Where we work

Renting works differently in each of these markets, and the differences are in the data model rather than in a settings screen. What changes, country by country.

• United Arab Emirates

  Post-dated cheques, Ejari and Tawtheeq registration, 5% VAT on commercial rent only, and a rent cap tied to a published index. What a system has to handle to be usable in Dubai and Abu Dhabi rather than merely available there.

  • Registration: Ejari (Dubai), Tawtheeq (Abu Dhabi)
  • VAT: 5% standard; commercial rent taxable, residential generally exempt
  • Rent payment: Annual, settled in 1–12 post-dated cheques

• Saudi Arabia

  Ejar documentation, 15% VAT on commercial leases, ZATCA electronic invoicing as a format requirement rather than a PDF, and Arabic as the language of the document. What changes when the market is Riyadh rather than Dubai.

  • Registration: Ejar — the national tenancy platform
  • VAT: 15% standard; commercial leases taxable, residential supply exempt
  • E-invoicing: ZATCA (Fatoora) — mandatory, phased by taxpayer size

• Egypt

  The largest rental market in the Arab world by unit count, two legal regimes running in parallel, and a currency that has moved enough to make how you store money an actual question. What a portfolio in Cairo needs that a Gulf-built system does not provide.

  • Market size: The region’s largest by number of rented units
  • Legal regimes: Historic rent-controlled stock alongside new-law lettings
  • Currency: EGP — a portfolio may also contract in USD or EUR

• Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain and Oman

  Smaller markets that share the Gulf conventions — annual contracts, cheques, mandatory registration — while differing on tax. Grouped honestly rather than given four near-identical pages.

  • Rent payment: Annual contracts, commonly settled in cheques
  • VAT: Bahrain and Oman have VAT; Qatar and Kuwait have not implemented it
  • Registration: Municipal or ministry registration, varying by country