WHAT DO UK INVESTORS NEED TO KNOW IN 2025 AND 2026?

Previously investors knew they were speculating in a boom-bust cycle. And that was compelling for many Brits. Back in Gold Rush years following the opening up of the Dubai property market for Foreign investors, a time in which some of the biggest capital appreciation spikes of all time were recorded, Brits were the third largest cohort of investors – behind only Emirates and Indians.

However, investors now find a very different property market, one that resembles London 20 years ago.

Property performance in Dubai is now dictated by strong supply and demand dynamics, linked to government population growth targets and supported by staggered secured pipelines. 

As we move through 2025 and look beyond, sentiment among the global investor community is strong. 

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Tax benefits of Dubai property investment

In Q4 2024, the stamp duty surcharge paid by investors increased by 5%. A landlord or investor buying a property worth GBP 500,000 faced an additional bill of GBP 10,000, from £27,500 to £37,500. This is curtailing a lot of investment in the residential market.

Dubai remains notable for its very favourable taxation rules. This approach has helped investors maximise the return of any property investment they make in the emirate.

Of course, tax status, implications and advice are best discussed at an individual level, and that is something we can help all our investors navigate should they choose to acquire property with our aid.

Visa opportunities for UK investors buying Dubai property

More and more Brits are expected to move to Dubai in 2025 and beyond. Recent figures highlight a staggering 420% increase in enquiries from British nationals looking to relocate to the UAE over the past five years.

This trend has been particularly pronounced in the last 12 months, with a 45% surge in enquiries. Additionally, research indicates a 50% year-on-year rise in online searches for ‘move to Dubai’ and ‘jobs in Dubai’ from the UK.

Dubai is already home to over 240,000 British expats and hosts more than 5,000 British companies, while the Expat Insider reports the UAE as the third-most-popular country for expats.

However, given the increasingly disgruntled nature of life in the UK for many and traditional retirement destinations such as Spain proving more problematic post Brexit, Dubai is proving even more popular.

Always seen as a great place to live, Dubai’s real estate landscape has greatly benefitted from sweeping government reforms that link residency to investment in a much more advantageous and simple manner.

A new amendment allows investors to obtain a ‘Golden Residence’ visa after purchasing one or more off-plan properties of no less than AED 2 million – provided the transaction is overseen by an approved local real estate company. Now, with the recent policy updates, UK investors owning property worth AED 2 million or above are automatically eligible for the Golden Visa, streamlining their residency path without the need for a formal application.

The visa – officially known as the Golden Residence Scheme – is a long-term visa that enables people to stay as residents of Dubai for 10 years. This inclusion highlights Dubai’s continued commitment to simplifying and enhancing the attractiveness of its residency schemes for global investors.

Furthermore, in other progressive visa changes, the Dubai authorities have responded to the rise in remote working across the world with the so-called digital nomad visa. Holders can live in the emirate while working for an overseas employer without any income tax payable there. It’s a bid to entice skilled, young foreign professionals and boost Dubai’s emergent technology sector. It’s also highly beneficial for property owners with apartment assets to let.

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Wider economic considerations of UK investment in Dubai real estate

UK investors are no doubt familiar with Britain’s economic struggles, struggles that have already hit the mortgage market and are now only just beginning to impact the housing market.

However, the economic performance of Dubai has yet to make headline news. What has made Dubai’s fiscal rise more startling is that it is not solely reliant and the rise in the wholesale cost of oil over the past financial year following the conflict in Ukraine.

Dubai’s economic surge continues beyond 2025 

• Huge diversification in GDP from Vision 2021 and Industrial Strategy 2040 masterplans
• Record-breaking influx of high-net-worth individuals and ambitious future growth targets
• Large net migration of skilled workers and subsequent job creation following new visa regulations
• 5% growth in 2025

The UAE’s economic growth is forecast to increase to 5% in 2025, with the expansion powered by simultaneous growth in both the oil and non-oil sectors.

Meanwhile, British investors recently saw that the monthly real gross domestic product (GDP) expected fell by 0.1% in January 2025, and annual growth, although still forecast to be positive, is much more modest than Dubai at just over 1%.