Regulators in Dubai have the power to review all outstanding developments under a new law that gives them authority to cancel projects that do not start construction within six months of being approved by the Dubai Government.
They are already considering cancelling 27 projects and are ready to halt additional developments that show no sign of being built and force developers to repay any outstanding amounts.

Marwan bin Ghalita, the chief executive of the Real Estate Regulatory Agency (RERA), said the new regulation would bring transparency to the market and encourage developers to follow through with their commitments.

With the property sector slowing, some developers are having trouble financing the completion of their buildings because buyers are defaulting on their payment plans.
The 27 projects are just a fraction of the hundreds of buildings registered with RERA. Ghalita said earlier this year there were 427 property developers and 695 projects with trust accounts. He said he expected about 25% of these projects to be cancelled, with others consolidated and delayed over time.