A Property Purchase Power of Attorney in Dubai allows a representative to carry out the acquisition powers expressly granted by the buyer. Depending on whether the property is ready or off-plan, this may include signing purchase documents, completing DLD or initial-registration steps, making authorised payments, dealing with the developer, taking handover and receiving property documents. The POA should identify the acquisition and the powers needed for that purchase rather than granting unrelated sale, mortgage or gift powers. DLD currently publishes a five-year validity period from notarisation for a POA used for property purchase, subject to the requirements in force when the transaction is completed.
What Your Agent Is Authorized to Do — Acquisition and Registration
- Represent you in purchasing the identified property.
- Sign the applicable purchase / sale-and-purchase documents where expressly authorised.
- Complete DLD or initial-registration steps applicable to the purchase.
- Attend Real Estate Registration Trustee procedures where applicable.
- Pay registration and transaction charges where expressly authorised.
- Arrange, deliver or deal with purchase-payment instruments only where expressly authorised and accepted by the relevant bank and transaction process.
- Complete developer or approval steps relevant to the purchase where applicable.
Handover and Representation Powers
- Receive the property where handover authority is included.
- Sign appropriate handover documents where expressly authorised.
- Inspect the property or coordinate inspection where authorised.
- Sign acknowledgements, snagging/inspection records or settlement documents only where the principal deliberately grants that authority.
- Arrange utilities or other post-purchase services where authorised.
- Receive keys and property documents available at the relevant stage.
- Deal with the developer, DLD, Trustee, utility providers or banks only to the extent required for the authorised purchase and handover steps.
Scope of a Purchase POA
A Purchase POA should remain focused on acquiring and registering the relevant property. It does not automatically give the representative authority to later sell, gift or mortgage the property. If a share of a property is being purchased, the POA should identify the intended share and the persons in whose names ownership will be registered, where applicable. Any future disposal power should be considered and drafted separately rather than assumed from purchase wording.
Transaction-specific Purchase POA
- Keeps the representative's powers tied to the identified acquisition.
- Can cover purchase registration, authorised payments and handover without adding sale or mortgage powers.
- DLD currently publishes a five-year validity period from notarisation for purchase POAs.
Broad / unclear authority
- May grant powers unrelated to the intended acquisition.
- Can create uncertainty for the developer, DLD, Trustee, bank or other receiving party.
- Should not be used as a shortcut to add future sale, gift or mortgage powers that the buyer does not need.
Registration Fees Your Agent Pays on Your Behalf
The POA must authorize the agent to pay the registration and administrative fees due on the transaction. These are government charges paid directly to the Dubai Land Department — they are not our fee.
Send the property and party details
Send the available property information and the buyer's and representative's passport / identification details as applicable, together with the ownership or purchase document relevant to the transaction.
We draft the POA naming the property and the authorized acts
The draft is bilingual Arabic-English, names the unit in full, and sets out the acquisition, handover and representation powers with the scope restriction stated.
Use the applicable notarisation route
We prepare the POA for the appropriate official notarisation channel. Eligibility for online, remote or in-person execution depends on the relevant notary service, identification documents and the principal's circumstances. A foreign-issued POA follows the applicable authentication route before DLD use.
Your agent completes the purchase and registration
The agent signs the purchase documents, attends the Registration Trustee office, completes the transfer into your name, and collects the Title Deed.
Documents Required — Ready Property or Off-Plan
Buying a ready property from the current owner
- Title Deed of the property issued in the current owner's name
- Passport and identification details of the buyer and representative as applicable.
Buying an under-construction property from a developer
- Sale and Purchase Agreement (SPA), or the initial sale contract registered with the Dubai Land Department
- Passport and identification details of the buyer and representative as applicable.
Off-Plan Purchases and the Initial Property Register
For an off-plan transaction, registration does not follow exactly the same route as a completed ready-property transfer. DLD's initial-registration system records off-plan sale contracts and other applicable dispositions before final transfer to the Real Estate Register. DLD currently states that the sale and purchase contract must be registered in the provisional register within 90 days of signing. The developer and the applicable DLD/Oqood process determine the documents issued at each stage, so a Purchase POA should authorise the relevant steps without promising that a final Title Deed will exist before the property reaches the appropriate registration stage.
Property Details Required for Drafting
- Property type — apartment, villa or land
- Area and project name
- Municipality number
- Plot number
- Building number and building name
- Property or unit number and floor number
- Parking number, where allocated
- The share being purchased, where the purchase is of a share rather than the whole property
Keep Purchase Authority Separate from Future Disposal
Our purchase drafting is limited to the acquisition, registration, authorised payment and handover powers the buyer actually needs. Buying property for the principal does not itself mean the representative should also have authority to sell, gift or mortgage it later. Those higher-risk disposition powers should only be included if the principal specifically requests them and the wording is suitable for the intended transaction.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes. A notarised Purchase POA can authorise your agent to sign the purchase documents and complete the DLD, Trustee or developer registration steps covered by the POA. For a ready-property transfer, this may include receiving the electronic Title Deed after registration. For off-plan property, the transaction follows the applicable initial-registration/Oqood process until the property reaches the stage for final title registration.
If the POA is notarised inside the UAE through an applicable UAE notary route, it is not treated as a foreign-issued POA requiring the foreign-document authentication chain. A POA issued outside the UAE is different: DLD states that it must be formally ratified through the notary and Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the country of origin, the UAE Embassy there, and finally the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs before DLD use.
The Sale and Purchase Agreement (SPA), or the initial sale contract registered with the Dubai Land Department. A Title Deed does not exist yet at that stage — it is issued once the property is completed and ownership is registered in your name.
Yes. The POA states the share being purchased and, where the property is to be registered jointly, names the parties in whose names ownership is to be recorded.
Choose a trusted person or eligible professional who can perform the acts required by the purchase and whose appointment is acceptable to the relevant notary and receiving authorities. The agent's nationality or residence status should not be presented as universally irrelevant, and attendance requirements can vary by transaction channel. We confirm the practical requirements for the intended DLD/developer route before drafting.
It can. If handover is part of the buyer's plan, the Purchase POA can expressly include inspection, handover documents, keys and the related developer steps. If the buyer already owns the property and only needs someone to receive it, a narrower Handover POA is usually clearer.
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