Property guide · Dubai offices
Dubai offices: priced on what was signed, not on what was asked.
Dubai offices earn about 7% gross in 2026, on my estimate for strata offices in Business Bay and JLT. In 2021 the same measure gave 8.8 to 9.8%. Prices rose faster than rents, off-plan space now sells for far more than ready space, and a wave of new offices lands in 2027 and 2028. This page brings every office guide I wrote into one place, for buying, letting and off-plan.
At a glance
Dubai offices in eight facts
About 7%
gross yield in 2026, my estimate for strata offices in Business Bay and JLT (8.8 to 9.8% in 2021)
169%
rise in Business Bay ready office prices since 2021, against 114% for rents
2.3 times
the ready price: what off-plan offices sold for per sq ft in Business Bay, January to July 2026
56.2%
of Business Bay office sales were off-plan, January to July 2026 (4.0% in 2023)
3.05%
today’s Business Bay rent divided by the off-plan price: a check, not a yield
97.3%
of standing Business Bay offices are freehold strata, one owner per unit (JLT 98.7%)
12%
of Dubai’s registered strata office pipeline is already past its due date
362 units
of new offices registered in Motor City, against about 354 in the buildings that trade there
Sources: my analysis of DLD-registered office rent contracts and sales through 31 July 2026, the DLD project register and Knight Frank, as cited in each guide. Yields are my estimate: gross, buildings of every age, strata offices in Business Bay and JLT only.
Start here
What do you want to decide?
Each guide answers one question in depth, from DLD-registered rent contracts and sales. New office guides are added here when they go live.
Read the market
- Dubai office market 2026Rents, vacancy and supply, with every source named.
Buy to let
- Office rental yields in DubaiThe real yield, how it is worked out, and why it fell.
- Business Bay office prices40 buildings, their signed rents and the service charge on each.
Buy off-plan
- Off-plan offices in DubaiWhy the unbuilt office costs more, and what you pay before handover.
Choose the district
- JLT officesLower entry, the same yield, and every count shown.
- Motor City officesDubai’s cheapest office district and the pipeline that doubles it.
Ready offices
Prices outran rents
Office rents in Business Bay and JLT rose hard after 2021. Sale prices rose faster still, so each dirham you pay now buys less rent.
| Measure | Business Bay | JLT |
|---|---|---|
| Rent rise since 2021 | 114% | 91% |
| Ready sale price rise since 2021 | 169% | 172% |
| Gross yield, 2021 | 8.78% | 9.84% |
| Gross yield, 2026 | 7.06% (40 buildings) | 7.04% (27 buildings) |
| Middle half of buildings, 2026 | 5.88 to 8.18% | 6.58 to 8.17% |
| Rent change, Q2 against Q1 2026 | Down 7.6% | Down 2.1% |
| New rent contracts, first half 2026 against 2025 | Down 13.3% | Down 12.6% |
| Standing offices that are freehold strata | 97.3% | 98.7% |
DLD-registered rent contracts and ready sales through 31 July 2026; 2026 covers January to July. Yields are my estimate, gross, from buildings with at least five rent contracts and three ready sales in the same year. The quarterly rent change compares offices of 500 to 2,000 sq ft.
- The year still points up. Size-controlled rents in the first half of 2026 were 2.5% to 8.0% above a year earlier across the core districts.
- The quarter points down. In the second quarter of 2026, Business Bay fell 7.6% and JLT 2.1% on the same basis. Both readings are true. The yearly figure still carries the strong quarters of late 2025.
- Why the yield fell. Rents did not weaken. Prices simply rose faster, so the yield was squeezed from above.
- What it means. Prices running ahead of the income behind them is a late-cycle sign. It does not tell you what happens next.
Buying to let
What “about 7% gross” really means
The figure is honest only with its label attached. Here is what it covers and what it leaves out.
- It is gross. The DLD registry holds no service charges, so it cannot give a net yield. Service charges, cooling, empty months and fees all come off.
- It covers two districts. Only Business Bay and JLT have deep enough data on strata offices. No broker or authority publishes a yield for Dubai as a whole.
- Size moves it most. Small suites yield most and large floors least, in every year measured. In Business Bay, offices above 2,000 sq ft came out at 5.25% in 2026.
- High claims rest on thin data. The 18 to 20% figures for small JLT offices rest on 12 to 19 sales a year. I show them and do not trust them.
- DIFC is separate. It keeps its own property register, outside DLD data. The only published yield there is Property Monitor’s 6.11% gross.
The quote in front of you
Asking is not signing
Most office yields you see online divide an asking rent by an asking price. Nobody agreed to either number.
- The gap is large. In Business Bay, asking rents for offices of 500 to 2,000 sq ft sat 36.9% above signed contracts on the same size band. That compares listings on 4 August 2026 with contracts from January to July 2026.
- It is not one thing. Part is room to negotiate, part is that better space gets listed, and part is that listings and contracts are different units. Read it as a temperature check.
