How to Assemble an Article 25 Twelve-Month Eviction Notice Pack for Own Use, Sale, or Works

When a Dubai tenancy is ending and you want the property for your own use, a first-degree relative, a sale, or works, the paper that matters is one written Article 25(2) notice. Name a single ground, ask for a vacate date at least twelve months after a service date you can prove, and serve that notice through a Notary Public or by registered mail. A message that you will not renew does not do this job.

The wording to follow is Law No. 33 of 2008, which replaced Article 25 of Law No. 26 of 2007. A WhatsApp line, or a ninety-day note that you are not renewing, is not this notice. The Legal Affairs page that still prints a ninety-day eviction period, and does not include sale, is not the text to copy.

Disclaimer: IziRento is operations software, not legal advice. Local tenancy rules vary; check a qualified adviser for binding decisions.

Law 33 is the Article 25(2) text to use

Law No. 33 of 2008 was issued in Dubai on 1 December 2008. Article 1 replaces Article 25 of Law No. 26 of 2007, and also Articles 26 and 29. The English page is a translation. If it disagrees with the Arabic, the Arabic prevails. Under the replaced Article 25(2), eviction for one listed reason is at expiry, with at least twelve months’ notice through a Notary Public or by registered mail.

Do not take the notice from the original Law 26 page, which still shows the article Law 33 replaced. The Dubai Land Department tenancy guide is dated 25 September 2020, and the PDF on that page prints both the amended twelve-month paragraph and the older sentence. Use the twelve-month paragraph.

The Ejari services campaign — Ejari is Dubai’s tenancy registration — says that a landlord who does not wish to renew must give the tenant a full year of documented notice that states the reason. Extra contract terms still apply. The campaign is not a fifth ground.

A rent letter, a breach notice, and a claim are different papers

In the replaced definition, a notice is a written notification by a Notary Public, registered mail, hand delivery, or a technological means approved by law. It does not name email or WhatsApp. Article 25(2) limits service to a Notary Public or registered mail.

The Dubai Land Department’s FAQ puts a change of rent or another term at no less than ninety days before expiry, unless the parties agree otherwise. Unpaid rent under Article 25(1) needs a notice to pay of no less than thirty days, unless the contract says otherwise. Government-ordered demolition is on that list, not the twelve-month works grounds.

Pick one ground before you draft

State one reason. A notice that names sale, own use, and works has not chosen a ground. For own use, or use by a first-degree relative, the owner must prove there is no suitable alternative property for that purpose. The Department’s FAQ says another property is not automatically fatal. A second property can exist if only this one fits the purpose, and the statute does not name a form for that proof.

Sale is the owner’s wish to sell. The FAQ asks for proof the sale is serious, then repeats the suitable-alternative sentence, which is not part of this ground. The statute does not require a broker mandate.

Demolition, reconstruction, or added structures that prevent use need permits from the competent entities. Restoration or comprehensive maintenance that cannot be done while the tenant occupies needs a technical report issued or certified by Dubai Municipality. Those two grounds are not one test.

Set the date from the proof, then serve once

Start from the end date on the lease. Article 7 of Law No. 26 of 2007, which Law 33 does not replace, says one party cannot end a valid lease alone during its term. It ends by mutual consent or under the law. If an Ejari is registered, copy that end date too. Registration papers are a separate checklist.

Count the twelve months from the service date on the proof, not from an earlier message. If fewer than twelve months remain, the vacate date falls after the printed expiry, not inside the current term, and it need not match that end date. Article 25(2) does not allow a shorter period by agreement. Do not promise a holdover or an automatic renewal.

Serve by a Notary Public or by registered mail, not both. Keep the notarised notice with the notification officer’s report, or the registered-mail acknowledgement and the address you used. An ordinary courier is not registered mail. The Rental Dispute Centre’s eviction upload line asks for those same papers. Do not file a claim from this pack.

Re-letting after an own-use award is not a second notice

Article 26 applies only after the tribunal awards possession for the owner’s use or a first-degree relative. On the Legal Affairs English text the landlord may not rent to a third party for at least two years for residential property, or three years for non-residential property, from the date possession is retaken. The tenant may ask for fair compensation, and no amount is stated.

The Rental Dispute Centre’s English compilation of the same article says the tribunal may, in its discretion, set a shorter period. The two English texts differ. Arabic prevails, and this pack does not choose between them.

Article 29 is the separate consequence for demolition, reconstruction, or restoration. The tenant has a right of first refusal to return, and must exercise it within thirty days of the landlord’s notification. Rent on a return follows Article 9. Do not draft that notice, or that rent figure, in this pack.

Stop when one notice names one Article 25(2) ground, the vacate date is at least twelve months after the service date on the proof, and that date is outside the current term. Keep the notarised notice and the officer’s report, or the registered-mail acknowledgement, with that ground’s evidence. Do not open a claim or draft an Article 26 or Article 29 notice here. Room condition when the keys change belongs on the handover checklist, not in this notice. IziRento can store the notice, the proof, and the ground evidence on the tenancy. It does not notarize, post, or file, and storing them does not make the eviction lawful.