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No — a landlord cannot cut your power or change your locks, whatever the dispute is about. Dubai law does not allow self-help eviction: only the Rental Disputes Centre (RDC) can order a tenant out, and a landlord who disconnects utilities or locks a tenant out of their home exposes himself to liability. Your fastest route back in runs on two tracks. First, report to the police that you have been locked out of your residence with your belongings inside; officers routinely attend to restore access or supervise retrieval, and the report itself becomes valuable evidence. Second, file an urgent application at the RDC seeking restoration of the tenancy and services, plus compensation — the RDC can move quickly where a tenant has effectively been put on the street. Before either step, photograph the changed locks, keep your DEWA records showing the disconnection followed your rent dispute, and note any witnesses such as building security. Do not break back in yourself; let the police or the RDC restore you lawfully, so the wrongdoing stays entirely on his side. If access is not restored within days, a UAE property lawyer can run the urgent application and the compensation claim for you.

Nothing happens automatically on the day the notice expires — your colleague is right that the landlord must file an eviction case at Dubai's Rental Disputes Centre (RDC) to actually remove you, and that takes time. Until a judgment exists, you are an occupant whose notice has run out, not a lawbreaker, and no fines accrue simply because you stayed. That said, do not mistake breathing room for safety. If the twelve-month notice was validly served and the landlord proves a lawful ground, the RDC will likely order you to vacate, possibly with costs, and the judgment then goes to execution — meaning a forced exit date if you still have not left. Judges sometimes allow a short period to move out, especially for tenants who kept paying rent and engaged in good faith, but that is discretionary, not a right. So keep paying rent on time, since stopping would hand the landlord a second and faster ground, keep written records, and consider proposing an agreed extension of a month or two in exchange for a confirmed exit date — many landlords prefer certainty to litigation. A Dubai-licensed tenancy lawyer can tell you how a judge is likely to view your particular notice and timeline.

You have some protection, but your position is weaker than a registered tenant's, and much depends on whether the landlord approved the subletting. In Dubai, subletting requires the landlord's written consent; where it exists, you have a recognisable tenancy relationship with the main tenant, and disputes between you go to the Rental Disputes Centre (RDC) like any other rent dispute. Even without Ejari in your name, occupants who can prove they paid rent and lived in the unit have brought claims, so start collecting evidence now: payment receipts or bank transfers, messages about the room, and anything showing your dates of occupancy. A week's notice has no legal basis, and nobody may remove you by force — only a court process can order an eviction. Two risks to keep in mind: if the landlord never consented, the entire sublease can be terminated, and partitioned rooms often breach Dubai Municipality rules, which limits how hard you can push. Try to settle the demand in writing first; if he persists, the RDC is the venue. A licensed tenancy lawyer in Dubai can quickly assess how strong your evidence is before you file anything.

You can challenge it, and your evidence goes to the heart of how these notices are policed. In Dubai, a landlord may refuse renewal for personal use, but only within conditions: the notice must give twelve months and be served through the notary public or by registered mail, the landlord must genuinely intend to occupy the property and must not own a suitable alternative, and after recovering it for personal use he is barred from re-letting it for a set period — two years for residential property — failing which the evicted tenant can claim compensation. A flat that was advertised for rent online after the last tenant left is precisely the kind of fact that undermines the claimed intention. So do not just move out. Preserve the evidence now: dated screenshots of the old listing, the advertising agent's details, anything showing the unit was offered to the market. Check the notice itself for defects in how it was served. Then contest the eviction at the Rental Disputes Centre, where the landlord's genuine intention — not his assertion of it — is what gets tested. A licensed UAE lawyer who handles RDC matters can assess quickly whether your listing evidence is enough to defeat the notice.

In Dubai, maintenance is the landlord's responsibility unless your contract clearly shifts it to you — so months of acknowledged but unfixed AC and water problems put him in breach, not you. But resist the tempting shortcut: do not simply deduct repair costs from the rent on your own. Withholding or short-paying rent without authorisation can flip you into breach and hand the landlord the upper hand. Sequence it properly instead. Send a written notice — email or registered letter, not just chat messages — listing the defects, referencing your earlier reports, and giving a clear deadline to fix them. Gather your evidence in parallel: the message history showing he acknowledged the issues, photos and videos, dates the AC failed, and a contractor's quote for the works. If the deadline passes, file a case at the Rental Disputes Centre, which can order the landlord to carry out the repairs, authorise you to repair and recover or offset the cost, and in suitable cases adjust the rent for the period the property fell short. For habitability problems like failing AC in summer, the municipality can also inspect. A licensed UAE lawyer can run the RDC filing for you, though many tenants handle straightforward repair cases themselves.

