An escrow account is a bank account opened for one off-plan project, into which buyers pay their installments. The money may be used only to build that project, and a bank acting as trustee releases it as construction goes ahead. All three emirates we cover require one before a developer sells off-plan, so when you buy, you pay the project's escrow account, never the developer, a broker or a person.
Escrow lowers a risk; it does not remove it. A project can still be late, and the rules on what the money may pay for differ by emirate. This is a summary to help you ask the right questions, not legal advice.
Dubai
Dubai's rules are in Law No. 8 of 2007, on escrow accounts for real estate development:
- No account, no sale. A developer must open an escrow account in the project's name before selling it off-plan, and buyers' payments are deposited there (Articles 6 and 7).
- One project, one account. Article 9 dedicates the account exclusively to building that project and requires a separate account for each of a developer's projects.
- Creditors cannot reach it. The same article bars any attachment of the payments for the benefit of the developer's creditors.
- Some money is kept back. Article 14 has the escrow agent retain 5% of the account once the developer has its completion certificate, released one year after units are registered to buyers. The DLD's frequently asked questions explain it is held as a guarantee that defects found at completion or within a year of handover are put right.
- A stalled project has a plan. Article 15 requires the agent, after consulting the DLD, to take measures so that the project is completed or buyers are refunded. If the project is canceled, Article 11 of Law No. 13 of 2008 has the developer refund all payments under the escrow law (what if you miss off-plan payments in Dubai explains when).
The DLD's project status service shows a registered project's progress, which helps you check a project exists before you pay.
Abu Dhabi
Abu Dhabi tightened its rules in 2025. King & Spalding's summary of Law No. 2 of 2025 sets out the main points:
- Each project has its own account, opened with an approved trustee, and buyers' installments go into it.
- The money has limited uses. It may no longer pay the land price or broker commissions.
- Nothing comes out early. Withdrawals wait until 20% of construction is complete, as verified by approved consultants.
A&O Shearman explains one exception: a developer with at least four years' registration, three projects delivered on time and a clean recent record can ask ADREC, the regulator, to release funds sooner, against a bank guarantee of at least 20% of the construction cost. Since February 2026 even an EOI paid before a launch goes into a government-managed preparatory escrow account (Zawya). More in can foreigners buy property in Abu Dhabi?
Ras Al Khaimah
Ras Al Khaimah's Law No. 12 of 2023 goes furthest:
| Rule | Article |
|---|---|
| One escrow account per project, with a separate sub-account for each unit | 38 |
| Your reservation amount goes into escrow too | 30 |
| You pay installments into your unit's sub-account; the developer may not take payments directly | 40 |
| Withdrawals need the regulator's written approval and go to construction, with at most 5% for marketing | 41 |
| The land price may not be paid from escrow until the completion certificate is issued | 41 |
| The project and its escrow funds are outside the reach of the developer's creditors | 52 |
An advert for off-plan units there must show the escrow account number (Article 28). More in how are off-plan buyers protected in Ras Al Khaimah?
What escrow does not do
- It does not guarantee the date. A project can still be finished late; your sale agreement says what happens then.
- It does not cover money paid elsewhere. Cash or a transfer to a person or another company is outside it.
- It does not set the price or the value. The home can be worth less at handover than you paid.
Before you pay
- Check that the account named in your contract is in the project's name, at the bank the developer names as trustee.
- Pay every installment by transfer into that account, and keep every receipt.
- Confirm the project is registered (in Dubai, the DLD's project status service), and that your purchase is registered too: Oqood in Dubai.
See off-plan for how the whole purchase works, or ask the advisor about a project.