90-Day Notice

The 90-day notice is the written notice a party — in practice almost always the landlord — must give before a Dubai tenancy expires in order to change any term of the lease on renewal, most commonly the rent. Without a valid notice served at least ninety days before the expiry date, the tenancy renews automatically on the existing terms, and a rent increase demanded later generally cannot be imposed for that renewal cycle. The notice must be genuinely communicated — registered channels, notary service or other provable delivery beat a verbal mention or a message the landlord cannot evidence — and the increase it demands must itself sit within the RERA rental index caps; the notice does not create a right to exceed them. The 90-day rule is the most common battleground at the Rental Disputes Centre in renewal disputes: tenants should diarise the date ninety days before expiry, and landlords should serve early and keep proof.