Off-Plan Property

An off-plan property is a unit purchased before construction is complete — often before it has even started — directly from a developer based on plans, brochures and a show apartment. Off-plan sales dominate new supply in Dubai and are attractive because of staged payment plans and lower entry prices, but they carry distinct legal risks: delayed completion, changes to specifications, and in the worst case a cancelled project. UAE regulation addresses these risks through several mechanisms you should verify before signing: the project and developer must be registered with the regulator, buyer payments must go into a RERA-approved escrow account rather than to the developer directly, and the sale must be recorded in the interim real estate register (via Oqood in Dubai). Buyers meet off-plan issues at launch events, when negotiating payment plans and handover dates in the SPA, and later at snagging and handover.