Renting out your Dubai apartment: long-term or short-let

Handover is the moment the property stops being a plan and starts being a business. There are two ways to run it in Dubai, and they are not interchangeable.

Long-term letting

One tenant, usually a twelve-month contract, rent often paid in one to four cheques. The tenancy is registered through Ejari, the Dubai Land Department's contract registration system — registration is what makes the arrangement enforceable and what a tenant needs for utilities and visas.

• Management typically costs 5-8% of the rent.
• Fewer moving parts: one contract, one handover, predictable months.
• Furnishing is optional; many long-term units let unfurnished.
• Your income is a known number for the year, which is what a mortgage or a family budget wants.

Short-let and holiday homes

Short stays are a licensed activity in Dubai. The unit has to be registered as a holiday home with the Department of Economy and Tourism, through an operator or as an owner, before it can be listed.

• Management runs 15-25% of revenue, because the operator handles cleaning, linen, guests and listings.
• Furnishing, utilities, internet and consumables are yours, not the tenant's.
• Revenue is seasonal — the winter months are not the summer months.
• Higher gross, more cost lines and more variance. It is a business, not a deposit.

Which one fits you

If the property exists to produce a steady number you can plan around from Israel, long-term is usually the honest answer. If you intend to use the apartment yourself several times a year and want it working in between, the short-let route exists for exactly that — provided you accept the licensing, the furnishing budget and the seasonality.

Before you decide, get these in writing

• The building's annual service charge per square foot.
• Whether the building permits short-term letting at all — some do not.
• The management agreement: fee, notice period, who pays for repairs.
• A furnishing budget if you are going the short-let route.
• A vacancy assumption. Twelve rented months in year one is not a plan.

General market practice as at September 2026, not a forecast for any specific unit. Your Manzely agent can put the figures for a given project in writing before you commit.