If your lease ends in December and your landlord has notified you of a rent increase but you don't know the amount yet. Can you decide not to renew the lease after you see the new rent? How much notice should you give?

Changes to a rental agreement must be communicated in writing, and landlords have 90 days before the renewal date to inform tenants of any rent increase, in accordance with the Dubai Land Department’s rental index. If they miss this deadline, they cannot legally raise the rent.

While there’s a debate about whether tenants must inform landlords of their intention not to renew, it's wise to notify them well in advance. Law 33 of 2008 and one of the alterations was the need to inform the landlord at all but keeping communication open is best practice. But as the contract has a start date and end date, and you do not wish to renew, legally you are not bound to inform.

Eviction Procedures and Lease Renewals

Another situation where if you receive an eviction notice last October while the contract was still active. You renewed your lease for seven months in March. Was this eviction process correct?

Yes, recent rulings allow eviction notices to be served at any time and not just at the end of a contract, so the notice you received was valid.

Lease Agreement Concerns

If you agreed to a lease renewal, but the new contract states it's non-renewable and includes a clause about tenant responsibility for the landlord's legal costs. Can the landlord enforce this?

Legally, tenancy contracts are renewable unless stated otherwise. If you didn’t agree to that clause, you should contest it now or later. For any changes to a contract, 90 days' notice is required and eviction must be formally communicated. Legal costs are determined by the court if disputes arise.