DIFC Authority has announced for public consultation proposed amendments to the Real Property and Strata Title Laws and Regulations.

Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), the leading international financial hub in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia (MEASA) region, has today proposed the enactment of amendment legislation to enhance the current Real Property and Strata Title Laws and Regulations and has proposed Amendment Laws and Regulations for this purpose. The proposed Amendment Laws and Regulations aim to align the existing Real Property and Strata Title Laws with current international best practice, while taking into account specific factors relating to the Dubai International Financial Centre and addressing certain areas that required further clarification in order to provide an enhanced regulatory environment for the:

(1) guarantee of title to real property to all purchasers, whether off plan or in the secondary market, and to facilitate dealings with real property generally;

(2) enhancement of the laws relating to the establishment of strata developments and the management of body corporates within those developments.

The consultation papers seek public comments on the Amendment Laws and Regulations.

Amendments to the Real Property Law and Regulations

 The key aspects of the proposed amendments to the Real Property Law and Regulations include:

{a} new provisions introducing an off plan sales regime;
{b} a carve out of certain provisions relating to landlord and tenant issues in order to deal with this in a separate leasing law, which will be enacted in due course;
{c} the addition of more detailed and comprehensive provisions regulating the registration of real property rights;
{d} changing the deadlines for registrations of the transfers of real property interests and partially mirroring the onshore penalty regime for any delays in such registrations;
{e} clarification of the role of the Registrar of Real Property (“RORP”) in respect of real property rights and real property interests and further enhancement and expansion of its powers.

Amendments to the Strata Title Law and Regulations

The key aspects of the proposed amendments to the Strata Title Law and Regulations include:

{a} enhancing the provisions relating to the powers and functions of the RORP;
{b} enhancing the legal status and licensing and regulatory requirements for body corporates and body corporate managers;
{c} introducing new obligations on developers;
{d} abolishing the strata title board regime so that the DIFC court can hear appeals directly from interested parties against decisions or orders made by the RORP.

The Amendment Laws and Regulations have been posted for a 30 day public consultation period with the deadline for providing comments ending on 15 April 2018.

Download a copy of the consultation papers and legislative proposals below.