The real cost of buying property in Dubai: every fee, explained

Property is personal, and so is the budget behind it. The fees on a Dubai purchase are not hidden, but they are spread across several bodies: the Dubai Land Department, the registration trustee who handles the transfer, your agent, your bank and, once you own the home, the building's management. This guide puts them in one place, with the source for every figure.

It covers a ready (completed) home bought in Dubai. Off-plan purchases follow the same fee logic, with the registration handled by the developer; we explain the differences in our off-plan guide.

The Land Department registration fee: 4%#

The largest cost after the price itself is the DLD fee for registering the sale: 4% of the sale value. On its sale registration service, DLD lists this as 2% from the seller and 2% from the buyer. In a 2021 notice about off-plan registrations, DLD said the 4% is paid according to the agreement between seller and buyer.

In practice, press reporting on Dubai purchase costs treats the full 4% as a buyer's cost, and most buyers budget for it that way. Whatever is agreed, make sure the sale contract says who pays; an independent lawyer can advise on the wording.

DLD also charges a few small fixed fees on the same transaction: AED 250 to issue the title deed, AED 250 for the map of a villa or apartment, and AED 10 each in knowledge and innovation fees.

The registration trustee's fee#

Sales are registered at a Real Estate Registration Trustee office, a DLD service partner that checks the documents and completes the transfer. Its fee depends on the price: AED 4,000 plus VAT if the sale value is AED 500,000 or more, and AED 2,000 plus VAT below that. DLD shows the same fees elsewhere as AED 4,200 and AED 2,100 including VAT.

Agency commission#

There is no maximum or minimum commission in Dubai law. The regulation that governs brokers says the fee is set by agreement, or by prevailing practice where there is none. The figure you will usually hear is 2% of the price, paid by the buyer, plus VAT, which in the UAE is charged at a standard rate of 5%.

Ask for the commission in writing before you view anything seriously, and ask what it covers. We would rather you knew the whole cost at the start than discovered it at the end.

If you use a mortgage#

Registering a mortgage with DLD costs 0.25% of the loan, plus AED 250 for the title deed and AED 10 each in knowledge and innovation fees. The trustee's fee for the mortgage is waived if it is registered on the same day as the sale; a day later, it is AED 4,000 plus VAT.

Your bank will charge its own fees. Gulf News gives the usual arrangement fee as about 1% of the loan plus VAT; this is market practice, not a regulated rate, so compare lenders. The bank must also have the property independently valued before it commits to lend. The Central Bank does not set the valuation fee, and we have not found a published standard figure, so ask your lender for it.

Two Central Bank rules shape how much cash you need. First, the loan-to-value limits: an expatriate buying a first home to live in can borrow up to 80% of a property worth AED 5 million or less, and 70% above that; for a second home or an investment property the limit is 60%. UAE nationals have limits five points higher. Second, the down payment must come from your own money, not from a personal loan or a credit card.

Since 1 February 2025, The National reports, the Central Bank has told banks to stop financing the DLD fee and the agent's fee. In other words, the 4% and the commission sit on top of your deposit, in cash.

VAT: none on the price, some on the extras#

Sales of residential property are generally exempt from VAT, and the first sale of a new home within three years of completion is zero-rated, so a buyer pays no VAT on the price of a home. VAT at 5% does apply to services around the purchase, such as the trustee's fee (DLD quotes it plus VAT) and, as Gulf News reports it, the agent's commission. Commercial property is taxed at the standard rate.

Service charges: the cost that comes every year#

Service charges pay for running and maintaining a building's or community's shared parts. Under Dubai Law No. 6 of 2019, a management company may not charge owners anything for this without the prior approval of RERA, the Real Estate Regulatory Agency, and RERA may not approve the budget until a RERA-recognised audit firm has approved it. Each owner's share follows the area of their unit as recorded in the property register.

You can look up the approved charges for a building on DLD's Service Charge Index (through the Mollak system on the DLD website or the Dubai REST app). Service charges carry VAT at 5%. Rates vary a great deal from building to building, so check the exact figure for the building you are considering rather than relying on an average.

A worked example: AED 2,000,000#

Here is a ready apartment at AED 2,000,000, bought by an expatriate as a first home, with the buyer paying the full 4% and a 2% commission. It is an illustration using the published fees above, not a quote.

On these assumptions, a cash buyer needs about 6.3% on top of the price, and a mortgage adds a little over AED 21,000 more, before the bank's valuation fee. Try your own numbers in our mortgage and ROI calculator, which sets the fees out line by line.

Before you commit#

If a fee appears that is not on this list, ask what it is for and who sets it. The FAQ covers more of the common questions, and our partner pages set out each developer's projects.

If you are considering a home, talk to us. We can set out the published costs for that property and compare it with the other options you tell us about. For contract or tax questions, speak to an independent lawyer or tax adviser.