- One test for any quoted yield. Was the rent signed and the price registered? If either is an asking figure, the yield is marketing.
- Renewals sign lower. In Business Bay, new leases and renewals differed by about 20% in the first seven months of 2026. Ask which one “the rent in this building” means.
- The building explains less than you think. Only 7.3% of the rent variation in Business Bay comes from which building you pick. The rest happens between units inside the same tower.
Off-plan
Paying more for an office that is not built yet
In Business Bay, off-plan offices sold at 2.3 times the ready price per sq ft from January to July 2026, on 515 off-plan and 401 ready sales. Off-plan is now most of the market.
- The share: off-plan was 4.0% of Business Bay office sales in 2023, 0.9% in 2024, 13.6% in 2025 and 56.2% in January to July 2026.
- Different products: off-plan units are larger, at a middle 1,419 sq ft against 1,158 for ready. The 2.3 times compares what buyers paid, not one office valued twice.
- The rent check: today’s middle rent divided by the off-plan price gives 3.05% in Business Bay and 3.53% in JLT, where it rests on only 17 deals. That is a sum, not a yield. It shows how far launch prices sit above what today’s rents support.
- Plan for cash: no UAE bank publishes a mortgage for a single off-plan office, so treat the years before handover as all cash.
- Shell and core: new offices are handed over as bare concrete. Fit-out is a second cheque before any rent comes in.
- Where your money sits: payments go into the project escrow account under Dubai Law No. 8 of 2007. Escrow protects against the developer’s creditors. It is not insurance.
- VAT on every instalment: under Article 26 of Federal Decree-Law No. 8 of 2017, VAT falls due as each payment is invoiced or paid, years before handover.
- If you stop paying: under Law No. 19 of 2020, the developer may keep up to 25% or 40% of the contract price, depending on progress. Those limits are shares of the price, not of what you paid.
Choose the district
Three districts, three different markets
Business Bay, JLT and Motor City are all freehold, so buyers of any nationality can own an office there outright. Beyond that, they behave nothing alike.
| Measure | Business Bay | JLT | Motor City |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gross yield, 2026 (my estimate) | 7.06% | 7.04% | About 6.2%, on 10 sales |
| Rent rise | 114% since 2021 | 91% since 2021 | 62% from the 2021 low |
| Ready office sales, January to July 2026 | 401 | 359 | 10 |
| Off-plan sales, January to July 2026 | 515 | 17 | 3 and 8, at two projects |
| Registered office rent contracts | 85,571 | 51,950 | 2,301 |
| What is coming | About 2.0 million sq ft registered | About 436,000 sq ft registered, plus DMCC’s Uptown Place | 362 units, against about 354 that trade |
DLD-registered data through July 2026. Rent contracts are the counts in my extract for each district. Motor City’s yield divides its 2026 rent by a sale median that rests on ten sales.
- Business Bay: the deepest market and the centre of the off-plan wave. Middle rents run 2.36 times apart across 40 buildings, yet 33 of them sign within a fifth of the district middle.
- JLT: lower entry for the same measured yield. The catch is depth, because its off-plan evidence is 17 deals. The DMCC free zone licenses the district, with more than 26,000 member companies, per DMCC.
- Motor City: Dubai’s cheapest mainstream office district, ranked 36th of 44 on rent. On my count, 288 of 354 known units had an active lease on 3 August 2026. Its pipeline is 43 times the Dubai-wide ratio.
What is coming
The 2027 to 2028 wave, and who owns it
Every published schedule puts the next wave of Dubai offices in 2027 and 2028, with Business Bay at its centre. Who will own that space matters as much as how much of it there is.
- Built to sell: Knight Frank counts 100% of the offices under construction in Business Bay as built to sell, not to rent.
- Spread ownership: 97.3% of standing Business Bay offices and 98.7% in JLT are freehold strata. Hundreds of owners in one tower cannot hold space back or slow a handover.
- The registered pipeline: DLD-registered strata projects hold 4,146 units and 6.64 million sq ft. Business Bay holds 2.0 million sq ft of it, and three Omniyat towers 1.66 million.
- Already late: 0.57 million sq ft, about 12% of the registered strata pipeline, has passed its date unfinished.
- No single total: broker pipeline figures sit on bases that do not add up. Knight Frank gives 24.2 million sq ft in one report and 13.2 million in another, so I add up neither.
- Three paths, no forecast: the space is absorbed as rents flatten; it lands late into a stronger market; or it lands on time into weaker demand, Business Bay first.
Running costs
What comes off the rent
Two offices with the same rent can hand their owner very different money. The service charge is the main reason.
- Business Bay: the 2026 office service charge takes 7.4% to 16.5% of a building’s middle rent, with a middle of 11.5%, across 34 buildings with a published charge.
- JLT: the charge takes 5.2% to 17.1% of the middle rent, with a middle of 11.3%, across 20 buildings.
