The previous regulation dated from 2020 and reserved the licence to owners. The DCT announced the update on 15 September at the Arabian Travel Market, and the press covered it over the following days: the text should be read on the Department's portal. It concerns anyone who bought on Yas, Saadiyat or Reem to let it out, and anyone managing other people's properties. In Dubai the permit has been issued for years by the DET, and the question of how those revenues are treated applies in both emirates.
What happened
The Department of Culture and Tourism of Abu Dhabi, the DCT, the emirate's authority for tourism licensing, announced on 15 September 2026 an update to the holiday-home regulation in force since 2020. Gulf News and The National reported it between 15 and 17 September; the details below come from those reports and should be checked against the text published on the Department's portal before any decision is taken. There are two changes. The first widens who can apply for an operator licence: previously only the owner; now the individual owner, co-owners, companies, tenants and persons authorised by the owner, on the conditions the DCT sets for each category. The second concerns listings: no holiday home may be advertised on websites or digital platforms without a valid licence, and the licence number must appear on the listing page. The updated regulation consolidates in a single text the property eligibility requirements, the licensing procedure, operating obligations, inspections and penalties, with shorter stated approval times and a redesigned digital platform. The DCT also released the 2025 figures: 4,771 eligible units, up 77% on 2024, 335,000 guests, and an average rate of AED 1,887 (about USD 514) per night.
What changes in practice
The change runs in two directions. On one side a route opens that did not exist before: a tenant in Abu Dhabi who wants to sublet short-term can now do so lawfully, with a licence of their own and the owner's written consent, and anyone managing other people's properties can operate as an authorised person instead of having everything registered in the owner's name. On the other side the grey area of listings closes: until yesterday an unlicensed property on Airbnb was a breach someone had to go looking for; from today the absence of a licence number on the page is visible to anyone, the DCT included, and platforms have a simple criterion for taking the listing down. Enforcement shifts from inspection to the listing itself. For a UAE company that lets properties in Abu Dhabi there is a further consequence, which the regulation does not address but which the licence brings with it: short-term rental income is business income, and it must be covered by the company's trade licence, declared for Corporate Tax and, above AED 375,000 (about USD 102,000) of taxable supplies a year, registered for VAT (Value Added Tax). In Dubai the system has existed for years under the permit issued by the DET, the Department of Economy and Tourism, and the same question applies in both emirates.
Who it applies to
Anyone who bought a property in Abu Dhabi, on Yas, Saadiyat, Reem or elsewhere, to let it short-term, in their own name or through a company. Anyone managing a portfolio of holiday homes on behalf of owners and currently operating under licences held in the owners' names. Anyone renting in Abu Dhabi and subletting short-term, who until yesterday had no lawful route and now has one, provided they hold the owner's consent and a licence of their own. It does not concern annual tenancies under a registered contract, and it does not concern properties in Dubai, where holiday-home permits are issued by the DET under its own rules.
The exposure
The immediate exposure is removal of the listing and a DCT penalty, but that is not what costs most. What costs most comes later: a property let short-term for two years without a licence has generated income that no licence covers. If the property is held by a company, that income belongs to an activity not authorised by its trade licence, and in an audit the question is not only "did you pay Corporate Tax" but "under what authority did you collect it". If the property is held personally and the income has never been classified, the issue moves to the tax residence of the person who received it, because in the country where they were resident it is likely to be reportable income. There is also the tenant's trap: the licence for a tenant requires the owner's consent, and a short-term sublet without that consent remains a breach of the lease, licence or no licence.
What to do now
Two checks, done in ten minutes with the listing open on a phone. First: does the listing page on Airbnb, Booking or whichever platform is used show the DCT licence number? If it does not, whether because there is no licence or because nobody entered it, the action is the same: apply for the licence on the DCT portal, or update the listing, before the platform removes the page. Second: who has collected the income so far, and under what authority? If a company, review the trade licence and confirm that holiday-home management is among the permitted activities; if an individual, establish which country they were tax resident in during the years the income was received. Anyone managing other people's properties should prepare the owner's written consent for each unit, because it is the document the new licence category requires. And anyone who also holds properties in Dubai should run the same check on the DET permit, with the listing in front of them.
Sources
- https://gulfnews.com/business/property/abu-dhabi-holiday-homes-must-now-display-licence-numbers-on-online-listings-1.500675372
- https://www.thenationalnews.com/news/uae/2026/09/17/abu-dhabi-holiday-home-airbnb-new-rules/
Published 19 September 2026 on the basis of public sources and official United Arab Emirates instruments. This is not legal or tax advice. Verify your position with a qualified professional before acting.