Off-plan property
Property purchased before construction is complete — sold from the developer with payments staged against construction milestones.
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process
Project escrow account
A dedicated bank account where off-plan buyer payments are held, with developer drawdowns released only against RERA-audited construction milestones.
Every off-plan project in Dubai must, under Law No. 8 of 2007, open a project escrow account at a RERA-designated escrow bank. All buyer payments for that project flow into the escrow — they do not go directly to the developer.
The developer requests drawdowns against the escrow at construction milestones. A RERA-appointed engineering consultant verifies the construction progress before each drawdown is released. The escrow mechanism is the primary structural protection for off-plan buyers — it ensures that buyer capital cannot be diverted from the project it was paid into.
Key banks operating as RERA-designated escrow banks include Emirates NBD, ADCB, Mashreq, FAB, and HSBC UAE. Investors should always verify the escrow bank + IBAN before transferring an initial payment to a developer.
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