Dubai REST App Guide: Every DLD Service You Can Use (2026)

Dubai Land Department has built one of the most complete digital property infrastructures of any city, and almost all of it is accessible through one free app. Here is what it does.

What Dubai REST is

Dubai REST (Real Estate Self Transaction) is DLD's official mobile application, providing property owners, tenants, buyers and professionals with direct access to the land registry and regulatory data.

Free. Available on iOS and Android. Login via UAE Pass, Emirates ID or passport details depending on the service.

The core functions

1. Property portfolio. View every property registered in your name — title deeds, Oqood registrations for off-plan units, and property details. This is how you verify that an off-plan purchase has actually been registered. Do it within 30 days of signing any SPA.

2. Title deed verification. Confirm a title deed is genuine, check the registered owner, check the registered area, and check for registered mortgages or restrictions. Essential before any secondary purchase.

3. RERA rental index. The official market rent bands by area and property type, used to determine permitted rent increases under Decree No. 43 of 2013. Both landlords and tenants should check this before any renewal conversation.

4. RERA service charge index. Approved annual service charges by project, in AED per square foot. The most under-used free resource in Dubai property, and the one that most often determines whether an investment works.

5. Broker verification. Check whether a real estate broker holds a valid RERA broker card. Two minutes, and it is the single most important compliance check available to a buyer.

6. Developer and project verification. Confirm a developer is registered and a project is registered with RERA — a prerequisite for a compliant off-plan purchase.

7. Ejari services. Register, renew and manage tenancy contracts.

8. Transaction history. Property transaction records.

9. Valuation services. Request official DLD property valuations — required for Golden Visa applications and useful for pricing.

10. Service requests. NOC applications, title deed reissuance, mortgage registration and other DLD services.

How to use it at each stage

Before buying (ready property):

• Verify the title deed and owner identity
• Check for registered mortgages or restrictions
• Check the RERA service charge for the building
• Verify the agent's broker card
• Check transaction history

Before buying (off-plan):

• Verify the developer is registered
• Verify the project is registered
• Verify the agent's broker card
• After signing: confirm your Oqood registration appears in your portfolio within 30 days

When letting:

• Register Ejari
• Check the RERA rental index before setting or increasing rent
• Confirm the permitted increase tier before serving notice

When renting:

• Verify the landlord is the registered owner before signing
• Check the RERA rental index if you receive an increase notice
• Confirm Ejari registration

When selling:

• Confirm service charges are clear (required for the NOC)
• Initiate NOC and transfer services

For a Golden Visa:

• Request the DLD property valuation letter confirming value at or above AED 2m

The five checks that take fifteen minutes

Before any Dubai property transaction:

1. Broker card verification. Is your agent legally permitted to transact? 2. Title deed verification. Does the seller own it, and is it unencumbered? 3. Service charge index. What will this cost you annually, forever? 4. Rental index. What rent can you legally charge or be charged? 5. Project and developer registration (off-plan). Is this a legitimate, escrow-protected project?

Fifteen minutes. Free. Eliminates the large majority of ways a Dubai property transaction goes wrong.

Why this infrastructure is unusual

Most property markets do not offer this. Title verification is often a paid search through a solicitor. Transaction data is frequently private. Rent regulation, where it exists, is rarely queryable by consumers. Broker licence verification is often unavailable or buried.

Dubai provides all of it, free, in one app.

The practical consequence: information asymmetry in Dubai property is optional. A buyer who spends an afternoon with Dubai REST and DXB Interact has better information than institutional investors have in most emerging markets.

Buyers who lose money in Dubai overwhelmingly do so having skipped that afternoon.

The complementary tools

DXB Interact — free DLD transaction data with price-per-square-foot analysis (Article 68).

DLD website — additional services, project registration data, published indices.

Property portals — Property Finder, Bayut, dubizzle for search and current asking prices.

Consultancy research — CBRE, JLL, Knight Frank, ValuStrat, Cavendish Maxwell quarterly reports for supply pipeline and market context.

A note on digital transactions

DLD has progressively expanded remote and digital transaction capability, including for non-resident buyers. Availability varies by transaction type and changes over time.

Confirm current capability with your registration trustee office before assuming a transaction can be completed remotely — it can save the two-to-four-week power of attorney attestation chain, but only where the specific transaction type is supported.