Dubai off-plan registration: the Land Department launches Oqood 2.0 — what changes for buyers

On 3 September 2026 the Dubai Land Department launched Oqood 2.0, a rebuilt version of the system through which off-plan sales are registered. It reads like an IT update, but it matters to anyone buying before completion: it is the Oqood entry, not the contract with the developer, that makes you the recognised owner of an unbuilt unit until the title deed is issued.

What Oqood is

Oqood is the Land Department's interim register for property under construction. When a buyer signs a sale and purchase agreement with a developer, the sale is registered in Oqood and the buyer receives an interim registration certificate. That certificate:

• confirms the specific unit is assigned to you and cannot be sold twice;
• is required for an assignment — a unit can only be resold before handover by re-registering it in Oqood;
• is required by a bank financing the purchase during construction;
• converts into a full title deed once the building is completed.

A contract without an Oqood registration is a developer's promise, not a registered right. The first thing to check after signing is that the sale appears on the register. What exactly you own at each stage is covered in our explainer on Oqood and the title deed.

What version 2.0 adds

Oqood 2.0 brings requirements, documents, submission, review and approval into one digital journey:

• a pre-submission questionnaire that works out which documents and conditions apply to the specific transaction before it goes for review;
• auto-fill of details the system already holds, including passport data;
• status tracking — under review, more information needed, or approved;
• an action trail recording each step, so it is visible where an application is held up.

The registration fee is unchanged: 4% of the price plus fixed administrative charges. The update is about speed and predictability, not cost.

What it means in practice

The chronic problem of the old process was rework: a file went in, a missing document surfaced days later, and the clock restarted. The questionnaire is meant to catch that up front. For buyers it speeds up two operations — the first registration after purchase, and re-registration on an assignment, where delay costs real money because a resale buyer will not wait.

It is one step in a broader rebuild of Dubai's primary market, in which project management, sale registration and escrow accounts are moving onto shared digital infrastructure — so the regulator can see units sold, money in escrow and construction progress in one place.

One caveat: faster registration does not make an off-plan resale liquid. Demand depends on the project, the price and the completion stage, not on the portal. Why most assignments fail to find a buyer is explained in our piece on selling before handover.

At completion the Oqood entry becomes a title deed, and before that comes the handover inspection. What to check is in our guide to snagging and handover in Dubai.