Your agent is right. In Dubai, a landlord cannot evict a tenant during the term of the tenancy except on limited grounds set out in the law — non-payment of rent after formal notice, unlawful or unauthorised use of the property, subletting without consent, the property being unsafe or slated for demolition with the required permits, and similar. A family member needing the flat is not among them. Wanting the property for personal or family use only becomes relevant at the end of the contract, and even then it requires twelve months' notice served through the notary public or by registered mail — not a thirty-day verbal instruction halfway through a signed year. So the demand has no legal force, and you are entitled to stay until your contract expires. Respond calmly and in writing: confirm that you will continue performing the contract and remaining in the property until its end date. Keep paying rent exactly on time, since arrears are the one door you control. If the landlord escalates — cutting services, harassment, or filing anyway — the Rental Disputes Centre is the forum, and his own demand will count against him there. A licensed UAE property lawyer can send the reply letter if you would rather it carry extra weight.

You are not obliged to simply wait — a delay of nearly a year beyond the contractual date gives you real options. Start with your sale and purchase agreement: it will state the anticipated handover date and usually a grace period the developer may use; delay beyond that combined period is a breach. Put the developer on formal written notice of the delay and your reserved rights. In parallel, raise the matter with the Dubai Land Department and RERA, which regulate off-plan projects and their escrow accounts — you can also check the project's official completion status through Dubai REST, which is more reliable than the developer's estimates. Depending on how serious the delay is, remedies pursued through the Dubai courts (or arbitration, if your contract says so) include terminating the contract with a refund of what you have paid, or keeping the unit and claiming compensation for the delay, which can take into account losses such as the rent you are paying meanwhile. One caution: do not stop your installments without advice, because withholding payment can put you in default. A lawyer experienced in off-plan disputes can read your SPA and tell you which remedy is realistic before you decide.

Your security deposit is refundable, less only the cost of genuine damage beyond normal wear and tear, and the agent is right that the obligation sits with the owner. Start with a formal written demand: a short letter or email to the landlord setting out the amount, attaching your tenancy contract, the deposit receipt, the handover inspection record, and your move-out photos, and giving a clear deadline of a week or two to pay. Send it in a form you can prove was received. If that produces nothing, the Rental Dispute Centre at the Dubai Land Department is the forum for deposit claims, and cases can be filed online with your documents. Filing carries a fee calculated from the claim, so weigh it against the amount, but be aware that many landlords pay promptly once they see a case has actually been opened — the demand letter mentioning the RDC sometimes does the job on its own. Two months of broken promises suggests the time for patience has passed. If the landlord still will not engage, a lawyer can handle the RDC filing for you, though many tenants manage the process themselves.

On what you describe, you do not have to leave — an email four months before expiry does not meet Dubai's eviction requirements. Under Dubai tenancy law, a landlord may require the tenant to vacate on expiry in order to sell the property, but only after serving twelve months' written notice, and the notice must be delivered through a notary public or by registered mail. Both the reason and the method of service matter: an ordinary email citing a sale satisfies neither the twelve-month lead time nor the formal service requirement. You can reply in writing noting the notice is not valid and that you intend to renew; the tenancy then continues on the existing terms, subject only to any lawful rent adjustment under the RERA index. The landlord remains free to serve a proper notarised notice, in which case your twelve months would run from that service. He can also sell with you in place — a buyer takes the property subject to your tenancy. If he presses the matter, the Rental Dispute Centre decides eviction disputes. A property lawyer can confirm the notice is defective and draft a measured reply that protects your position.

A Dubai tenancy cannot simply be handed to someone else: assignment or subletting requires the landlord's written consent, and without it the arrangement has no protection. Since your landlord seems open to it, there are two clean ways forward. The first is a written assignment signed by all three parties, transferring the contract to your colleague on the same terms. The second — and in practice simpler — is to terminate your contract by agreement and have your colleague sign a fresh tenancy directly with the landlord. Either way, Ejari must be sorted: your existing registration is cancelled and a new one registered in your colleague's name, because Ejari follows the contract, not the apartment. Expect the landlord to ask for an administrative charge for the change; there is no fixed lawful tariff, so agree the figure in writing before anything is signed. Most importantly, get a written release confirming you have no further obligations under the old contract once your colleague takes over — that single document is what protects you if anything goes wrong later. A tenancy lawyer can look over the paperwork quickly and make sure it releases you cleanly.