Not on your own. Here is what the 10% cheque actually secures, what a standard Form F does not contain, and the one route out that works.
Short answer: not unilaterally, and not without cost. Form F is a contract of sale, not an expression of interest. Once both parties have signed it, walking away is a breach, and the deposit is the agreed price of that breach.
That surprises people, because the deposit is often described as "securing the property", which sounds like something you get back.
The buyer hands over a manager's cheque, usually 10% of the price, which the seller's agent holds. It is not an instalment and it should not reach the seller's account before transfer.
It is liquidated damages. It is the sum both sides agreed in advance as the consequence of a default, so that nobody has to prove their losses later. If the buyer walks, the seller keeps it. If the seller walks, the buyer is generally entitled to an equivalent amount back from them.
That symmetry is worth understanding, because it is also your protection if a seller gets a better offer and wants out.
Two clauses buyers assume are there, and usually are not.
A finance condition. Nothing in the standard form makes the sale conditional on your mortgage being approved, or on the bank's valuation matching the price. If your valuation comes in below the agreed figure, that gap is yours to fund in cash. If your financing collapses entirely, you are still contractually bound.
A force majeure clause. The standard form does not void the contract because the market moved, because regional events made you nervous, or because you changed your mind about the price. Those are not legal excuses for non-performance.
Both clauses can be negotiated in before signing. Almost nobody does, because at the point of signing everybody is optimistic. This is the single most useful thing to take from this page: if you are financing, ask for a finance condition in writing before you sign, not after.
Mutual cancellation. The seller agrees to release you, you both sign a cancellation, and you negotiate what happens to the deposit. Sometimes a seller accepts a partial forfeit to avoid the delay of relisting. Sometimes, in a slow market, a seller who knows the next buyer is months away would rather keep you in the deal than take your cheque.
That negotiation goes better if you do three things:
Get the contract read by a conveyancer or a lawyer, not by an agent. The specific wording of your Form F decides your position, and the standard form is a starting point that parties amend. What is true of the standard form may not be true of the one you signed.
If you have already signed and you are past the point of negotiating, the honest answer is that the deposit is usually the cost of leaving, and the question becomes whether that is cheaper than completing a purchase you no longer want.
Describes the Dubai Land Department's standard Form F, the memorandum of understanding used for resale transactions between a buyer, a seller and their agents. Parties routinely amend it, so the document you signed may differ from the standard one, and nothing here is a reading of your particular contract. Checked September 2026.