Leases under 500 sq ft were 66% of Dubai leasing activity in Q2 2026, and the tenants signing them are not negotiating on rent alone. They want to know who controls the building, whether the space is ready to use, and how and when they pay. Landlords who can answer those questions are holding their rates while others concede.
We found no survey of tenant asks, so the list below rests on what agencies, landlords and zone authorities say they see. We flag where that is thin.
What do tenants ask for before they talk about rent?
Three asks come up across the market commentary we read.
- Control of the building: one owner, one manager, one service-charge budget.
- Space that is fitted and ready, so the move is short.
- Payment terms that match a longer decision cycle.
The third ask follows from how occupiers now behave. Savills reports that larger occupiers took longer to decide in Q2 2026, with many putting lease renewals, selective expansions and operational flexibility ahead of major relocations. Savills adds that these needs look deferred rather than cancelled.
Cushman & Wakefield says leasing softened from March 2026 as regional uncertainty made tenants slower and more cautious. A slower buyer asks for more certainty, and for time.
Fitted space is part of the same story. Cushman & Wakefield notes that flex operators are helping set new pricing benchmarks for high-quality, fully fitted office space. A tenant who has seen that benchmark will ask for it elsewhere.
The tenant's leverage is not the same everywhere, and that shapes the list. Cushman & Wakefield reports that just 1.13 million sq ft of office space is due in the second half of 2026, much of it already pre-committed. More than 19 million sq ft is under construction through 2030, but the majority is not expected before 2028. Savills adds that a new tower in Dubai's financial centre, one of the few major Grade A completions in 2026, was substantially pre-leased ahead of completion.
In tight Grade A space the tenant asks and the landlord chooses. In older space the roles reverse, and the asks get longer.
Why does ownership structure show up in lease talks?
Because the building is part of what the tenant rents.
Knight Frank says blue-chip occupiers have remained focused on well-managed, single-owned buildings rather than strata or multi-owned stock. In a strata building, many owners share the common parts. No one owner can fix the service-charge line or decide the tenant mix for the whole building.
A tenant cannot see that risk in a rent figure. It shows up later, in charges, repairs and neighbours. So it moves into the negotiation as a question: who runs this building, and who decides?
We cover the ownership split in detail in Strata or single owner. The point here is narrower. Control has become a leasing term.
Which concessions are landlords offering instead of cutting rent?
Cushman & Wakefield reports that softening sits in Grade B and strata stock, which make up close to 70% of Dubai's office inventory. Grade A occupancy stays above 96%. City-wide rents fell 2% quarter on quarter, after almost five years without a quarterly fall, and are still 9% higher than a year earlier.
The same report says institutional landlords are protecting headline rents and leaning on occupier support initiatives and concessions to keep tenants. A concession is often cheaper for a landlord than a lower rate, because a lower rate resets the value of the whole building.
Free-zone landlords have set a visible precedent. In April 2026, DIEZ, the authority that runs Dubai Airport Freezone, Dubai Silicon Oasis and Dubai CommerCity, offered companies the option to pay rent in monthly instalments, with instalment-related fees waived. It framed the step as support for liquidity and business continuity during a temporary regional situation.
We do not claim that private landlords must copy this. We expect tenants to compare, and to ask why a free-zone tenant can pay monthly while a private tenant cannot.
Who is actually asking, and how big are the deals?
Small tenants, by volume. Savills reports, on Dubai Land Department data, that leases under 500 sq ft were 66% of all leasing activity in Q2 2026, driven by SMEs, start-ups and new market entrants. Those deals rose 17% quarter on quarter. New leases rose 16% to 27,121, while renewals totalled 10,961.
A small tenant has less room to absorb a surprise. It wants a short term, a fitted desk or suite, and a bill it can predict. Large occupiers behave differently, but they ask for the same thing in other words: the option to stay, expand or leave without penalty.
Large occupiers are less visible in the numbers, but Savills describes their behaviour clearly. They are renewing, expanding selectively and keeping options open. For a landlord, a renewal conversation is now a negotiation about flexibility, not only about price. A tenant that renews on a short extension is telling the owner it wants to keep choosing.
That is why the tenant's list works as a risk list. Each item on it, from the building manager to the payment date, reduces a risk the tenant cannot price.
What should a landlord change in the next two quarters?
The evidence above points to three moves, in this order.
1. Offer term and payment flexibility before a lower rate. It keeps the headline rent intact and answers the tenant's actual worry. 2. Say who manages the building and who sets the charges. Publishing it costs nothing, and it answers a question every careful tenant asks early. 3. Treat fitted floors as a product, not an exception. Tenants have seen the benchmark.
A landlord who can show a tenant a manager's name, a charge history and a fitted floor is selling certainty. The commentary above suggests that is what tenants are paying for.
What to watch
- Whether the share of leases under 500 sq ft stays near two in three.
- Whether landlords outside the free zones start to offer instalment-style payment terms.
- Whether the gap between Grade A and Grade B occupancy narrows or widens.
- Whether single-owner buildings keep their rate advantage as new supply arrives.
- Whether concessions turn into lower headline rents.
Meet the people setting these terms at “Dubai Office Summit” in Dubai CommerCity.
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