His Excellency Mattar Mohammed Al Tayer, Director-General, Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors of Roads and Transport Authority (RTA), launched the Real Estate Development Guide that was prepared by Dubai Land Department (DLD) in cooperation with its partners in the public and private sectors.

During his visit to DLD’s stand at Cityscape’ real estate summit in Dubai, Al Tayer viewed the content of the Real Estate Development Guide, which includes all services provided to the real estate developer in Dubai from the various parties involved in the real estate development process, explaining them in a simple and useful way as well as specifying the mechanisms for their provision and the necessary period to complete each service, its cost, and the party responsible for its delivery.

The guide, which was prepared in cooperation with 23 governmental and non-governmental entities, is available in an electronic format that facilitates the browsing process. The real estate development process in Dubai has been defined through three main stages, including the licensing phase to practise real estate development activity, then the real estate development phase, followed by the post-real estate development phase. The three stages have been formulated in the form of an integrated journey through which the real estate developer can get acquainted with all the parties and transactions provided by the concerned authorities in Dubai during the real estate development journey.

HE Sultan Butti bin Mejren, Director General of DLD, affirmed that developers are the most prominent primary link in the real estate sector, stressing the importance of their comprehensive strategies and enlightened visions aimed at providing the market, investors, and buyers with various options to meet the requirements that would cater to their needs in the real estate market.

Bin Mejren added: “We have been keen to consolidate our cooperation over the past 60 years and partner with all parties concerned with the registration, development, management, governance of lands and properties in providing services that would help relevant parties perform their business and implement their operations smoothly and easily for the benefit of all. This guide represents one of our initiatives that serve this purpose.”

Majida Ali Rashid, CEO of the Real Estate Promotion and Investment Management sector at DLD, commented: “At DLD, we spare no effort to strengthen our relationships with real estate developers and launch joint initiatives that not only support their marketing campaigns, but also promote direct coordination to achieve a number of strategic objectives, most prominently find ways to attract foreign and local direct investments. The relationship with them has been fruitful over the past years, and we have organised several local and foreign exhibitions. Within the same framework, and through our various operations, we focus on prompt responses to all their requirements to ensure the implementation of their projects at the specified times as a way to increase trust in the market.To achieve these objectives, we keep pace with the latest technologies to provide them with smart solutions and applications.”

The guide covers the real estate development process during its various phases, which are divided into three main stages, beginning with the predevelopment stage that explains the process of licensing the real estate developer to allow practicing the real estate development activity in Dubai. This is followed by the real estate development stage, during which the real estate developer needs to coordinate with various licensing entities in the emirate, followed by the post-real estate development stage, which includes the services that the developer may need after the completion of the real estate project.

In addition to the major operations and the requirements needed by the real estate developer during the three phases, it also lists all the other services provided by the licensing entities to real estate developers. The licensing entities differ according to the location of the project, as some areas in the emirate are subject to licensing by Dubai Municipality, while other areas may require licensing by Dubai Development Authority, Dubai Silicon Oasis Authority, and others. The guide provides all the transactions needed by the real estate developer according to the different licensing bodies of the real estate project.

The directory also provides real estate developers with access to projects under construction according to the different geographical areas in the emirate in a way that would enable them to make appropriate investment decisions. It also states all laws related to real estate development.

The real estate development guide provides a first-of-its-kind tool called the ‘Dubai Real Estate Development Calculator’ through which areal estate developer may enter information regarding project that will be developed. It then immediately calculates the estimated cost of the project and the expected time to complete all government services related it, which helps developers prepare feasibility studies with high accuracy and quality.

The guide aims to list all the services provided by the various licensing entities in Dubai to real estate developers to facilitate the real estate development process and make it more transparent. It also represents a comprehensive framework to identify the stages of the real estate development process in the emirate as well as the services that all licensing entities would provide to developers by explaining the services and documents required to complete each service, the time taken to complete them, in addition to the channels for applying for the service in each entity and its fees.