Can I pay the developer's ordinary company account?

No. Off-plan payments go to a dedicated escrow account for that specific project, held by an accredited trustee bank. The details are stated in the SPA and should match the project card in Dubai REST. Any request to send funds to a company operating account, to an agent or to a third party takes you outside the protection entirely.

Does escrow protect me against a delayed handover?

No. Escrow guarantees that money is spent on construction, not that keys arrive on time. Timing is governed by the grace period and penalty clauses in your SPA. A delay on its own does not create an automatic right to a refund; that is a separate conversation with the developer, and a DLD process if the project actually stalls.

What happens to the money if a project is cancelled?

Cancelled and stalled projects go before the special tribunal established by Decree No. 33 of 2020. It can order completion, transfer the project to another developer, or liquidate it and settle buyers' rights. Its decisions are final and binding.

What is the 5% held back after completion?

Once the project receives its completion certificate, the trustee retains 5% of the escrow account value and does not release it to the developer for a further year, running from the registration of units in buyers' names. It is a buffer against defects visible at handover or emerging during the first year.

What happens if I stop paying my instalments?

The mechanism runs the other way under Law No. 19 of 2017. Through a DLD process the developer may terminate and retain part of the value: up to 40% where the project is more than 60% complete, up to 25% where it is less. This is why a payment plan should be chosen on your ability to finish it, not on the size of the first instalment.

Escrow and buyer protection

In Dubai an off-plan buyer's money goes to a dedicated project escrow account at an accredited bank, not to the developer. The developer can only draw against construction progress certified by an independent engineer. Law No. 8 of 2007 closes off misuse of funds. It does not close off a missed handover date, finishing quality, or your own exit from the deal.

One structure, three laws

Dubai's off-plan protection rests on three instruments, and it helps to know what each one actually does.

Law No. 8 of 2007 on escrow accounts in real estate development. It requires a developer to open a separate account for each project with an accredited trustee and to route all buyer payments into it.

Law No. 13 of 2008 on the Interim Real Property Register — the Oqood register. Every off-plan sale must be registered; an unregistered sale has no effect. This is what makes you the holder of a registered interest rather than the holder of a receipt.

Decree No. 33 of 2020 established the special tribunal for the liquidation of cancelled real property projects and the settlement of related rights. This is where a project goes when it cannot be completed.

The path of a single instalment

You sign the SPA and receive payment details. The beneficiary is the project escrow account, not the company's operating account, and never an agent.
Funds land with the trustee bank. The trustee is not a party to your deal: it holds the money and controls the grounds for release.
The developer cannot draw at will. Release is triggered by an independent engineering consultant's certificate of work completed, within the DLD supervision framework.
That same completion percentage appears on the project card in Dubai REST. It is not a separate buyer-facing display; it is the number the money moves against.

Which produces the rule worth internalising before any other: a payment outside escrow is a payment outside protection. Not for a unit hold, not for priority allocation, not in cash.

The 5% that survives handover

When a project receives its completion certificate, the trustee retains 5% of the escrow account value. That amount is not released to the developer for a further year, counted from the registration of units in buyers' names.

The purpose is narrow and useful: a buffer against defects that show up at inspection or during the first year of occupation. It is not a quality guarantee, but it is not decorative either.

What to do when handover slips

This is where expectations and the law diverge most often. Escrow does not guarantee a date. It guarantees that money went into the building.

Check the completion percentage in Dubai REST. A site at 62% and a site at 8% one year before the declared handover are two entirely different conversations.
Open the SPA and find the grace period: how far handover can move without consequence for the developer. Periods of roughly 6 to 12 months are common in Dubai contracts, but the number is contractual, so read yours.
Move the correspondence into writing. Verbal promises of a new date carry no weight.
Escalate to RERA or DLD if the date has passed the grace period and the developer is not answering substantively.
If the project is stalled or cancelled, it falls to the tribunal under Decree 33/2020, which may transfer it to another developer, order completion, or liquidate and settle buyers' rights.

The honest part: a delay does not trigger an automatic refund. A delay is not a cancellation, and the two follow entirely different procedures.

What escrow does not cover

Situation	Covered by escrow
Developer spends funds outside construction	Yes, this is the point of the structure
Project cancelled and liquidated	A mechanism exists: the Decree 33/2020 tribunal
Defects found in the first year	Partly: the 5% retained by the trustee
Handover slips by a year	No, that is the grace period in your SPA
Final finishing quality	No, that is inspection and contract specification
You stop paying instalments	No, the mechanism runs the other way
Money paid outside escrow	No, outside the protected perimeter

The other direction: when you are the one who stops paying

Rarely written about, always asked by the third meeting. Law No. 19 of 2017, amending Law 13/2008, sets out what a developer may do if you default — through a DLD process, without a separate court order.

Project completion	What the developer may do
Above 80%	Demand the balance, ask DLD to sell the unit at auction, or terminate and retain up to 40% of the value
60–80%	Terminate and retain no more than 40% of the value
Below 60%, construction started	Terminate and retain no more than 25% of the value
Construction not started, through no fault of the developer	Terminate and deduct no more than 30% of amounts paid, refunding the balance within 60 days

The balance is repaid within one year of termination or 60 days from resale of the unit, whichever comes first.

The practical consequence: choose a payment plan on your ability to complete it, not on the size of the down payment. Side-by-side comparison sits in the payment plan math.

What to check before signing

The details in the SPA are the project escrow account, and they match the project card in Dubai REST.
The RERA project registration number appears in the contract.
Oqood registration after the first instalment is the developer's obligation, with a stated deadline.
The grace period and what follows if it is exceeded have been read, not skimmed.
Your exit terms: at what percentage assignment is permitted and what is retained on termination.
Not one payment outside escrow.

How to vet the developer before you reach this stage is covered separately. How the pre-handover exit works is in the piece on assignment.

Escrow is a guarantee of how money is spent, not a guarantee of outcome. Everything else comes down to the quality of the developer and the wording of your SPA.

If you want the escrow details, DLD completion percentage and delay clauses checked on a specific project, message us on WhatsApp. We will send the breakdown with the numbers and the payment schedule. The buyer pays nothing: the developer pays the commission.

Escrow: why your money never reaches the developer directly