Trakheesi advertising permits: the fees, the fines and the order of work

The permit is the cheap part. Dubai Land Department (DLD) lists AED 1,000 for most permit types, AED 5,000 for a project launch event permit and a further AED 20 fee, while in October 2020 it said fines for advertising without the required permits start from AED 50,000. At AED 1,020 a permit, AED 50,000 works out at 49 of them. The exposure lies in the order of work, which has to run contract, permit, creative, then launch.

Everything below sticks to what published sources confirm, dated as of 7 November 2026, and none of it is legal advice. Where a point isn't confirmed, this guide says so and tells you what to ask.

What is a Trakheesi permit, and who needs one?

A Trakheesi permit is the real estate advertising permit that DLD offers through its Trakheesi system. If you advertise Dubai property as a broker, brokerage or developer, plan on needing the permit that matches each kind of advert you run, and ask DLD which one that is.

DLD's page ties the broker's application to a marketing contract with the owner, for the permit types it lists as needing one. That makes the contract the first deliverable of any property campaign, ahead of the creative brief.

What DLD's own pages confirm, and what they leave out

DLD itself confirms four points, each dated below, and its permit page is silent on a fifth.

Fees and fines change. Check both on DLD's site on the day you budget a campaign, and keep a dated copy of what you saw.

Where the permit fits in a campaign: contract, permit, creative, launch

The permit sits between the owner's contract and the creative brief, and it has to exist before anything goes live. Here is the order of work that keeps a number on every ad, with what to do when a step fails.

1. 01Get the marketing contract signed with the owner. DLD ties the permit to it for the types it lists, so no contract means no permit and no ad for that unit. If the owner is slow, market something you can permit instead.
2. 02Apply for the permit type that matches what you're running, since a project launch event is listed at AED 5,000 and most other types at AED 1,000, each plus a further AED 20 fee. If you can't tell which type applies, ask DLD before the creative is built, not after.
3. 03Put the permit number in the brief before design starts, so every format has room for it. A number squeezed onto a finished creative gets cropped or forgotten.
4. 04Have a second person check each ad against its permit before it goes live: the project or unit it covers, the type of permit, and a legible number. If any of the three doesn't match, the ad doesn't run.
5. 05Log every live ad in a register with its channel, permit number, date live, permit end date if there is one, and who approved it. Review the register weekly, and pause an ad the day its permit lapses.
6. 06If an ad goes live without its number, take it down first, then fix it, then find out why the second-person check missed it. Leave nothing up while you hunt for the number.

In Magnetic Keys' plug-in marketing department for real estate, every Dubai ad is prepared with its permit number in place, and nothing runs without one. How the number must appear on each format is DLD's call, and this guide hasn't confirmed a format-by-format rule, so that question is on the list at the end.

Off-plan launches multiply the work, because a launch can mean teasers, portal listings, social creatives and an event. Ask DLD whether each asset needs its own permit, and build the register before launch week rather than during it. The 90-day plan for an off-plan launch covers the rest of the campaign.

What happens if you advertise without a permit?

DLD said in October 2020 that advertising without the required permits brings progressive fines starting from AED 50,000, and that the licence can end up cancelled. That statement is six years old, it describes where fines start rather than a current schedule, and DLD's permit page lists no penalty, so ask DLD for today's figures before quoting them to a board or a client.

DLD called the fines progressive, which reads as heavier for repeat breaches, though the statement doesn't spell out the scale. A weekly register that catches a repeat slip is worth far more than whatever skipping one permit saves.

Are there separate RERA advertising rules?

The confirmed pieces are the permit, its fees and one fines statement, all from DLD. A separate current rulebook from RERA on what an advert may say or show isn't among them. RERA is the Real Estate Regulatory Agency, and people search for "RERA advertising rules" and "RERA advertising permit" as well as Trakheesi, but the permit that can be confirmed sits in DLD's Trakheesi system.

Read silence as unconfirmed, not as allowed. For anything about wording, claims, images, prices or what an off-plan advert must state, get DLD's current text in writing before the creative is final.

Two other permits can catch a property campaign

Two other regimes can apply to a property campaign, and neither replaces the DLD permit.

• The Advertiser Permit. The National Media Authority's permit is required for anyone posting promotional content on social media, whether paid or unpaid, and has been mandatory since 1 February 2026. People promoting their own products or services, or those of a company they own, through personal accounts are exempt. The details come from press reports rather than the authority's own pages, so confirm scope with the authority. Whether a broker posting a developer's project from a personal account counts as promoting their own services is a question for it, not a point to assume. The advertiser permit guide has the detail.
• The promotion permit. Dubai Economy, now the Department of Economy and Tourism, said in 2020 that traders must obtain a permit to run sales or promotional campaigns in Dubai. Current fees, lead times and fines weren't confirmed for this guide, so if a launch includes a sale or a promotional offer, ask the Department what applies. The post on advertising law in the UAE gives the wider picture.

Six questions to put to DLD in writing

Six questions turn this guide's gaps into answers you can file with the register.

• Which permit type covers each thing we run: portal listings, paid social, WhatsApp creatives, print, outdoor and launch events?
• Does an unpaid post on a broker's own social account need a permit?
• How long does a permit last, and what must happen to live ads when it ends?
• How must the number appear on each format?
• What are today's penalties, and who is fined: the broker, the brokerage, the developer or the agency?
• For an off-plan project, what must be in place before the first teaser runs?

Keep every reply with the register and date it. A written answer from the authority is worth more than anything an agency or a blog says, this guide included. It summarises published sources as of November 2026 and isn't legal advice.