Glossary / Property

Escrow account

In Dubai, an escrow account is a project-specific account required by Law No. 8 of 2007 into which all off-plan buyer payments and project finance must be deposited, dedicated exclusively to that project's construction and protected from the developer's other creditors.

The escrow agent releases funds against construction progress rather than on request. After the completion certificate, five percent of the account is retained and released to the developer one year after units are registered to buyers.

It is one of the stronger protections in any off-plan market.

Where people get it wrong

Reading it as a guarantee of delivery. It protects your money from being spent elsewhere or seized by an unrelated creditor. It does not promise the building arrives on time, to specification, or worth what you paid.

The framework behind it Off-plan versus ready sets out the rule, the arithmetic and where it breaks.

Read the framework

Related terms

Off-plan Off-plan means buying a property before it is built, paying in instalments against construction milestones and taking ownership only at handover, which in Dubai is registered through Oqood rather than an immediate title deed. Oqood Oqood is the Dubai Land Department system that registers off-plan property sales contracts before a title deed exists, creating an official record of the buyer's interest during construction. Handover Handover is the point at which a completed off-plan unit is delivered to its buyer, the final payment falls due, the title deed is issued and the service charge begins.

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