Can Dubai tenants make minor changes to rentals without approval? What the law says

Tenants in Dubai considering even minor modifications to their rented homes, such as installing a temporary partition, must obtain prior approval from their landlord and relevant government authorities, warns a leading legal expert.Ashish Mehta, founder and Managing Partner of Ashish Mehta & Associates, who is qualified to practise law in Dubai, the United Kingdom, and India, explained the legal obligations of tenants under Dubai’s rental laws in a recent Khaleej Times article. His comments were in response to a reader inquiry about installing a non-permanent gypsum board partition to divide a shared children’s room in a two-bedroom apartment.While such installations might not involve structural alteration, Mehta clarified that any form of modification, temporary or otherwise, cannot legally be undertaken without proper permissions.“In Dubai, tenants are prohibited from making any changes or carrying out maintenance work in a rental property without first obtaining approval from the landlord and the relevant authorities, including but not limited to Dubai Civil Defence,” Mehta said.

He referenced Article 19 of Law No. 26 of 2007, which governs the relationship between landlords and tenants in Dubai. The law clearly states:“A tenant must pay the rent on its due dates and must maintain the Real Property in a good condition as a reasonable person would maintain his own property. Without prejudice to the tenant’s obligation to carry out any restoration that is agreed upon or which is customary for tenants to undertake, the tenant may not make any changes or carry out any restoration or maintenance works in the Real Property without obtaining the permission of the landlord and the necessary licences from the competent official entities.

”Mehta also pointed out that unauthorized changes which compromise the property's safety or result in damage may even result in eviction, under Article 25 (1)(e) of Law No. 33 of 2008, which amended the original tenancy law:“Where the tenant makes any change to the Real Property that endangers its safety in a manner that makes it impossible to restore the Real Property to its original state; or causes damage to the Real Property as a result of his deliberate act, or his gross negligence by failing to exercise due caution and care or allowing others to cause that damage."Based on these legal provisions, tenants planning to install any partition, even one that is not fixed or permanent, should first obtain the explicit approval of the landlord and secure the necessary clearances from official bodies such as Dubai Civil Defence.