Bonyan International Investment Group Holding: how to read a title deed

The title deed is the document that proves ownership. Everything else — the sale agreement, the brochure, the agent's description — is a claim about it. Reading it properly takes five minutes and settles several questions that otherwise get taken on trust.

What the deed tells you

• The owner's exact name. It must match the seller's identity document. A mismatch, or a sale by someone acting for the owner, needs a valid power of attorney — verify it, do not accept a copy at face value.
• The property's identifiers — plot, building, unit number and floor. Check them against the unit you actually viewed. Numbering in Dubai buildings does not always run as you expect, and marketing floor numbers can differ from registered ones.
• The area, in square metres. Compare it with what the listing claims. Listings quote square feet and sometimes quote a generous figure; the deed is the fact.
• The type of ownership — freehold or leasehold, and if leasehold, the remaining term. This is the line most often skipped and the one with the largest consequences.
• Parking, where it forms part of the title. If a space is not on the deed, establish separately what right you have to one.
• Encumbrances. A registered mortgage or any restriction appears here. A property cannot transfer to you with a lender's charge outstanding — it has to be discharged, and the sequence takes time.

Verifying it

• Do not rely on a photograph of a deed. Documents can be edited. Verification is available through the land department's own channels, and the transfer itself happens at a registration trustee office where the register is checked.
• Off-plan has no title deed yet. What exists is the interim register entry — the Oqood registration. Confirm your purchase appears there; that is the equivalent protection at that stage.
• Check the service-charge position in parallel. The developer's no-objection certificate confirms charges are settled, and the transfer depends on it.

The questions the deed does not answer

It says nothing about the building's condition, its reserve fund, its service charge, whether short lets are permitted, or what may be built next door. Those come from the owners' association, the management company and planning information. The deed proves what you own; it does not describe what owning it will be like.

In a free-zone district

Some districts — JLT among them — sit within a free-zone framework, and the ownership form is not uniform across every tower. Establish for the specific building what form of title is granted and through which register. Ask before price, not after.

Based on the Dubai Land Department registration framework. Verify any specific title through official channels.