Landlord wants to evict us to use appartment for her own personal use. Anyone with knowledge of rental law in Dubai?

Hi guys,

Last weekend we were confronted with a not so pleasant surprise when our landlord called me and asked me if she could come up to our apartment to discuss something. At this point, I was already quite suspicious and started fearing the worst. When I opened the door I noticed our real estate agent was accompanying her.

To put things shortly, she told us that up until recently, she used to live in Abu Dhabi, as her plan was to open a hotel there. Now for whatever reason, these plans got cancelled (I mean, who knew that opening another hotel in the UAE might not be the best idea from a business perspective?).

Now she asked my quite bluntly whether my wife and I would consider moving to another apartment within the same building for the same price (FYI, we pay 70k for a 1 BR apartment in JLT). Now, there are several issues I have with this. Apart from the inconvenience of moving again (we just recently moved to the UAE back in May), it is worth noting that our landlord has somewhat upgraded our apartment in comparison to other units within the same building (e.g. the kitchen is somewhat better equipped, the bathroom has a walk-in shower vs. bathtub, etc.).

Therefore I explained to her that it doesn't make sense for us from a practical and financial perspective to move into this other apartment within the same building, as it would feel like a little bit of a downgrade for us.

Now obviously, she was not happy with this and she stated that she would send me an e-mail, stating that we will not be able to renew our contract next year. Our contract period is from 1 June 2019 - 31 May 2020.

After doing some research, i found that in accordance with Article 25 (2) of Law No 26 of 2007 Regulating Relationship Between Landlords & Tenants in the Emirate of Dubai (as amended by Law No 33 of 2008) (the "Tenancy Law"), a Landlord may demand eviction of tenant upon expiry of tenancy contract limited to the following cases:

a. [...];

b. [...];

c. If the owner of the property wishes to recover the property for use by him personally or by his next of kin of first degree provided that he proves that he does not own a suitable alternative property for that purpose;

d. [...].

However, the landlord must notify tenant with reasons for eviction at least 12 months prior to the determined date of eviction subject that such notice be sent through the Notary Public or by registered mail.

Does the above entail that we are entitled to a 12 months notice period? How would that work in terms of us extending our contract? Can we basically force our landlord to extend the contract until next year?