Where ADGM tenancy law applies — and where it stops
ADGM's property and leasing regime applies to land within the jurisdiction. That began with Al Maryah Island and was extended to Al Reem Island, which brought a substantial residential and mixed-use stock inside the ADGM framework.
The extension matters practically. A tenancy on Reem entered into under one regime and continuing under another raises transitional questions — which rules govern registration, renewal and termination — and those are worth settling before a dispute rather than during one. Landlords with portfolios spanning Reem and mainland Abu Dhabi are operating under two different systems, and the documents should reflect that rather than assume symmetry.
Outside ADGM, Abu Dhabi tenancies sit under emirate law administered through the Abu Dhabi Real Estate Centre, with a different registration system, different rent regulation and a different forum.
Registration, and the term calculation people get wrong
A lease above the prescribed term is a registrable interest and takes effect on registration. Below it, the lease operates contractually.
The calculation catches people because renewal options are aggregated with the initial term. A five-year lease with two five-year options is, for threshold purposes, a fifteen-year arrangement. Parties who assess the headline term alone register nothing and assume they are compliant.
Why it matters: registration is what makes the interest bind a purchaser of the reversion. An unregistered long lease may be good against the landlord who granted it and worthless against the buyer — which is discovered at the worst possible moment, usually by the tenant.
The terms that actually get litigated
Three clauses generate most ADGM commercial lease disputes.
Alienation — assignment and subletting. In a single-tenant building this is frequently the most valuable term in the document, and whether consent may be withheld unreasonably is the question that decides whether a tenant can exit.
Break clauses. Conditional breaks are strictly construed: a condition requiring vacant possession or payment of all sums due is a condition, and a tenant that misses it by a small margin loses the break entirely.
Permitted use and alterations. A use clause narrower than the tenant's actual business is a latent problem, and unauthorised alterations surface at the end of the term as a dilapidations claim.
Repair, service charge and dilapidations
Repairing obligations are read as English law reads them: a covenant to keep in repair includes putting into repair, and the standard is judged against the age and character of the premises. A full repairing and insuring lease transfers substantially all of that burden to the tenant.
Service charge disputes in multi-let buildings rarely turn on whether the works were needed. They turn on whether the charge was validly raised — whether the procedure in the lease was followed, whether the apportionment matches the schedule, and whether the expenditure falls within the permitted categories at all.
At lease end, dilapidations become live. The practical discipline is a schedule of condition at the start, which converts an argument about standards into a comparison of documents.
Security deposits, rent mechanics and guarantees
ADGM has no statutory deposit protection scheme. A deposit is held on the terms the lease specifies, which makes the drafting the whole of the protection: whether the sum is held on trust or as the landlord's own money, what it may be applied against, and when it must be returned.
Disputes at the end of the term are usually about application rather than amount — a landlord setting the deposit against alleged disrepair, a tenant saying the item was fair wear and tear. A lease that lists what the deposit may cover, and a schedule of condition recording what the premises looked like at the start, resolve most of that before it becomes an argument.
Where the tenant is a newly incorporated ADGM entity with no trading history, landlords commonly require a parent guarantee or bank guarantee. Two points repay attention: whether the guarantor is a substantive entity or a shell, and whether the guarantee survives variation of the lease. A guarantee discharged by a variation the guarantor did not consent to is worth nothing at the moment it is called.
Forfeiture, relief and lawful eviction
This is where the common-law framework departs most sharply from onshore instinct.
A landlord's right to forfeit arises from the lease and must be exercised according to its terms. Re-entry without following that machinery is unlawful, and a landlord who does it can face a damages claim considerably larger than the arrears it was pursuing. Waiver is the second trap: accepting rent with knowledge of a breach can waive the right to forfeit for that breach.
For tenants, relief from forfeiture is a real and time-sensitive remedy. A tenant who pays the arrears and applies promptly frequently keeps the lease. A tenant who waits does not.
Residential possession carries its own procedural requirements, and the correct route depends on the ground relied on.
Renewal and rent review
Renewal in ADGM is a matter of what the lease provides. There is no general statutory security of tenure equivalent to the onshore rental regulation, so an option to renew — and the machinery for exercising it — is the tenant's protection.
Options are strictly construed. Notice given late, in the wrong form, or by the wrong entity is generally ineffective, and the consequence is the loss of the term.
Rent review clauses should specify the basis, the valuation date, the assumptions and disregards, and what happens if the parties disagree. Silence on the basis of review is the most common source of satellite argument, and it is entirely avoidable at drafting.
How a lease dispute actually runs in the ADGM Courts
Lease disputes are heard by the ADGM Courts, in English, under the ADGM procedural rules. There is no dedicated rental tribunal and no separate small-claims track for tenancy, though lower-value claims proceed on a more streamlined basis.
The practical consequences are worth stating plainly. Documents matter more than assertions, because the court works from the contemporaneous record: the lease, the correspondence, the inspection reports, the schedule of condition. Costs ordinarily follow the event, so an unsuccessful party can expect to contribute to the other side's costs — which changes the arithmetic on a marginal claim considerably.
