the DLD license and permit validation service or inside Dubai REST.
If a listing has no Trakheesi number at all, or the number does not resolve in the system, it is either stale or was posted in breach of the rules. Either way, do not trust the price, size or handover date quoted in that listing until the project itself is confirmed registered through Step 3.
Step 6: Verify the BRN of the broker you are talking to
Every certified real estate agent in Dubai holds a personal BRN (Broker Registration Number), and every agency holds an ORN. Check both through the Licensed Real Estate Brokers registry on the DLD site or through the same validation service inside Dubai REST: the result shows license status, which agency the broker is tied to, and how long the license remains valid. If someone presents themselves as an agent but cannot give you a BRN, or the number does not appear in the registry, that is grounds for extra caution regardless of how convincing the pitch sounds.
It is also worth remembering the difference between buying at the construction stage and buying an assignment, a resale of an off-plan contract before handover. An assignment adds another layer of verification, covered in our guide to off-plan assignment and resale in Dubai.
Red flags worth checking on their own
Beyond the basic registration check, a few specific situations deserve extra scrutiny before you go any further:
- the project has no entry in the Real Estate Project Status Enquiry system, but the sales manager insists that "registration is in progress";
- the payment details you are given do not match the escrow account tied to the project in DLD's records;
- the developer or agency cannot be found in the DLD license registry under the name written on the contract;
- the listing has no valid Trakheesi number, or its price and size do not match what the system shows;
- the broker cannot confirm a BRN, or the number is registered to a different agency than the one they claim to represent.
If any of this comes up, it is reasonable to pause before putting down a deposit and to contact DLD directly. Contact details and how to raise an enquiry are on the official Contact Us page, and a formal complaint about a company or a transaction can be filed through the RVS Complaints service.
How long the whole check takes
In our experience, the full set of checks (developer, project number, escrow account, listing Trakheesi permit and broker BRN) takes about 10 to 15 minutes in Dubai REST once you have the project name, the listing reference and the agent's name at hand. This is not a box-ticking formality. Each item closes off a specific risk, from a project that does not legally exist to money moving outside the escrow structure, and together they give you enough confidence to move ahead to a contract and a payment.
FAQ
Where can I officially check a developer in Dubai for free? Through the Dubai REST app from the Dubai Land Department, or through the web-based Validate Real Estate Licenses and Permits service on dubailand.gov.ae. Both channels are free and pull from the same official database.
How do I find a project's registration number and status with DLD? Through the Real Estate Project Status Enquiry service, which shows the project's registration, its physical completion percentage and the developer of record. It is more reliable to search by the official project number than by a marketing name.
How do I check that off-plan payments are going into escrow rather than to the developer directly? The project's escrow account number is shown in the project status check inside Dubai REST. The protection itself is set out in Law No. (8) of 2007: the account is held at a bank approved by DLD as trustee, opened separately for each individual project.
What is Trakheesi and how do I check a listing's permit number? Trakheesi is DLD/RERA's advertising-permit system for property listings, described in the Real Estate Ad Permit service. A specific listing's permit number is checked through the same license validation service used for developers and brokers.
How do I verify a broker's BRN in Dubai? Through the Licensed Real Estate Brokers registry on the DLD website or inside Dubai REST. The result shows license status, the agency the broker is attached to, and how long the license remains valid.
Where should I go if a check turns up a violation? Contact DLD directly through the official Contact Us page, or file a complaint against a company or transaction through the RVS Complaints service.
Sources
- Dubai Land Department. Dubai REST (eService). https://dubailand.gov.ae/en/eservices/dubai-rest/
- Dubai Land Department. Validate Real Estate Licenses and Permits (eService). https://dubailand.gov.ae/en/eservices/validate-real-estate-licenses-and-permits/
- Dubai Land Department. Register Project (eService). https://dubailand.gov.ae/en/eservices/register-project/
- Dubai Land Department. Real Estate Project Status Enquiry (eService). https://dubailand.gov.ae/en/eservices/real-estate-project-status-landing/real-estate-project-status/
- Dubai Land Department (DLP). Law No. (8) of 2007 Concerning Escrow Accounts for Real Estate Development in the Emirate of Dubai. https://dlp.dubai.gov.ae/Legislation%20Reference/2007/Law%20No.%20%288%29%20of%202007.html
- Dubai Land Department. Approval/Renewal of an Account Trustee and Auditing Company (eService). https://dubailand.gov.ae/en/eservices/approval-renewal-of-an-account-trustee-and-auditing-company/
- Dubai Land Department. Real Estate Ad Permit / Trakheesi (eService). https://dubailand.gov.ae/en/eservices/real-estate-ad-permit/
- Dubai Land Department. Licensed Real Estate Brokers (eService). https://dubailand.gov.ae/en/eservices/licensed-real-estate-brokers/
- Dubai Land Department. Contact Us. https://dubailand.gov.ae/en/contact-us
- Dubai Land Department. RVS Complaints (eService). https://dubailand.gov.ae/en/eservices/complaint/