Renting a home

Every step, and what proves it happened

• 1. Owner's authority to market

  The owner's written authority for the brokerage to act and to advertise. Filed with Held by the parties. Without it the listing has no basis.

  UAQ MunicipalityThe landlordConfirmed

• 2. Advertising permission

  Check with UAQ Municipality what they require before the listing goes public. Umm Al Quwain publishes no permit name we can quote, so ask for whatever approval they issue rather than filing another emirate's permit. In Umm Al Quwain it is issued to a licensed brokerage, so an owner listing directly cannot hold one - this is the step where an agent is required.

  UAQ MunicipalityYour agentNot confirmed

• 3. Listing live

  With the permit number displayed.

  Your agentConfirmed

• 4. Viewings

  Recorded against the listing.

  The tenantConfirmed

• 5. Offer and terms agreed

  Rent, the number of cheques, and the term.

  The tenantConfirmed

• 6. Tenancy contract signed

  Signed by both parties, in the unified tenancy contract form. What is signed here is what gets registered.

  Your agentConfirmed

• 7. Deposit and cheques

  The security deposit plus the rent cheques. Five per cent of the annual rent unfurnished and ten furnished is the usual figure — market convention, not a rate fixed in law, so it is whatever the contract says. The deposit is held by the landlord until hand-back and is not rent; get the condition of the unit recorded before it changes hands.

  The tenantConfirmed

• 8. Tenant identity check

  Emirates ID or passport and visa status. The registry asks for it, so it gates the step after this one rather than this one.

  The tenantConfirmed

• 9. Register the tenancy

  Register the lease with UAQ Municipality once both sides have signed. Registration is what the utility provider and the school ask for, so do it before move-in rather than after. Ask them for the certificate they issue.

  UAQ MunicipalityThe landlordNot confirmed

• 10. Utilities connected

  The lease registration is what the utility provider asks for.

  The tenantConfirmed

• 11. Move-in permit

  Most managed buildings require the owners association's move-in permit before keys — the registered lease, a refundable move-in deposit and a booked lift slot. Ask the community management for theirs; it is the step that most often delays a move by a week.

  Your agentConfirmed

• 12. Handover and inventory

  Keys, access cards and parking, against a written condition report with photographs. The report is what the deposit is judged against at the end, so it is worth the twenty minutes.

  Your agentConfirmed

• 13. Renewal notice

  Serve notice before the term ends if the rent or the terms are to change — miss the window and the existing terms roll on. Ask UAQ Municipality for the period that applies; it is not Dubai's ninety days everywhere.

  UAQ MunicipalityThe landlordNot confirmed