The routine works only if every tenancy is recorded once, with its registered contract number, rent, payment schedule and expiry date, and every receipt is matched to it. Most collection problems start with a contract that lives in a folder rather than in the system.
Which rules shape rent collection in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Saudi Arabia?
| Rule | Dubai | Abu Dhabi | Saudi Arabia |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contract registration | Ejari, mandatory for all leases and amendments (Law 26 of 2007, as amended by Law 33 of 2008) | Tawtheeq, mandatory for residential and commercial leases | Ejar, mandatory for all leases |
| How rent is paid | Usually post-dated cheques or transfers | Usually post-dated cheques or transfers | Residential rent must be paid through Ejar's digital channels (mada or SADAD) since 15 January 2024; payments outside Ejar are not recognised as proof. Commercial leases are not covered |
| Rent increases | Capped by the RERA rental index bands (Decree 43 of 2013), from 0% to 20% depending on how far the rent is below the area average | Frozen at 0% since 2 June 2026 for residential, commercial and industrial property (outside ADGM), until further notice | In Riyadh, frozen for five years from 25 September 2025 for residential and commercial property |
| Notice to change rent or terms | At least 90 days before expiry | Check with the Abu Dhabi Real Estate Centre | Leases renew automatically unless a party gives notice at least 60 days before expiry |
Two practical consequences for collection:
The registered contract is the record. Rent, dates and instalments in your system should match the Ejari, Tawtheeq or Ejar registration exactly. A difference is the first thing a tenant will raise in a dispute.
In Saudi Arabia, match residential receipts to Ejar. Because residential payments must go through Ejar, reconcile Ejar's payment records with your rent roll and bank account each month, rather than relying on tenant transfers.
What does the monthly rent collection routine look like?
| When | Task | Output |
|---|---|---|
| Last week of previous month | Run the rent due list for next month from the tenancy contracts: unit, tenant, amount, due date, payment method | Rent due schedule |
| Last week of previous month | Pull post-dated cheques due next month from the safe and check them against the schedule | Cheque deposit list |
| On each due date | Deposit cheques; send payment reminders to tenants paying by transfer or online | Deposit slips, reminders sent |
| Within 2 working days | Record receipts against the tenancy and instalment, not just the tenant | Updated tenant ledgers |
| Same day as notice | Act on returned cheques: contact the tenant, record the return and any bank charges | Returned cheque log |
| Day 7 to 10 after due date | Follow up all unpaid instalments by phone and in writing | Arrears list with actions |
| Mid-month | Review contracts expiring in the next 90 to 120 days; prepare renewal offers and notices | Renewal list |
| Month end | Reconcile rent received to the bank statement and to the rent roll; accrue and recognise rent income for the month | Reconciled rent roll, owner statements |
Recognise rent over the period, not on the cheque. A tenant who pays a year's rent in four quarterly cheques pays three months in advance each time. Under IFRS 16, a lessor recognises operating lease income on a straight-line basis over the lease term, so the income statement shows one month's rent each month, and the rest of the cheque sits as rent received in advance.
Owners need statements, not raw ledgers. For managed portfolios, close the month with a statement for each owner: rent due, collected, arrears, expenses and the management fee.
What does a month look like for a real portfolio?
A Dubai property manager looks after 40 residential units for three owners. Annual rents total AED 3,600,000, most paid by four or six post-dated cheques. In October, 20 instalments fall due:
| Instalment status | Count | AED |
|---|---|---|
| Cheques deposited and cleared | 17 | 336,000 |
| Cheque returned by the bank | 1 | 28,000 |
| Bank transfer received | 1 | 20,000 |
| Bank transfer not received | 1 | 28,000 |
| Total due | 20 | 412,000 |
Collected: AED 356,000, or 86.4% of the amount due. Arrears: AED 56,000 on two units.