- Where to check: the DLD Service Charge Index publishes each building’s approved office budget per sq ft. Count the General Fund and the Reserve Fund only. Parking lines are per bay.
- Cooling: most JLT towers bill district cooling separately. In Motor City, the cooling capacity charge is due monthly even on an empty office.
- VAT: offices are on neither the zero-rated nor the exempt list in the VAT law, so their sale and lease carry 5% VAT. Ask in writing whether a price includes it.
- Transfer fee: the DLD charges 4% of the price to register a sale, off-plan or ready.
Letting an office
The tenancy rules that apply to offices
Dubai’s tenancy law covers commercial leases as well as homes. These are the rules an office owner meets most.
- One tenancy law: Law No. 26 of 2007 governs landlords and tenants in Dubai, for offices and homes alike. Leases are registered on Ejari.
- Rent rises at renewal: Decree No. 43 of 2013 caps them for all property in Dubai, offices and free zones included. The cap runs from 0% to 20%, depending on how far the rent sits below the average for similar units.
- Fixed terms in the lease: many commercial leases set their own increases. Read the renewal clause before you buy a tenanted office.
- Selling does not end a lease: under Article 28 of Law No. 26 of 2007, the buyer takes over the tenant, the rent and the end date.
- Free zone firms on the mainland: since March 2025, Executive Council Resolution No. 11 of 2025 lets free zone companies work in mainland Dubai with a licence or permit from the Department of Economy and Tourism. DIFC financial firms are excluded. Its effect on office demand is not measured yet.
The gaps
What no one publishes
Some numbers you will be quoted do not exist in any official source. Ask where they came from.
- No district vacancy rate. Brokers publish vacancy for Dubai as a whole, each on its own basis. None publishes it for a single district.
- No citywide office yield. No broker or authority publishes a yield series for Dubai offices.
- No net yield from the registry. It holds no service charges, so net returns must be worked out building by building.
- No prime cap rate. Single-owner towers, where large firms lease, almost never trade in DLD data.
- No count of office jobs. No source counts how many people work in Dubai offices.
How I work on offices
One advisor, whether you buy, let or sell
Two offices in the same tower can sit far apart on rent, charge and resale. Here is what I do for you.
- If you are buying to let, I check the building’s signed rents, ready sales and filed service charge before you offer.
- If you are looking at a launch, I set today’s rents against the launch price and the payment plan against your cash.
- If you are choosing a district, I put Business Bay, JLT and Motor City side by side for your size and budget.
- If you are selling or letting, I set your price against registered sales and contracts in your building.
- You deal with me, start to finish.
Questions
Dubai offices FAQ
What rental yield do Dubai offices pay?
About 7% gross in 2026, on my estimate for strata offices in Business Bay and JLT, from registered rents and ready sales in the same buildings. It was 8.8 to 9.8% in 2021. No broker or authority publishes a citywide office yield, and the figure comes before service charges and empty months.
Are off-plan offices in Dubai cheaper than ready ones?
No. In Business Bay, from January to July 2026, off-plan offices sold at about 2.3 times the ready price per square foot, on 515 off-plan and 401 ready sales. Off-plan units are also larger. Today’s rents cover about 3% of the off-plan price, which is a check, not a yield.
Can foreigners buy an office in Dubai?
Yes, in freehold areas. Business Bay, JLT and Motor City are all freehold, so buyers of any nationality can own an office there outright. Nearly all standing offices there are strata units with one owner each: 97.3% in Business Bay and 98.7% in JLT. DIFC keeps its own separate property register.
Do you pay VAT on an office in Dubai?
Yes. Offices are on neither the zero-rated nor the exempt list in the VAT law, so their sale and lease carry 5% VAT. On an off-plan plan, VAT falls due with each instalment, not at handover. Buyers registered for VAT can usually claim it back. Ask in writing whether a price includes it.
Can a landlord raise office rent freely in Dubai?
No. Decree No. 43 of 2013 caps rent rises at renewal for all property in Dubai, offices and free zones included. The cap runs from 0% to 20%, depending on how far the current rent sits below the average for similar units. Many commercial leases also fix their own increases in the contract.
Is Business Bay or JLT better for an office?
On my 2026 estimate the yields are level: 7.06% in Business Bay and 7.04% in JLT. JLT costs less to enter. Business Bay is deeper, with far more off-plan activity. In both, the building, its service charge and the lease decide more than the district does.
Is Dubai building too many offices?
Supply concentrates in 2027 and 2028, with Business Bay at the centre, and almost all of it is built to sell. About 12% of the registered strata pipeline is already late. Whether that is too much depends on demand when it lands, so I set out scenarios, not a forecast.
Private consultation
Talk your office plan through with me before you sign.
Tell me the district, the building or the listing in front of you. I will come back with what similar offices actually signed and sold for, what the building charges, and the questions to ask. Every conversation stays private.