Jointly Owned Property (JOP)

Jointly owned property is the legal regime governing buildings and communities divided into privately owned units plus shared common areas — lobbies, lifts, pools, roads, facades. Dubai's jointly owned property law (Law No. 6 of 2019) is the framework: it defines unit owners' shares in the common areas, mandates how projects are declared and managed, regulates service charges through RERA approval and the Mollak system, and sets out owners' rights against management entities and developers. The regime matters to anyone buying an apartment or townhouse in a managed community because your title is never just the unit — it carries an undivided share of common areas and an obligation to fund them. Key documents include the jointly owned property declaration and community rules, which bind owners and tenants alike. Disputes over charges, defects in common areas, or developer control of management are escalated to RERA and, where needed, the Dubai courts.