The true cost of buying property in Dubai in 2026: every fee, who pays and when

The cost of buying property in Dubai on top of the price starts with the Dubai Land Department transfer fee of 4 per cent of the sale value, set by Executive Council Resolution No. 30 of 2013 and shown on the Department's sale registration page, read on 7 November 2026, as 2 per cent for the seller and 2 per cent for the buyer. On the published rates, an AED 2 million ready apartment bought for cash carries about AED 126,720 of fees and commission, or 6.3 per cent of the price, when the buyer pays the whole 4 per cent as is usual in practice.

This guide is for buyers in the Americas, the United Kingdom, Europe and India who need to know how much cash to hold beyond the price. It covers ready and off plan purchases, cash and mortgage, and the costs that start after the keys: service charges, utilities and, for landlords, Ejari. Every fee is taken from the authority's own page or the legislation, with its date. Where a cost is set by a bank, a developer or the market rather than by law, it says so.

What is the cost of buying property in Dubai on top of the price?

The costs fall into five groups, and only the first two are fixed by government.

1. Land Department registration: the 4 per cent transfer fee, the title deed fee and small knowledge and innovation fees.
2. Trustee office: the service partner fee charged by the registration trustee office where the transfer is completed.
3. Finance: if you borrow, the mortgage registration fee at the Land Department and the bank's own arrangement, valuation and insurance charges.
4. Advice and paperwork: agency commission, the developer's no objection certificate and, if you buy through an attorney, the cost of a power of attorney.
5. Running costs: service charges, utility deposits and, if you let the property, tenancy registration.

On a resale, almost all of the first four groups are paid on the day of transfer. On an off plan purchase, the registration fee is due at the start of the contract and the running costs begin at handover. That timing matters more than the total, because it decides how much cash must be in the UAE and when.

How does the Dubai Land Department fee of 4 per cent work, and who pays it?

Executive Council Resolution No. 30 of 2013, issued on 18 September 2013, sets the fee for registering a sale at 4 per cent of the sale contract value. Article 3 says that, unless otherwise agreed, the fee is shared equally by the seller and the purchaser. The Land Department's own Know Your Rights guide repeats the rule: 4 per cent of the purchase price, paid in equal parts unless agreed otherwise.

Practice differs from the default. Bayut's guide to buying costs, updated on 20 October 2026, describes the fee as usually paid by the buyer. That is the main conflict between sources in this guide. The law gives an equal split; the market usually puts all of it on the buyer. Since the resolution allows the parties to agree otherwise, the split is a price term. Settle it in writing in the offer and in the sale contract, not on the day.

The fee is calculated on the contract value. On an AED 2 million purchase it is AED 80,000 if the buyer pays all of it and AED 40,000 at the equal split.

What are the Dubai property registration fee, title deed and trustee office fee?

Alongside the 4 per cent, the Land Department's sale registration page, updated on 3 November 2026, lists these charges for a ready property:

1. A title deed issuance fee of AED 250, which matches item 22 of the 2013 resolution.
2. A further AED 250 listed for villas and apartments. The page does not say what this item covers.
3. A land map fee of AED 225 inside the Dubai Municipality unified map, or AED 100 outside it, which applies to land.
4. A knowledge fee of AED 10 and an innovation fee of AED 10.
5. A service partner fee, the trustee office fee, of AED 4,000 plus VAT where the sale value is AED 500,000 or more, or AED 2,000 plus VAT below that.

At the 5 per cent VAT rate, the trustee office fee comes to AED 4,200 on most purchases; Bayut gives the same figure. The page does not say which party pays the smaller fees, so agree them with the rest of the costs. The sale is completed at a Real Estate Registration Trustee service centre, where the Department puts the expected time at 20 minutes once documents are in order. A non resident foreigner can use a valid passport in place of an Emirates ID.

What does the Oqood fee add when you buy off plan?

An off plan sale is registered in the interim register through Oqood, the Land Department's system for developers. The initial sale registration page, updated on 3 November 2026, lists 2 per cent of the sale value for the seller and 2 per cent for the purchaser, AED 10 each in knowledge and innovation fees, and an AED 1,000 fee for registration by the developer through the Oqood portal. The contract must be registered within 90 days of signing.

Two points follow for your budget. The fee is calculated on the full sale value, not on the deposit, so on an AED 2 million unit the 4 per cent is AED 80,000 even if your first instalment is far smaller. And the sale contract, not the default rule, decides who pays it; ask the developer, before you reserve, whether the 4 per cent is yours, whether any part is waived, and when it is collected. Our guide to off plan payment plans shows how the fee sits alongside the instalments.

