The convention
One to four cheques for the year.
UAE commercial rent is quoted per square foot per *year*, as in the US and UK, and not per month as in India. It is also commonly settled in advance through a small number of post-dated cheques — one, two or four for the year — handed over at signing. A tenant who negotiates more cheques is negotiating cash flow, and usually pays for it in the headline rate.
That convention makes the working-capital profile of a UAE unit quite different from a monthly-rent market. The engine models a three-month deposit for Dubai against ten months in India, but the cheque structure means the *cash* committed at signing can still be most of a year's occupancy cost.
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| Input | Dubai | Why it differs |
|---|---|---|
| Rent basis | AED per sq ft per year | As in the US and UK; India quotes per month |
| Security deposit | 3 months | Gulf and Western norm; India runs ten |
| VAT on rent | 5% | Federal VAT since 2018; India charges 18% GST |
| Corporate tax | 9% | On profit above AED 375,000 — the band one outlet sits in |
| Catchment mode | drive | Dubai retail lives on arterials and in malls |
Registration
An unregistered tenancy is a weak one.
In Dubai, tenancy contracts are registered through Ejari, administered under the Dubai Land Department. Registration is what makes the tenancy visible to the system: it is relied on for utility connections, for licensing, and for access to the rental dispute process. An unregistered arrangement leaves an occupier materially worse placed if the relationship goes wrong.
For a franchisee the sequencing matters, because the trade licence and the registered tenancy reference each other. Neither is a formality to be completed after opening.
Renewal
The index decides what a rise may be.
Dubai publishes a rental index through the Land Department, and a landlord's ability to increase rent at renewal is governed by how far the current rent sits below the index's market rate for comparable property — with permitted increases stepped by that gap, and notice required well in advance of renewal.
That is genuine protection, and it is also a planning tool: a unit currently let well below index is a unit whose rent has room to rise at renewal, which belongs in a five-year model rather than being discovered in year two. Mall leases sit outside the high-street pattern and commonly run a minimum guarantee against turnover rent, as organised retail does in most markets.
