Holiday home licence
The permit your Dubai listing has to carry
It is the official licence issued by the DET, the Department of Economy and Tourism, and it is what legally allows a residential property to be let by the day, the week or the month in Dubai. Airbnb and Booking take down listings that do not show a valid number.
On your listing
Issued by the DET
Holiday Home Permit
Not filled in
Two different things
Owning it does not allow you to let it by the night
The Title Deed
- It is the deed. The Dubai Land Department issues it.
- It proves the property is yours.
- It does not allow you to list it as a holiday let.
The Holiday Home Permit
- The DET, the Department of Economy and Tourism, issues it.
- It allows letting by the day, the week or the month.
- It is the number the platforms ask for to publish the listing.
You need it before the property goes on a platform, even as its rightful owner. Operating without it counts as a serious breach of the Emirate's tourism rules.
Without it
A listing without the permit comes down
Registering is not a formality: without it the listing does not hold and the investment is exposed. Four risks, and all four are immediate.
Fines
Penalties usually start at AED 5,000 and go up if it happens again.
The listing
Airbnb, Booking and the rest automatically remove listings with no valid, verified licence.
The activity
The DET can bar you from running holiday lets in the future.
Insurance
The mandatory public liability cover is not valid if the activity is illegal.
What you give us
Four documents you already have
With these we file the whole application with the DET. The rest of it is on us.
From the Dubai Land Department
The Title Deed
The deed to the property. If it is still off-plan, the Oqood will do.
Your ID
Your passport
And your Emirates ID, if you are a UAE resident.
From DEWA
A recent bill
Water and electricity, in the owner's name.
With us
The management agreement
Signed — it is what lets us file on your behalf.
The permit has existed since 2012 and Dubai handles it digitally: with the right paperwork, DET approval and issue usually take 48 to 72 working hours. The property is ready for guests straight away.
Getting started
Tell us which property to register
Fill this in and we will write to you for the four documents. We deal with the DET.
What we do with your request
- We check your paperwork.
- We file the application with the DET.
- The licence is issued 48 to 72 working hours later.
- We hand you the number, ready to paste into the listing.