The initial sale page lists no trustee office fee, because the developer registers the sale through its own portal. When the unit is handed over and the interim registration becomes a title deed, ask the developer for its schedule of handover charges in writing, because those are set by the developer and not published by the Land Department.

What does a mortgage add: registration, bank fees and insurance?

The Land Department's mortgage registration page, read on 7 November 2026, charges 0.25 per cent of the mortgage value, plus AED 250 per title deed, an AED 10 knowledge fee and an AED 10 innovation fee. Registration through a trustee office adds a service partner fee of AED 4,000 plus VAT, or AED 5,000 plus VAT where the property is off plan and registered provisionally through Oqood. The 0.25 per cent rate is item 10 of the 2013 resolution, which sets no cap. A non resident foreigner signs with a passport copy, and off plan property needs the developer's electronic NOC.

The bank's own fees sit on top, and these are not fixed by law. The Central Bank's mortgage regulation, Circular No. 31/2013 dated 28 November 2013 and consolidated to 8 April 2020, requires fees to be listed in a schedule attached to the loan contract but sets no cap on processing or arrangement fees. Its fee appendix, amended with effect from 8 October 2019, caps early settlement at 1 per cent of the outstanding balance or AED 10,000, whichever is less, and does not cap arrangement fees either. We could not find a published Central Bank cap on arrangement fees, so any figure quoted to you as a legal maximum should be checked.

As one published example, the Emirates NBD home loan Key Facts Statement, read on 7 November 2026, lists:

1. A processing fee of 1.05 per cent of the loan amount, non refundable.
2. A valuation fee of AED 3,150 including VAT for a completed property.
3. Life insurance at 0.018 per cent a month of the outstanding balance, charged monthly from disbursal.
4. Property insurance at 0.01 per cent a month plus VAT, on the higher of market or property value at approval.

Bayut's guide, updated on 20 October 2026, puts arrangement fees across lenders at around 0.5 to 1 per cent of the loan plus VAT and valuations at around AED 2,500 to AED 3,500 plus VAT. Insurance is a monthly running cost rather than a transfer day cost.

How much you can borrow decides how much cash you need. Circular No. 31/2013 limits expatriate loans to 80 per cent of value on a first home up to AED 5 million, 70 per cent above that, 60 per cent on a second or investment home, and 50 per cent on any off plan purchase, with a maximum term of 25 years. Banks apply their own, often lower, limits to non residents. Our non resident mortgage page and the guide to UAE mortgages for US and Canadian citizens set out how lenders treat buyers who live abroad.

Is agency commission in Dubai 2 per cent, and what do NOC and VAT add?

Agency commission is market practice, not a regulated rate. Neither the 2013 resolution nor the Land Department's Know Your Rights guide sets a percentage; the guide asks buyers to sign the Department's standard brokerage form and to deal only with brokers registered with the Real Estate Regulatory Agency. Bayut described 2 per cent of the purchase price plus 5 per cent VAT as common on 20 October 2026, noting that the rate varies by agreement. It is negotiable, so agree it in writing before you view. On an off plan purchase, ask whether the developer is paying the agent and confirm in writing whether you owe any commission.

The developer's no objection certificate confirms that service charges are settled before a resale can be registered. The Land Department's sale page requires an electronic NOC from the developer in freehold areas, obtained through the Dubai REST app, and its Know Your Rights guide says the developer may charge an administrative fee of AED 500 for it. Bayut reported developer NOC fees of between AED 500 and AED 5,000 on 20 October 2026. Who pays for it is a point to settle in the sale contract.

VAT does not apply to the price of a home. The UAE Government portal's summary of Federal Decree Law No. 8 of 2017 lists the first sale or rent of residential buildings as zero rated and other residential buildings as exempt. VAT at 5 per cent does apply to the trustee office fee, agency commission and many bank and developer charges, which is why those figures in this guide are shown with VAT. Commercial property such as an office is outside the residential relief; take tax advice before buying one.

What do you pay after transfer: service charges, DEWA and Ejari?

Service charges are the largest recurring cost of an apartment or a villa in a managed community. They are set per project by the owners' association budget, approved by the Real Estate Regulatory Agency and paid through Mollak, the Land Department's service charge system. This guide quotes no figure, because rates vary by building and year and a figure without a project and date would mislead.

To look one up, use the Land Department's Service Charge Index. The service page, updated on 3 November 2026, says it shows the approved service fees for jointly owned properties, through the Mollak website or the Dubai REST app, at no charge. You choose the project, the use and the year. Gulf News, in a guide updated on 16 September 2023, explains that the index can also be searched by title deed number or from a locator map, and that the result names the management company and breaks down the charge. Ask the seller or developer for the last two years of Mollak invoices as well, because the index shows the budget and the invoice shows what this unit actually owes.

