Building a Dubai property website: advertising permits, accurate listings and fast enquiries

This is a developer's guide to building a website, not legal advice. Advertising rules are set by the Dubai Land Department (DLD) and the Real Estate Regulatory Agency (RERA) and they change. Your brokerage or development company is responsible for compliance; confirm current requirements with DLD/RERA or your compliance lead.

Property websites in Dubai have a job most business websites don't: every listing is a regulated advertisement. A site that looks good but shows sold units, missing permit numbers or out-of-date prices can cost a brokerage both leads and trust. This guide covers what the regulator says, how to build those rules into the website itself, and how to make sure enquiries actually reach an agent. Facts are as of October 2026.

What the regulator says

Three official points shape a Dubai property website:

• Trakheesi permits. Real estate companies in Dubai must apply for an advertising permit through DLD's Trakheesi system, and the permit number must appear in the advert (DLD). DLD's permit categories include electronic advertising, so the working assumption for a website is that each listing needs its own permit.
• Madmoun QR codes. Each permit comes with a Madmoun QR code. Scanning it shows the approved advert details, the advertising company and whether the unit is sold or rented. DLD made the QR code mandatory on print and audiovisual ads from 24 April 2023 (DLD).
• RERA Circular 02-2025 (19 March 2025). Addressed to developers, it says projects may not be marketed until registration is complete and a RERA permit is issued, that all real estate advertisements must include a QR code linked to the project's marketing permit, and that payments must not be collected outside the project's escrow account (DLD circular, PDF).

Exactly how the QR requirement applies to each listing on a broker's own website is something to confirm with DLD/RERA. The practical answer for the build is the same either way: give every listing a place for the permit number and the QR code, and display both.

Build the rules into the listing data

Compliance fails when it depends on someone remembering. The fix is to make the website's listing data enforce it:

Broker numbers deserve a word. Dubai brokerages hold an office registration number (ORN) and individual agents a broker registration number (BRN), both checkable through DLD's licence verification service. No current rule requiring them on websites was found, but displaying them costs nothing and gives buyers a way to check who they are dealing with.

Feed listings from one source of truth

Most Dubai brokerages already keep listings in a CRM that publishes feeds to Property Finder and Bayut, typically as an XML file or through an API. Your website should read the same data rather than having listings typed in a second time. Then a unit marked sold in the CRM disappears from the portals and your website together.

• Ask your CRM provider what export it offers (XML, JSON or an API) and how often it updates.
• Map the feed's fields to the website's listing model, including permit number, QR and agent.
• Reject or hold back any listing that arrives without a permit number, and log it so someone can fix it in the CRM.
• Portal API access is granted to your agency or CRM. A developer works with the access you hold, not a separate partnership.

Off-plan project pages

A project launch page is where most of the risk sits, because it is published early and changes fast. A good one covers:

• Developer, location, unit types, sizes and handover quarter.
• Starting price in AED, with the date it applies to and 'subject to availability'.
• The payment plan exactly as the developer publishes it, for example percentages on booking, during construction and on handover.
• Floor plans and a brochure, downloadable or behind a short form.
• A register-interest form and WhatsApp button, with consent recorded.
• The permit number and QR code, in place before the page goes live.

Leave out guaranteed returns, guaranteed rental yields and visa promises. Residence-visa eligibility is set by federal authorities and changes; link to the official u.ae Golden Visa page instead of restating thresholds. And never add a payment button that collects a deposit outside the project's escrow account.

Speed matters more than the hero video

Most property searches happen on a phone, often on the move. Large render galleries and background videos are the usual reasons listing pages load slowly. Serve images at the size they are displayed, load galleries and videos only when they come into view, and make sure the listing details, price and enquiry button appear first. Search engines also need to read listing pages as complete HTML, so avoid building them purely in JavaScript.

Route every enquiry to a person

Buyers in the UAE often prefer WhatsApp to a form. Offer both:

• A 'Message on WhatsApp' button on each listing with a pre-filled message naming the property and its reference, sent to the listing agent.
• A short form (name, phone or email, message) that also records the lead in your CRM, so it isn't lost in one agent's phone.
• Tracking on both, so you can see which listings and campaigns bring enquiries.
• Phone fields that accept overseas numbers; many off-plan buyers are abroad.

Other emirates

Abu Dhabi has required a Madhmoun permit, issued through the DARI platform, for real estate advertisements since 7 July 2025, and those permits are separate from Dubai's. Rules in Sharjah, Ajman, Ras Al Khaimah and the other emirates differ again. If your site lists property in more than one emirate, give each listing the permit fields for its own emirate and confirm the rules with the relevant authority.

An example

I designed and built the website for Sunlink Properties, a Dubai Marina consultancy. The live site has property search with buy and rent tabs, an area list that follows the selected city, an AED price slider, a listing of 200+ developments with brochure downloads, and WhatsApp and register-interest enquiries. It is described here for its search and listing features, not as a compliance reference. If you are planning a listing site or a project launch, see real estate websites for how I approach them.