A Dubai real estate court has ordered a property developer to refund Dh185,000 to an investor, ruling that lengthy construction delays justified reducing the amount the company could retain after terminating the sales contract.
The court also awarded legal interest of 5 per cent from the date the lawsuit was filed until the full amount is paid. Judges reduced the developer’s retention entitlement from 40 per cent to 10 per cent of the value of the off-plan property.
The dispute dates back to 2017, when the investor purchased three units in a residential development, including one priced at about Dh463,000. Under the contract, the unit was scheduled for handover by the end of 2018, with a permitted extension pushing the final deadline to December 2019.
Court records show the investor paid about Dh231,000 — nearly half the value of the unit — along with registration fees, before halting further instalment payments.
However, reports from the Real Estate Regulatory Agency indicated that construction progress stood at only 15.17 per cent by January 2019. The project was eventually completed in February 2023, more than three years after the final contractual deadline.
In 2023, the developer requested payment of the outstanding instalments. When the investor failed to make the payments, the company initiated termination procedures under Dubai’s off-plan property law. The unit’s registration was cancelled in the investor’s name and returned to the developer, which retained the amounts already paid.
