UAE Tightens Power of Attorney Rules for Property Sales: What Changed in June 2026

If you’re buying, selling or financing property in the UAE through someone acting on your behalf, this one actually matters, and it’s easy to miss if your paperwork predates June 2026.

What changed

Since 1 June 2026, most property disposals, sales, mortgages, settlements, can no longer rely on a general Power of Attorney. A general POA (the broad, do-anything document a lot of investors set up years ago and never revisited) simply doesn’t cover a property sale anymore. What’s required now is a special Power of Attorney (SPOA): a notarised, task-limited document that authorises a named agent to perform one specific act, such as selling one specific, named property. Nothing broader.

Alongside that, Dubai Land Department has closed a specific fraud gap: it’s now illegal for a POA holder to receive the sale proceeds in their own name on the seller’s behalf. The sale cheque has to be issued to the person on the title deed, not the agent acting for them. DLD will refuse a transaction on the spot if this isn’t set up correctly, there’s no second attempt at the counter.

How long these documents last

Validity periods are specific and worth writing down: a POA for a sale, mortgage or grant is valid for two years from notarisation. A purchase POA runs longer, five years. If you set up a general POA some years ago assuming it would cover you indefinitely, it’s worth checking both whether it’s still valid and whether it’s even the right type of document anymore.

The one thing that’s actually gotten easier

Not everything here is friction. The UAE Ministry of Justice has a federal digital POA e-service that can issue a ratified Power of Attorney in under 10 minutes, with real estate covered under its second phase of categories. For overseas owners who previously had to route a POA through an embassy or consulate process taking weeks, this is a genuine improvement.

What this means if you’re buying or selling remotely

If you’re not physically in the UAE for a transaction and you’re relying on someone else to act for you, don’t assume an old POA still works. Get a fresh, specific, notarised SPOA naming the exact property and the exact action before you’re at the table, not after a deal falls through because the paperwork didn’t hold up.

Legal information current as of publication, not a substitute for advice from a UAE-licensed lawyer or notary on your specific situation.