Dubai Land Department signs deal with Tatweer

The system allows registration of title deeds/master plans, mortgaged property and deferred sale.

A strategic partnership agreement was signed by Sultan Butti Bin Mijrin, the Director General of Dubai's Land Department, and Khalid Al Malik, CEO of Tatweer, in Dubai. Mohammed Al Habbai, CEO of Dubailand, and Abdul Wahab Al Halabi Chief Operating Officer of Dubailand; Mohammed Sultan Thani, Director of Development and Marketing Administration, and Abdelbari Bin Sougat, Assistant Director of the Development and Marketing, Land Department, were present at the ceremony.

The agreement will centralise all land sales in Dubai through a general property registration system and all agreed sale deeds will be authenticated by the Land Department.

Sultan Butti Bin Mijrin, Director General of Land Department, said:

"Tatweer is the first company to use the new initial property registration system. We are confident this system will not only strengthen investors' confidence in the real estate market but will help attract more foreign direct investments. All the development projects shall be subject to trust law agreements, which guarantee the buyers' funds will be utilised only for the developments they were meant for."

"The partnership between the Land Department and Tatweer will help provide accurate information on the value of transactions, restrict dealings to accredited brokers in Dubai and bring more transparency to property transactions. The agreement will also allow us to consolidate cooperation with Tatweer to provide property registration services through its head-office at Dubailand."

Khalid Al Malik, CEO of Tatweer, said: "We are happy to be one of the first users and beneficiaries of this system. This will allow us to track all the previous transactions as well."

According to the agreement, Tatweer will be the first developer in the Emirate to use the registration system for all its projects. It allows registration of all property transactions with the Land Department database, even after all mortgage or installment payments are completed.

Developers will be able to interact directly with the registration system at Dubai Land Department from the first day of the deal. It will bridge the time gap between first installment and the final registration in the Land Department database, which could at times last between two and three years. The system also seeks to guarantee rights to property owners even before they complete their mortgage payments.

Additionally, Tatweer will handle all registrations of secondary developers in the areas falling under its purview. It will also ensure engineering specifications are strictly adhered to according to the original master plans.

At the same time the Land Department will be provided with the master plans of the areas being developed by Tatweer or secondary developers. These plans need to specify the number of property units, the type of projects, and the signature of trust agreements on all the projects falling within Tatweer's jurisdiction. Tatweer will also confine its dealings to only authorised real estate brokers for any property transaction.