Short term leasing and holiday homes in Dubai

How holiday homes are regulated in Dubai

Short-stay letting in Dubai is a licensed activity, regulated by the Department of Economy and Tourism. The rules that shape how a unit can operate:

• Every holiday home needs a permit before it is listed. The unit is registered, inspected against a set of standards, and classified; the permit is renewed annually.
• Only whole units can be let. Individual rooms cannot be listed as holiday accommodation.
• The building or community must not object. A no-objection letter from the owners’ association or developer is part of the application.
• An owner can register a limited number of units in their own name. Beyond that, the units must be operated under a licensed holiday home operator’s licence.
• Guests pay a Tourism Dirham for each night, set per bedroom and by the unit’s classification, which the operator collects and remits.
• Guests must be registered with the authorities for each stay, with identity documents logged at check-in, and the standards now extend to approved smart locks and fire safety equipment in the unit. Enforcement has tightened since 2023, and some master communities set their own check-in rules on top.

A tenant can operate a rented apartment as a holiday home, but only with the landlord’s written no-objection and a permit in the tenant’s name.

Short term or long term?

A well-run holiday home in the right building can earn more than an annual tenancy, but the gross figure is not the comparison. Against it sit the furnishing and set-up cost, cleaning and linen for every stay, utilities and internet that the owner now pays, platform commissions, the permit and Tourism Dirham, and the nights the unit is empty. Occupancy moves with the season, and a unit that is full from November to March can be quiet in the summer.

The units that do well are close to what visitors come for: the beach, the Marina, Downtown and the Palm, in buildings that allow short stays and have the amenities guests expect. A two-bedroom in a residential community with a long commute to anything usually earns more as an annual let. We will tell you which side of that line your unit sits on, and if the answer is long term, we will say so.

Fees

Management is charged as a percentage of booking revenue, agreed in writing before the unit goes live and deducted from income received. In the Dubai market, full-service holiday home management is generally quoted somewhere between 15% and 25% of booking revenue; ask for our current rate when you request an assessment. The permit, Tourism Dirham and platform commissions are shown separately on the statement, so you can see exactly what the unit earned and what it cost.