Oqood vs title deed: what off-plan buyers in Dubai actually own
Until an off-plan unit is handed over, you don’t hold a title deed — you hold an Oqood. Knowing the difference protects both your money and your paperwork.
Two registers, two documents
The Dubai Land Department keeps two registers. Completed properties sit on the main real estate register, evidenced by a title deed. Off-plan sales must be recorded on the interim real estate register — a requirement under Dubai’s off-plan sales law — and the registration certificate for that is the Oqood (Arabic for "contracts").
An Oqood is not a lesser formality. It is the official record that you are the buyer of that specific unit, and it is what protects your position if the developer delays, resells, or restructures the project.
What the Oqood does for you
- Evidences your contractual ownership right to the unit before completion
- Is generally required to resell the off-plan unit (assign it) before handover
- Supports processes that accept pre-registration evidence — for example, off-plan property counting toward a Golden Visa application is evidenced through its Oqood record
- Creates a DLD paper trail of the price and parties, independent of the developer’s own records
The fees
Registering an off-plan purchase carries the standard 4% DLD registration fee on the purchase price (in practice usually paid by the buyer, often collected by the developer at signing), plus modest administrative charges. Keep the receipts: proof that the 4% was actually remitted to the DLD is worth having on file.
When the title deed arrives
On completion, once the building has its completion certificate and the buyer has settled the amounts due under the sale agreement, the unit moves from the interim register to the main register and the DLD issues the title deed. The title deed is the document that matters from then on — for selling, mortgaging, leasing formalities and visa applications. A small issuance fee applies at this step.
Pillar OS reads an uploaded title deed and extracts the key fields automatically, and its document vault keeps deeds, SPAs and Oqood records per unit with expiry and renewal dates on your radar.