How Much a Developer Can Keep on Termination: the Calculator
If you are on this page, the instalments have probably already stalled and a letter from the developer or the DLD has arrived. The first thing to understand is how much of what you paid is at risk. That is not up to the developer: the limits are set by Article 11 of Dubai Law No. 13 of 2008 as amended by Law No. 19 of 2017, and they depend on how far construction has progressed. Enter the contract price, the amount paid and the construction stage — the calculator shows the retention cap and the minimum that must come back to you.
| Construction stage | Retention ceiling | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Over 80% complete | 40 % | of the property value under the contract |
| 60–80% complete | 40 % | of the property value under the contract |
| Under 60% complete, construction started | 25 % | of the property value under the contract |
| Construction not started for reasons beyond the developer's control | 30 % | of the amounts paid |
Retention ceiling: — · Returned to the buyer: —
Less has been paid than the retention ceiling. Nothing is left to return, and the developer may try to recover the difference — that is a contested question, settled by the contract and in a dispute, not by a calculator.
The balance is returned within one year of termination or 60 days from the resale of the property, whichever comes first. This is a CEILING, not a fixed amount: the law says «up to», and what is actually retained is a matter of dispute. The calculation does not judge whether the buyer breached at all.
Dubai Law No. 13 of 2008, Article 11, as amended by Law No. 19 of 2017
What happens, step by step
- Breach. The buyer misses an instalment or otherwise breaks the contract. On its own that is not yet a termination.
- Notice through the DLD. The developer cannot simply declare the contract terminated. It applies to the Land Department, and the DLD serves the buyer a written notice requiring performance within 30 days. Those 30 days are your window: pay, negotiate a revised schedule, or put your own claims against the developer on record.
- Termination and retention. If the period runs out, the developer may terminate and keep part of the money — within the scale below.
- Refund of the balance. Everything above the retained amount is returned within 1 year of termination or 60 days from the resale of the unit, whichever comes first.
Why the construction stage decides everything
The law follows a simple logic: the further the building has gone, the more the developer has already sunk into your unit and the more it may keep.
| Construction stage | Retention cap | Base |
|---|---|---|
| Above 80% | up to 40% | contract price of the unit |
| 60% to 80% | up to 40% | contract price of the unit |
| Below 60%, work started | up to 25% | contract price of the unit |
| Work not started, for reasons beyond the developer's control | up to 30% | amounts actually paid |
Above 80% the developer also has other options: keep the contract alive and claim the outstanding price, or ask the DLD to sell the unit at public auction and recover the debt from the proceeds.
Three things people most often get wrong
The base is not the same on every row. For the first three tiers the cap is calculated on the contract price of the unit, not on what you have paid. If you have paid 20% of the price and the building has passed 60%, the developer may lawfully retain up to 40% of the price — which is everything you paid. Only on the fourth tier, where construction never began, is the base the amount paid, so a 30% cap means at least 70% of your money must come back.
"Up to 40%" is a ceiling, not a tariff. The law permits the developer to retain no more than the stated percentage. How much it actually keeps depends on the contract, the parties' conduct and negotiation. A developer that was itself late, drew on escrow out of sequence or ignored your written complaints is in a far weaker position. How delay penalties against a developer are calculated is covered in handover date and penalties.
A cancelled project is a different law. If RERA has cancelled the project, the retention scale does not apply at all: the developer refunds all buyer payments under the procedure of Dubai Law No. 8 of 2007 through the project escrow account. How escrow works, and why payments outside it are a warning sign, is explained in escrow and Oqood.
What to do inside those 30 days
- Pull together the contract and every receipt: did the money go to the project escrow account, do the amounts match, did the developer itself move deadlines.
- Get written confirmation of the construction stage — it sets the tier, so verify it.
- Check for a counterclaim: late handover, project changes, payments outside escrow. The procedure is in filing a complaint with RERA.
- Decide what is worth more: paying up, negotiating an exit, or fighting. The three routes to getting money back are compared in refunds on off-plan purchases.
Have your situation reviewed
Message us on WhatsApp or Telegram at +971 58 600 98 87 and send the contract, the receipts and the letter from the developer or the DLD; we read them before the call and tell you which tier you are on and whether you have counter-arguments. You can also work through your situation on the home page.
⚠️ The calculator shows the limits set by law, not the amount that will be retained in your case. The outcome depends on the contract, the evidence and negotiation. This is not legal advice; we review each situation individually.