Judgments of the ADGM Courts are enforceable in onshore Abu Dhabi through the established channel, so a judgment against a tenant with onshore assets is not an academic result. The same works in reverse for tenants pursuing a landlord.
Timing is the variable most within a party's control. Forfeiture, relief from forfeiture and break conditions all carry deadlines, and the quality of the outcome usually tracks how early advice was taken rather than how strong the underlying position was.
ADGM against Dubai and onshore Abu Dhabi
The three regimes are genuinely different and the differences are operational.
Dubai tenancies fall under the RERA framework with the rental index constraining increases and the Rental Disputes Centre as forum. Onshore Abu Dhabi operates its own system through the Abu Dhabi Real Estate Centre. ADGM has neither a statutory rent cap nor a dedicated rental tribunal: the lease governs, and the ADGM Courts decide.
For a landlord, ADGM offers contractual freedom that the Dubai regime does not. For a tenant, it removes protections that a Dubai tenant takes for granted. Both should read the lease on the assumption that it means what it says, because here it does.
| ADGM | Dubai | Onshore Abu Dhabi | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Governing framework | Lease + English common law | RERA framework | Emirate law via ADREC |
| Rent increase control | None — as agreed | Rental index cap | Regulated |
| Forum | ADGM Courts | Rental Disputes Centre | Abu Dhabi courts |
| Registration | ADGM register, above threshold | Ejari | ADREC / Tawtheeq |
| Relief from forfeiture | Available | Not in that form | Not in that form |
| Language | English | Arabic | Arabic |
A reported matter
A published decision of the ADGM Court of First Instance in which our team acted. The parties are anonymised; the judgment itself is public. Read the case note.
Primary sources
The law and rules this page relies on. Links go to the issuing court, tribunal or legislator.
Frequently asked questions
Does ADGM tenancy law cover Al Reem Island?
Yes — ADGM's jurisdiction was extended to Al Reem Island, bringing a substantial residential and mixed-use stock inside the framework. Tenancies that began before the extension raise transitional questions about which rules govern registration, renewal and termination, and those are better settled before a dispute than during one.
Does my ADGM lease need to be registered?
If the term exceeds the prescribed threshold, yes — and registration is what makes the lease bind a purchaser of the reversion. The calculation catches people because renewal options are aggregated with the initial term: a five-year lease with two five-year options is a fifteen-year arrangement for this purpose, not a five-year one.
My ADGM landlord has changed the locks over unpaid rent. Is that lawful?
Only if the lease permits it and the contractual machinery was followed. ADGM applies English common law, so forfeiture and relief from forfeiture operate as they do in England. Take advice immediately — relief is a real remedy but it is time-sensitive, and a tenant who pays the arrears and applies promptly frequently keeps the lease.
Is there a rent cap in ADGM like Dubai's rental index?
No. ADGM has neither a statutory rent cap nor a dedicated rental tribunal. The lease governs and the ADGM Courts decide. That gives landlords contractual freedom the Dubai regime does not, and removes protections a Dubai tenant takes for granted — so both sides should read the lease assuming it means exactly what it says.
We missed the break date by a few days. Is the break gone?
Probably. Conditional break clauses are strictly construed — a condition requiring vacant possession or payment of all sums due is a condition, not an aspiration, and missing it by a small margin generally loses the break entirely. The time to check the conditions is when the lease is signed.
Can our landlord refuse consent to assign?
It depends on the alienation clause. Whether consent may be withheld unreasonably is usually the question that decides whether a tenant can exit, and in a single-tenant building it is frequently the most valuable term in the lease. Read it before you need it.
How do we challenge an ADGM service charge?
The stronger challenge is procedural rather than about the amount: whether the lease's procedure was followed, whether the apportionment matches the schedule, and whether the expenditure falls within the permitted categories. A charge failing any of those is defensible even where the works themselves were necessary.
What is a schedule of condition and do we need one?
A documented record of the premises at the start of the term. It converts an end-of-term dilapidations argument about standards into a comparison of documents, and it is the cheapest protection a tenant can buy against a repairing covenant that includes putting into repair.
Is our security deposit protected in ADGM?
There is no statutory deposit protection scheme, so the deposit is held on whatever terms the lease specifies. That makes the drafting the whole of the protection — whether it is held on trust or as the landlord's own money, what it may be applied against, and when it must be returned. End-of-term disputes are almost always about application rather than amount.
Our landlord wants a parent guarantee. What should we watch for?
Two things: whether the guarantor is a substantive entity rather than a shell, and whether the guarantee survives a variation of the lease. A guarantee discharged by a variation the guarantor never consented to is worth nothing at exactly the moment it is called on.
Who hears an ADGM lease dispute?
The ADGM Courts, in English, under the ADGM procedural rules — there is no dedicated rental tribunal. Costs ordinarily follow the event, so an unsuccessful party can expect to contribute to the other side's costs, and ADGM judgments are enforceable in onshore Abu Dhabi through the established channel.