Utilities need a deposit when you connect in your name. DEWA's own move in page could not be loaded on 7 November 2026, so this figure comes from secondary reports: Arabian Business reported on 16 October 2014 that DEWA set refundable deposits for new connections at AED 2,000 for apartments and AED 4,000 for villas, and Bayut gave the same amounts on 20 October 2026. Confirm the current figure with DEWA when you connect.

If you let the property, the tenancy must be registered in Ejari. The Land Department's Ejari page, updated on 3 November 2026, lists a total of AED 177.75 through the Dubai REST app or website, and AED 220 at a trustee centre. The components it lists for the trustee centre route, AED 215 before VAT, do not obviously add up to AED 220, so check the receipt. Who pays is agreed between landlord and tenant.

What does an AED 2 million ready apartment cost, cash and with a 50 per cent mortgage?

This is arithmetic on the published rates read on 7 November 2026, not a quotation. It assumes a resale apartment, the buyer paying the whole 4 per cent, a 2 per cent agency commission plus VAT, the seller paying the NOC, and, for the mortgage case, the Emirates NBD fees above as one lender's example.

Cash purchase:

1. Land Department transfer fee, 4 per cent: AED 80,000.
2. Title deed fee: AED 250.
3. Villa and apartment item on the sale page: AED 250.
4. Knowledge and innovation fees: AED 20.
5. Trustee office fee, AED 4,000 plus VAT: AED 4,200.
6. Agency commission, 2 per cent plus VAT: AED 42,000.
7. Total fees and commission: AED 126,720, or 6.3 per cent of the price. Cash needed: AED 2,126,720.

At the legal default, where the buyer pays only 2 per cent, the transfer fee falls to AED 40,000 and the total to AED 86,720.

With a 50 per cent mortgage of AED 1 million, add:

1. Mortgage registration, 0.25 per cent: AED 2,500.
2. Title deed fee on the mortgage: AED 250.
3. Knowledge and innovation fees: AED 20.
4. Trustee office fee for the mortgage, AED 4,000 plus VAT: AED 4,200.
5. Bank processing fee at 1.05 per cent: AED 10,500.
6. Valuation: AED 3,150.
7. Additional fees: AED 20,620, bringing the total to AED 147,340, or 7.4 per cent of the price. Cash needed: the AED 1 million deposit plus AED 147,340, so AED 1,147,340.

Then come monthly costs. On the Emirates NBD rates, life insurance in the first month on an AED 1 million balance is AED 180, and property insurance on an AED 2 million value is AED 200 plus VAT, AED 210. Service charges and utilities are extra. Ask whether the sale and mortgage can be registered at one trustee sitting and whether each fee is charged in full, and get the trustee office's statement of fees before the day. To test other prices and loan sizes, use the mortgage calculator.

What it means for investors

For an international buyer, the planning number is not the price but the price plus fees, about 6.3 per cent in the cash example above and 7.4 per cent with the mortgage, all in cash, held in the UAE before transfer day. On a mortgage, the gap between the deposit and the cash required is the fee stack, and it is paid upfront, not financed. Off plan defers the running costs but brings the 4 per cent forward to the first weeks of the contract.

For a buyer paying in US dollars, the dirham has been pegged at AED 3.6725 to the US dollar since November 1997, as The National reported on 22 November 2024, so the fee schedule carries no currency risk against the dollar. On that peg, the cash case above is about USD 34,500 of fees on a USD 544,600 apartment. Buyers paying in sterling, euros, Canadian dollars or rupees carry exchange rate risk between the offer and transfer day. Any limits on sending money abroad, and how your home country treats these costs for tax, are set by your own country's rules; confirm both with an adviser there.

The AED 2 million example sits exactly at the Golden Visa threshold. The Land Department's investor service, updated on 3 November 2026, requires a property purchase value of AED 2 million or more for the ten year permit. For a mortgaged property it asks for a bank letter, and the page describes that letter both as showing the amount paid and balance and as showing AED 2 million paid; confirm which applies before you count on a mortgaged purchase. Our Golden Visa page sets out the routes.

What we recommend

Budget the whole fee stack before you make an offer, and put every negotiable item into the offer: who pays the 4 per cent, the commission rate, who pays the NOC and any developer handover charges. For off plan, ask the developer in writing when the Oqood fee is collected and whether any of it is waived. For a mortgage, ask each bank for its Key Facts Statement and compare arrangement, valuation and insurance costs, not just the rate. Look up the building's service charge in the Service Charge Index and ask for recent Mollak invoices.

Fees in Dubai change by resolution and by service page update. Confirm the current position with the authority before relying on it.

Castilion Estates advisers can set out the full cost of a specific ready or off plan property before you make an offer. To start, speak to an adviser.