Move-in and move-out inspection photos for Dubai rentals

People in Dubai move often, and many leases run a year at a time. The conversation about the security deposit at the end goes far better when both sides can look at the same photos from the start.

What to photograph in a Dubai apartment or villa

• Every room from the doorway, then each wall, the floor and the ceiling.
• AC vents and the ceiling around them, where condensation leaves stains.
• Kitchen appliances, cabinets and the worktop, inside and out.
• Bathrooms: sealant, grout, taps, drains and shower glass.
• Built-in wardrobes, doors, handles and balcony sliders.
• Walls with picture hooks, wall plugs or TV brackets.
• Meter readings, plus the access cards, parking tags and keys handed over.

For tenants

Photograph the property on the day you get the keys, before any furniture arrives. Empty rooms are quicker to photograph, and marks that were there before you are easy to show. Keep the job open through the tenancy. At move-out, take matching photos of the same spots; the move-in photo appears faintly on the camera screen to help you line them up.

If the landlord or agent questions something, send them the link instead of forty photos in a WhatsApp chat. Each room appears as a slider from move-in to move-out.

For landlords and property managers

One job per tenancy keeps both inspections together, labelled by room the same way each time. Property managers with a portfolio can assign inspections to staff with the unit location pinned and a due date. Each photo records who added it and when, and the dashboard shows which inspections are still open or overdue. A job can't be completed without an After photo, so a move-out inspection can't be marked done with nothing in it.

Heat, dust and normal wear

The climate is hard on a property. Strong sun fades curtains and bleaches timber near windows, AC runs for much of the year, and fine dust works into tracks and seals. Move-in photos help separate what has aged on its own from what was damaged. Whether a particular mark counts as wear or damage is for the contract and the people involved to settle; the photos make it easier to see.

About deposit disputes

Rules on security deposits, repairs and disputes depend on your tenancy contract and on the regulations in force at the time, and they can change. Read your contract, and check current guidance from the Dubai Land Department or your property manager rather than relying on what someone was told years ago.

JobProof doesn't give legal advice and doesn't decide who is responsible for a mark on the wall. What it gives you is an organised set of photos of the property at both ends of the tenancy, saved with who took them and when, which is useful whichever way a disagreement goes.

Questions