Questions about HomeTruths
How the scores are built, why the site asks for a review before it opens, and why some Dubai buildings aren't here.
Effective 10 August 2026
Plain-language draft. These terms were written by the site’s founder, not a lawyer, and have not yet been reviewed by one. They say how we intend to run HomeTruths; they are not legal advice, and we may revise them.
Can I trust the scores?
How is a building's score calculated?
Every score comes from the ten questions residents answer (maintenance, management, noise, lifts, parking, value and the rest), not from an overall star out of five. Where a building has no resident reviews yet, its score is derived from public Google reviews, and its page says so — “Early score, from Google ratings” — so you always know which kind of evidence you are reading. Resident reviews always outrank Google-derived ones, and small samples are pulled toward the average so a 5.0 from three ratings cannot beat a 4.6 from three hundred. The full method is here.
How do you stop fake reviews?
Astroturfing has a shape, and we look for it: reviews posted in a burst, wording reused from one review to the next, the building’s own name stuffed into the text, and a rating spread that is all fives and a couple of ones with nothing in between. Buildings showing several of those signals are excluded from the rankings entirely. Where a management company turns out to be running a campaign across its portfolio, every one of its buildings is excluded. An operator willing to farm reviews at that scale cannot be trusted on the rest.
Do you remove bad reviews if a building complains?
No. A review is removed only if it breaks the review guidelines: naming an individual member of staff, alleging a crime against a named person, or being demonstrably not about that building. Being unflattering is not grounds for removal. Developers and management companies can flag a review, and can publish a right of reply beside it once we’ve checked who they are. What they cannot do is buy, edit or delete a resident’s review.
I manage a building. Can I reply to a review?
Yes. Open your building’s page and use “Manage this building? Reply publicly” at the bottom. Tell us whether you’re the management company, the owners’ association, the developer or the owner, write your reply, and give us a work email so we can check who you are. Nothing publishes automatically: we confirm the relationship first, and the published reply carries a note saying exactly what we did and didn’t verify. A reply sits beside the review; it never removes, edits or hides it.
Why do I have to review somewhere?
Why is the site locked until I add a review?
Because a review site with nothing in it is worth nothing, and Dubai already has plenty of places to read marketing copy. One honest review unlocks every score, ranking and review on the site, for good. There is no paid tier, and we would rather ask for a contribution than sell your attention to an agent. Not lived in Dubai yet? A verified account opens the same doors – see the next question.
I haven't lived in Dubai yet – can I still use HomeTruths?
Yes. If you are moving to Dubai and have nowhere to review yet, create an account instead: a few questions about your move, and a phone number verified by a WhatsApp code. That unlocks everything a review does. One verified number per account keeps every score tied to a real person, your details are never shown publicly, and when you do move in we’ll ask you for the review – that’s the deal that keeps HomeTruths honest.
Can I read anything before contributing?
Yes. Every building has a public page with its photos, its specifications, and one full review you can read in the open. Scores and the remaining reviews are what a contribution unlocks.
What if I've only ever lived in one place?
That is exactly the review we want. One place you have actually lived beats ten you have only visited, and a detailed review of an ordinary building is more useful to the next resident than another opinion about a famous tower.
Writing a review
Is my review anonymous? Can my landlord identify me?
Reviews are published without your name. You do not need an account to leave one, and if you have one your email address is never shown. Bear in mind that a very specific detail, like a flat number or a dated incident only a few people witnessed, can identify you even without a name, so leave those out if that matters to you.
Can I edit or delete my review later?
Yes. Sign in and you can change or remove any review you have written from your account. An edited review is checked the same way a new one is, and it shows as updated with the date, so an edit can never quietly rewrite what was said.
How long does a review take?
Ten questions, about two minutes. Skip any you have no view on. A partial review is still published, and unanswered questions do not count toward the score.
What's listed, and what isn't
Why isn't my building listed?
The directory covers thousands of Dubai residences and is still growing, but it is not complete. Search for it first: it may be listed under its Land Department name rather than the one on the sign. If it genuinely isn’t there, tell us and we will add it.
Why is a building I know exists missing, or shown as part of another one?
Large developments are listed once, under the name people search for, with their towers and clusters shown inside. Port de la Mer is one page covering five clusters and thirty buildings, not thirty pages. Old links still work: they redirect. This keeps a development’s reviews together instead of splitting them across near-identical pages, which helps nobody.
Why aren't off-plan towers listed?
Because nobody has lived in them. An off-plan building collects reviews from its sales process: people admiring the architecture, agents posting contact details, buyers discussing payment plans. None of that tells you what living there is like. They are added once residents move in. For the same reason we exclude staff accommodation, bed spaces and hostels: real places, but not homes anyone chooses on a rental market.
Why does a building have no photo?
Some have no usable image yet, and we show a plain tile rather than a stock photograph of somewhere else. Anyone can add a real one. Residents, owners, agents and developers alike, no account needed, and it goes live once a human has checked it.
Something else?
If your question isn’t here, send it to us. The ten review questions came from residents and they aren’t finished. This page works the same way.
Questions about this page? legal@hometruths.io