The returned cheque was logged the day the bank reported it, and the tenant replaced it with a transfer within a week. The late transfer was chased on day 7 and paid on day 12. Both units are flagged so their next instalments are watched closely.
Note the difference between instalments and income. October's instalments due total AED 412,000, but rent income for the month is AED 300,000 (AED 3,600,000 divided by 12). The other AED 112,000 covers later months and is recorded as rent received in advance (deferred income); AED 56,000 of it has not been collected yet, so it sits in arrears, not in the bank. Owner statements show both.
The mid-month review finds five contracts expiring at the end of January. If any rent change or new terms are planned, the notices need to reach those tenants by early November.
How should renewals, rent increases and notices be handled?
Renewals are where a missed date costs a full year. Build a renewal list 120 days ahead so notices go out with time to spare.
Dubai. To change the rent or any term at renewal, notify the tenant at least 90 days before expiry. Any increase must sit within the RERA bands. For example, if a unit is let at AED 80,000 and the RERA average for similar units is AED 100,000, the rent is 20% below average, so the maximum increase is 5%, or AED 4,000. To recover a unit for sale or the owner's own use, the notice period is 12 months, served through a notary public or by registered mail.
Abu Dhabi. Under the 0% cap in force since June 2026, renewals stay at the current rent. Check the Abu Dhabi Real Estate Centre for updates before sending renewal offers.
Saudi Arabia. Leases now renew automatically unless either party gives notice at least 60 days before expiry. In Riyadh, rents are frozen until September 2030, and a vacant unit that was let before is capped at its last rent recorded on Ejar.
How is VAT handled on rent?
| Lease type | UAE | Saudi Arabia |
|---|---|---|
| Residential | Exempt (the first supply of a new residential building within three years of completion is zero-rated) | Exempt |
| Commercial | 5% | 15% |
| Property management fees | 5% | 15% |
Three accounting points follow from this.
Mixed portfolios need two treatments. A building with shops on the ground floor and flats above has taxable and exempt rent in the same rent roll. Tag each unit's use in the tenancy record, so VAT is charged on commercial rent only and the landlord's input VAT can be apportioned correctly.
Commercial rent needs tax invoices, and in Saudi Arabia, e-invoices. Rent paid in instalments is a periodic supply: in the UAE, VAT on each instalment is generally due at the earliest of the invoice, the payment due date or receipt of payment, so issue a tax invoice per instalment. Under ZATCA Phase 2, these invoices go through the e-invoicing platform.
Security deposits are not income. Hold them as a liability to the tenant until they are refunded or applied to damage at the end of the lease. Dubai law requires a deposit to be refunded at expiry; the amount itself is set by the contract, not by law.
What does HYP see at property managers?
At property management companies and landlords across the UAE and Saudi Arabia, our implementation team often finds the cheque safe and the rent roll kept in separate places. The safe holds a year of post-dated cheques; the spreadsheet holds the rents. When a cheque is replaced, split or returned, one of the two is not updated.
The managers with the lowest arrears do three things: they record every post-dated cheque against its instalment when the contract is signed, they deposit from a system-generated list rather than from the safe, and they review arrears weekly rather than at month end.
HYP's real estate solution holds tenancy contracts, instalments and post-dated cheques against each unit, and produces the rent due list, arrears and owner statements from the same records. See how it works on our Lease Contracts & Real Estate Billing page.
Related reading: for developers collecting off-plan instalments, see Real Estate Installment Billing: Managing Off-Plan Payment Plans and Collections.
Sources
- Dubai Law No. 26 of 2007 regulating relationships between landlords and tenants
- Dubai Law No. 33 of 2008 amending Law No. 26 of 2007
- Dubai Decree No. 43 of 2013 determining rent increases
- Dubai Land Department: register or renew an Ejari contract
- Baker McKenzie: Abu Dhabi freezes rental increases (June 2026)
- REGA: residential rent payments through Ejar's digital channels
- King & Spalding: Saudi Arabia introduces rent controls and automatic lease renewal