Ejari 'New' vs 'Renew' and Contract Amount vs Annual Rent, Explained
What DLD's rent dataset actually tracks
Dubai Land Department publishes an open Rent Transaction Details dataset alongside its sales, mortgage, and project data. If you search it, you'll notice the filters and fields look different from a sales record. Instead of one "Amount" column, rent contracts carry two: Contract Amount and Annual Amount. And every contract is tagged with a Version: either "New" or "Renew."
These aren't cosmetic labels. They reflect how a lease is actually structured in the system, and understanding them helps you read your own Ejari certificate correctly — which matters if you ever need to check a rent increase or file a dispute.
New vs Renew: what the Version field means
- New — a first-time registration of a tenancy contract for that specific lease relationship. This is what happens when you sign a fresh lease on a unit.
- Renew — a registration that extends or continues an existing tenancy, rather than starting a new one.
The dataset lets you filter by this Version field directly, alongside other filters like Area, Usage, and Property Type, so DLD's own data structure treats "new lease" and "renewed lease" as two distinct events, each with its own registration date, start date, and end date.
Contract Amount vs Annual Amount: why they can differ
The rent dataset records both figures separately for every entry:
| Field | What it represents |
|---|---|
| Contract Amount | The total value tied to that specific contract registration |
| Annual Amount | The yearly rent figure for the tenancy |
The source data doesn't spell out a formula for how these two numbers relate in every case, but the practical reason they're kept as separate fields is straightforward: a contract isn't always exactly 12 months, and a renewal doesn't always cover a full year from the same anniversary date. When a lease term is shorter or longer than a year, or when a renewal contract is registered partway through a cycle, the total Contract Amount and the Annual Amount it implies won't be identical line items — they're two different measurements of the same tenancy.
This is exactly the kind of mismatch that trips people up when they compare their Ejari certificate against a rent increase notice. If your landlord references one figure and your certificate shows another, don't assume an error — check which field each document is actually citing before treating it as a discrepancy.
How to read your own Ejari certificate against this
- Check the Version first. Is your current certificate a New registration or a Renew? That tells you whether you're looking at an original lease term or an extension of one.
- Separate the two amount fields. Note the Contract Amount and the Annual Amount as distinct numbers — don't assume they're always the same.
- Match dates to amounts. Look at the registration date, start date, and end date together with the amount fields to understand what period each figure actually covers.
- Use RERA's rent calculator for increase disputes. DLD's open data page doesn't itself explain rent-increase percentage caps or dispute procedure — that's a RERA function, not a field in this dataset. If your Annual Amount looks off relative to what you're being asked to pay, that calculator (and RERA channels) is where the increase-cap question gets resolved, not the DLD dataset itself.
What this dataset doesn't tell you
The source page is a data-download tool, not a policy explainer. It doesn't state rent increase percentage limits, dispute filing steps, or grace periods for renewal — those sit outside this dataset. If you need the mechanics of a rent dispute or increase cap, go to RERA's own channels rather than guessing from field names here.
If you're weighing whether renting or buying makes more sense in your situation, the rent vs buy comparison walks through that math. And if you're past the renting stage and pricing out a purchase, remember a sale isn't just the DLD transfer fee — factor in agency commission on resale deals, the trustee registration fee, and, if you're financing, the mortgage registration fee and bank valuation fee too. Our mortgage calculator accounts for those pieces.
Source: Dubai Land Department – Real Estate Data
This article is informational, not legal or financial advice. For rent dispute procedures, increase caps, or Ejari-specific questions, DLD's own page and RERA's official channels are the authoritative source.