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Fees, registration numbers, Ejari, service charges, payment plans and residency. Where a rule moves with policy we say so and point you at the authority that sets it, rather than printing a figure with a shelf life.
Showing all 14 questions.
The Dubai Land Department charges a transfer fee of 4% of the purchase price on a sale, plus a separate administration fee for issuing the title deed. Custom in Dubai is that the buyer pays it, although it is negotiable and is sometimes split — whatever you agree must be written into the Form F before signing, because the transfer will not complete at the trustee office until it is paid. Budget for it as cash: it is almost never added to a mortgage.
Fee levels are set by the Dubai Land Department and can change. Confirm the current fee and administration charges with DLD before you exchange.
An ORN is the Office Registration Number held by a brokerage registered with RERA under the Dubai Land Department. A BRN is the Broker Registration Number held by the individual broker you are dealing with. Both should be quoted on listings and contracts. Checking them is the simplest protection a buyer or tenant has, because it confirms you are dealing with a licensed office and a licensed person rather than an intermediary with no accountability.
Brokers and offices can be checked through the Dubai Land Department and its Dubai REST channels.
Ejari is the Dubai Land Department system that registers residential and commercial tenancy contracts. Registration is required, and an unregistered contract creates practical problems well beyond the legal one: you generally need the Ejari certificate to connect DEWA, to apply for a residence visa for family members, and to bring a case to the Rental Disputes Centre. Whoever registers it, make sure it is done and that you hold a copy of the certificate.
Registration steps and fees are published by the Dubai Land Department.
There is no annual property tax in Dubai. What owners do pay is a service charge, levied per square foot of the unit and set per building or community to cover common-area maintenance, security, insurance, chiller infrastructure and the reserve fund for major works. The rate varies enormously — a well-run mid-market tower may be a fraction of a Downtown or beachfront building. Always ask for the approved budget for the specific building rather than a community average, and check the reserve fund, because that is where a surprise assessment comes from.
Service charge budgets in Dubai are approved by RERA under the Dubai Land Department and are published per project.
Oqood is the Dubai Land Department system on which off-plan sales are registered before a title deed exists; it records your interest in the unit until handover, when the title deed is issued. Payments under a developer payment plan are made into a project escrow account rather than to the developer directly, which is what protects a buyer if a project stalls. Plans are typically staged — a deposit on signing the sale and purchase agreement, instalments tied to construction milestones, and a balance at handover — and the structure varies by developer and project.
Escrow and Oqood requirements are administered by the Dubai Land Department; confirm the escrow account details for your specific project with DLD.
Yes, in designated freehold areas, where buyers of any nationality may own the property and the land outright with a title deed in their name. Dubai Marina, Downtown, Palm Jumeirah, Business Bay, JVC, Dubai Hills Estate, Arabian Ranches and Emirates Hills are all freehold. Outside those designated areas ownership is leasehold, typically on a long lease, or restricted to UAE and GCC nationals. Freehold ownership is a property right; it is not in itself a residence visa, though property investment can support a visa application separately.
The designated freehold areas are set by Dubai government regulation. Confirm the status of a specific plot with the Dubai Land Department.
Property investment is one of the routes to long-term UAE residency. The mechanism is that an investor holding property at or above a stated value, evidenced by the title deed, may apply for a renewable long-term residence visa which can extend to a spouse and children. The qualifying threshold, whether mortgaged property counts, whether off-plan qualifies and the supporting documents required have all changed more than once since the scheme began. We will help you assemble the property side of the file, but the eligibility rules are set by the federal authorities and you should confirm the current threshold and conditions with them before you buy on that basis.
Confirm current Golden Visa thresholds and conditions with the Federal Authority for Identity, Citizenship, Customs and Port Security (ICP) and the GDRFA in Dubai.
Mortgage lending in the UAE is subject to loan-to-value caps set by the Central Bank of the UAE, and lenders apply their own criteria on top. In practice UAE residents can borrow a higher proportion of the purchase price than non-residents, the cap tightens for higher-value properties and for a second property, and off-plan lending is treated separately again. Because the deposit is on top of the 4% DLD transfer fee and the agency commission, the cash you need at completion is always more than the headline deposit. Get a written pre-approval before you make an offer.
Loan-to-value caps are set by the Central Bank of the UAE and applied by each lender. Confirm your position with the bank or a regulated mortgage broker — we do not advise on credit.
Annual rent in Dubai is conventionally paid by post-dated cheques handed over at the start of the tenancy, and the number of cheques is part of the negotiation. One cheque is the cheapest, because a landlord will usually discount for it; two and four are common; six or twelve appear in softer markets or on newer stock. Fewer cheques means a lower rent but far more cash up front. Bank transfer arrangements are becoming more common, but the cheque count is still the shorthand every landlord negotiates in.
No. Permitted increases at renewal are governed by the RERA rental index, which compares your current rent with the market rate for comparable property in the same area — the further below market you are, the larger the permitted increase, and if you are at or above market the landlord may not increase it at all. The landlord must also give you notice in advance of renewal if they intend to change any term. The index calculator is published by the Dubai Land Department, and either party can take a disagreement to the Rental Disputes Centre.
Use the rental index calculator published by the Dubai Land Department for your specific area, property type and current rent.
At handover the developer invites you to inspect and take possession, you settle any balance and the connection charges, and the title deed is issued in your name. Snagging is the inspection before you sign off: a specialist walks the unit and lists defects — doors out of alignment, poor sealing, AC balance, tiling and paint faults — for the developer to remedy under the defects liability period that follows completion. Do it before you accept handover rather than after, because the leverage is entirely different once you have signed.
For a straightforward ready purchase, plan for the 4% DLD transfer fee, the DLD administration fee for the title deed, the trustee office registration fee, agency commission — typically 2% of the price plus VAT — and a developer NOC fee. If you are borrowing, add mortgage registration with the DLD, the bank arrangement fee and a valuation fee. Then add the running costs: service charges for the year, DEWA connection and deposit, and chiller registration where cooling is billed separately.
Fee levels change. Confirm the current schedule with the Dubai Land Department and get your lender to quote its own charges in writing.
A cash purchase of a ready property can complete in roughly three to six weeks from signed Form F, and most of that time is the developer NOC. With a mortgage, allow six to ten weeks, because valuation, formal offer and any settlement of an existing loan on the property all sit inside the timeline. Off-plan is different: you sign and register on Oqood quickly, then wait for the project, and the title deed comes at handover.
On a sale, brokerage commission in Dubai is conventionally 2% of the purchase price, plus 5% VAT on the commission. On a residential letting it is conventionally 5% of the annual rent, again plus VAT, and is usually paid by the tenant. Both are matters of contract rather than fixed rates, so the figure and who pays it should be agreed in writing before viewings begin, not at the point of signing.
This guide explains how property transactions work in Dubai. It is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice, and fees and thresholds set by regulation are revised from time to time. Confirm any figure that matters to your decision with the Dubai Land Department, RERA or the relevant federal authority before you commit.
Every answer above that depends on a fee level, a cap or a threshold should be confirmed at source before you commit money. These are the bodies that publish them.
Ask a licensed broker directly. If the answer depends on a current threshold or fee, we will tell you that and show you where it is published rather than guessing at it.