Abu Dhabi's Department of Municipalities and Transport has introduced four new decisions to strengthen oversight across all stages of real estate projects. Announced on 30 March 2026, they implement the updated real estate law, originally issued in 2015 and amended in 2025.
Four Regulatory Decisions
The package covers four distinct areas of real estate activity. Two affect off-plan buyers directly; two apply to anyone who owns property within a managed residential community.
Escrow Account Controls
Developers cannot access escrow funds before 20% completion unless they provide bank guarantees and approved cost estimates. This protects buyer funds early in the project.
Off-plan buyersJointly Owned Property
Sets clear rules for managing shared property, including common areas and facilities. Defines the roles of owners, developers, and management companies, and strengthens oversight.
Property owners in communitiesOwners' Committees
Introduces standard rules for how owners' committees are formed and operate across all developments, including their responsibilities and authority.
Property owners in communitiesCancellations and Refunds
Sets clear rules for compensation when buyers cancel off-plan purchases and establishes defined timelines for issuing refunds after a unit is resold.
Off-plan buyers & developersWhat changes for off-plan buyers
Under Decision 24, developers can no longer access project funds freely during the early construction phase. Withdrawals are now allowed only with bank guarantees and approved cost estimates in place, ensuring buyer payments are used strictly for the project when risk is highest.
Decision 165 replaces contract-by-contract negotiation with a fixed set of rules. Compensation ratios are now tied to project progress, and refund timelines are triggered automatically once the unit is resold — giving both parties a predictable outcome regardless of how the original contract was worded.
Your deposit goes into a locked account the moment you pay it. The developer cannot withdraw funds until they have built 20% of the building and can show the regulator a bank guarantee and a verified cost plan. If you later cancel your purchase, both you and the developer know exactly what happens next — how much the developer can keep, and by when you receive the remainder once the unit is sold to someone else.
What changes for existing property owners
Decision 25 defines the roles of owners, developers, and management companies when shared areas transfer after project completion, with ADREC holding supervisory authority over the process. Previously, responsibility for this transition was unclear — especially where the developer still owned unsold units.
Decision 26 standardises how owners' committees are formed across all developments — their powers, composition, and the process for raising disputes with management companies.
There is now a clear rulebook for who is responsible for the lobby, lifts, pool, and every other shared space once the building is handed over. Every residential building in Abu Dhabi also follows the same rules for how residents organise themselves — before this, each developer wrote their own, meaning protections varied significantly between buildings.
Why these decisions were issued now
The four decisions put Law No. 2 of 2025 into action. While the law set the overall framework, these decisions define the specific rules for developers, buyers, and community managers.
On the decision numbers
Although the decisions carry 2025 numbers, this reflects internal administrative sequencing, not their release date. All four were announced on 30 March 2026 and took effect from that date.