The Department of Municipalities and Transport has issued a package of administrative and regulatory decisions to implement the provisions of Law No. (3) of 2015 on Regulating the Real Estate Sector in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, as amended by Law No. (2) of 2025. This step aims to enhance the efficiency of applying relevant legislation and reinforce the principles of transparency and governance in the real estate market within a more flexible and clear legislative framework that aligns with global best practices in the field.
The package includes four administrative decisions, covering mechanisms and controls for disbursing funds from the real estate project guarantee account before 20% project completion, regulating ownership and controls for the use and management of properties, common areas, and facilities, approving the internal system for Owners' Associations, and defining the ratios, procedures, and timelines for refunding amounts to buyers of canceled and resold units, in accordance with Article (3/17) of Law No. 3 of 2015, as amended by Law No. 2 of 2025.
These decisions are part of Abu Dhabi's efforts to enhance its status as a leading global investment hub in the real estate sector by developing a flexible and sustainable legislative environment that supports developers, protects investors' rights, and meets future growth requirements, ensuring market governance and promoting its development.
The package also improves the efficiency of law implementation, simplifies its understanding and application, and aligns with the rapid growth of the emirate's real estate sector, enhancing its competitiveness regionally and internationally.
The new package of decisions clarifies the legal and contractual relationships among various real estate market parties through an integrated regulatory framework that balances the interests of developers, investors, and owners, and defines the roles and responsibilities of developers, management companies, and Owners' Associations, thereby reinforcing role integration and supporting project sustainability, especially in managing common areas and enhancing the role of Owners' Associations.
The decisions also include provisions that enable developers to implement projects efficiently while ensuring the protection of buyers' rights and funds, and introduce a flexible and rapid mechanism to resolve disputes between developers and unit buyers, enhancing the efficiency and diversity of the real estate market.
In detail, Decision No. 24 of 2025 on the mechanism and controls for disbursing funds from the real estate project guarantee account before 20% of its completion regulates disbursements before reaching the specified completion percentage through clear controls, including the provision of bank guarantees and approved cost estimates, which protects buyers' funds and prevents any unregulated use of guarantee account funds.
Decision No. 25 of 2025 regulates common ownership through a comprehensive framework for managing properties, common areas, and facilities, defining roles and responsibilities among owners, developers, and management companies within a regulatory and supervisory system that enhances the role of Abu Dhabi Real Estate Center, unifies concepts and controls, improves operational efficiency and sustainability, and ensures the long-term preservation of real estate asset quality.
Decision No. 26 of 2025 on approving the internal system for Owners' Associations aims to regulate their work through a unified and clear framework across the emirate, defining the procedures for forming owners' associations, their competencies, operational procedures, and their relations with regulatory authorities and management companies, contributing to improving residential community management and enhancing owners' participation in project sustainability in line with global best practices.
Decision No. 165 of 2025 regulates the compensation due to the developer in case the buyer breaches their obligations under the off-plan sales contract, in addition to defining the timelines and procedures for refunding amounts to buyers after unit cancellation and resale, in ratios that ensure fairness between the parties, the project's status, and completion percentage, with transparent procedures that ensure the rights of all parties and provide a faster and fairer mechanism for settling such cases.
Rashed Al Ameri, Director General of Abu Dhabi Real Estate Center, stated that issuing this package of executive and regulatory decisions is a significant step in developing the mechanisms for implementing Law No. 3 of 2015 on Regulating the Real Estate Sector and its amendments by adopting flexible and market-variable-adjustable implementation tools, enhancing the sector's regulatory efficiency, reinforcing transparency and governance principles, boosting investor confidence, and strengthening Abu Dhabi's position as a leading real estate destination.
He explained that the decisions establish a clear executive framework for several key provisions of the Law, achieving balance in contractual relationships, enhancing the protection of all parties' rights, and supporting the speed and efficiency of market procedures.
The package contributes to enhancing the integration of the real estate sector's system by establishing new regulatory and supervisory standards that support the role of Abu Dhabi Real Estate Center in overseeing the market and providing comprehensive real estate services in line with global best practices. It also represents a qualitative leap in the mechanism for regulating and implementing some of the Law's provisions by adopting a model based on regulatory and executive decisions characterized by integration, comprehensiveness, and transparency, capable of keeping pace with the sector's rapid developments, thereby enhancing the market's efficiency, credibility, diversity, and procedural transparency.
