Start with your SPA and the promised completion date
Read the sale and purchase agreement carefully. Identify the contractual completion or handover date, any grace period, extension clauses, force majeure wording, notice requirements and the process for raising a dispute. Check whether the date in marketing material differs from the date in your signed contract.
Ask for a written progress update
Request a clear explanation of the delay, the revised programme, the current construction percentage, approvals outstanding and the expected handover sequence. Keep the request factual and in writing. Save all developer responses, payment receipts and construction updates.
Check the official project status
Use the relevant regulator’s official channels to verify registration and project status. In Dubai, the Dubai Land Department provides a project-status service and guidance on escrow matters. In Abu Dhabi, ADREC publishes the applicable rules and oversees the emirate’s real estate sector.
Could compensation or cancellation apply?
Potential remedies depend on the emirate’s law, the SPA, the length and cause of delay and the regulator’s findings. Abu Dhabi’s real estate legislation provides for a possible delay penalty where delivery is more than six months later than the committed date, subject to the statutory conditions and exceptions. That is not an automatic payment in every case. Seek advice before withholding instalments, terminating the SPA or signing a settlement.
Practical steps
Prepare a timeline of promised dates, payments, notices and updates. Ask the developer to confirm the status of the escrow account and revised milestones. If the response is unsatisfactory, contact the relevant regulator and consider independent legal advice.