Cost of Buying Property in Dubai: DLD Fees & Charges (2026)

Buying costs fall into clear groups, and it helps to keep them separate when you budget:

• Government (DLD) fees: the 4% sale registration fee, the AED 250 title deed fee, the map fee and the AED 10 knowledge and AED 10 innovation fees. DLD publishes these on its service pages.
• Trustee centre (service partner) fees: a fixed fee plus VAT charged by the Real Estate Registration Trustee centre that processes the transfer. The amount is listed on DLD's pages, but it is a partner fee, not DLD's registration fee.
• Mortgage-related costs: 0.25% of the loan to register the mortgage, plus add-on and partner fees, and the bank's own charges.
• Private costs: agency commission, the developer's no-objection certificate (NOC) fee and any optional services. These are agreed with the provider, not set by DLD.
• Scenario-dependent costs: charges that change with the route you use (off-plan, Dubai Now) or the property's situation (for example, a seller who still has a mortgage).

All government and partner figures in this guide were checked against DLD service pages in October 2026. DLD can change its fees, so confirm the amounts with your trustee centre on the day you transfer.

DLD's property sale registration service lists the registration fee as 2% of the sale value for the seller and 2% for the buyer, which is the 4% figure most buyers hear about.

Who pays the 4%? Officially, DLD lists 2% against each party. In the Dubai market, buyers commonly agree to pay the full 4%, but this is market practice rather than a DLD rule. The split is a commercial term the parties agree in the sale contract (Contract F); our overview of DLD buy and sell forms explains how that contract works. Check the wording before you sign, because it decides whether you budget for 2% or 4%.

Title deed, map and knowledge/innovation fees. The same DLD page lists these additional fees for a ready-property sale:

• Title deed: AED 250 certificate issuance fee
• Map fee: AED 250 for villas and apartments (AED 225 for a unified Dubai Municipality land map, or AED 100 for land outside Dubai Municipality)
• Knowledge and innovation fees: AED 10 knowledge fee and AED 10 innovation fee

For an apartment or villa, these add-ons total AED 520. DLD does not state which party pays them, so confirm this in your contract as well.

Ready-property transfers are completed at a Real Estate Registration Trustee centre, which acts as DLD's service partner. DLD's sale registration page lists the service partner fee as:

• AED 4,000 + VAT if the sale value is AED 500,000 or more
• AED 2,000 + VAT if the sale value is less than AED 500,000

The threshold wording matters: a property sold for exactly AED 500,000 falls in the AED 4,000 band. VAT is charged at the UAE standard rate of 5% (Federal Tax Authority), so the fee comes to AED 4,200 or AED 2,100 in practice.

This is a service partner fee, not part of DLD's 4% registration fee, and it should not be described as the "registration fee". DLD does not state who pays it, so agree it in the contract along with the 4% split.

If you finance the purchase, the mortgage has to be registered with DLD. Its mortgage registration service lists:

• Mortgage registration fee: 0.25% of the mortgage value (the loan amount, not the property price)
• Title deed: AED 250 issuance fee for an ordinary mortgage
• Knowledge and innovation fees: AED 10 knowledge fee and AED 10 innovation fee for each drawing
• Service partner fee: AED 4,000 + VAT (AED 5,000 + VAT for a provisional, or Oqood, mortgage on off-plan property)

Does the mortgage service partner fee apply if the mortgage is registered on the same day as the sale? It depends on the transaction. DLD's page for registering the sale of a mortgaged property notes that the registrar's fees are exempted when a mortgage is registered on the same day, and that a service partner fee of AED 4,000 + VAT is charged if it is registered the next day. The standalone mortgage registration page lists the AED 4,000 + VAT fee without that note. Ask your trustee centre and bank to confirm how it will apply to your transaction, and budget for the fee until they do.

Bank charges. Valuation, arrangement or processing fees and insurance are set by each lender, so there is no official figure. Ask your bank for its full cost schedule before you accept an offer. Our Dubai mortgage guide covers down payments and eligibility, the mortgage calculator estimates repayments, and first-time buyers can read about Dubai's first-time home buyer programme.

Buying off-plan from a developer uses a different DLD service: the initial sale registration, recorded in the provisional register through Oqood. DLD lists:

• Registration fee: 2% of the sale value for the seller and 2% for the purchaser
• Knowledge and innovation fees: AED 10 knowledge fee and AED 10 innovation fee
• Developer self-registration fee: AED 1,000 for developers registering the provisional sale through the Oqood portal

The initial sale page does not list the AED 2,000/4,000 trustee centre fee that applies to ready sales. Check your sale and purchase agreement and payment schedule to see which of these charges you pay and when. Our explainer on what Oqood is in Dubai, the off-plan property buying guide and our guide to off-plan payment plans cover the rest of the process. Our Dubai title deed guide explains the move from Oqood registration to a title deed at completion.

Several costs that buyers often treat as fixed are not set by DLD.

Agency commission. DLD's frequently asked questions describe brokers working for a fee agreed in advance with the customer, and say the brokerage contract must state the agreed amount and commission rate. There is no official commission rate. Many buyers budget around 2% of the price, plus VAT, but treat this as an assumption and confirm the figure in your signed agreement.

Developer NOC. For a ready property in a freehold area, DLD requires a no-objection e-certificate (e-NOC) from the developer before the transfer. The developer sets its own NOC fee, and the contract decides whether buyer or seller pays it.

Optional services. A property valuation, a conveyancer or a property report can be useful, especially for higher-value or complex purchases. Prices vary by provider, so get a written quote.

Buying through Dubai Now. DLD offers a digital buy and sell service on Dubai Now. It is only available to individuals with a UAE ID, for freehold, subdivided units (apartments, offices, townhouses) that are free of restrictions or mortgages, and the price and fees must go through an escrow account. Its fee lines differ from the trustee-centre route:

• Registration fee: 2% of the transaction value for the seller and 2% for the buyer
• Title deed and map fees: AED 250 title deed and AED 250 map fee for villas and apartments
• Knowledge and innovation fees: AED 30 innovation fee and AED 30 knowledge fee
• Service partner fee (Emirates Real Estate Solutions): AED 1,000 + VAT at AED 500,000 or more, or AED 500 + VAT below that

When the seller still has a mortgage. DLD has a separate service for registering the sale of a mortgaged property. It still lists 4% of the sale value, and adds mortgage release charges (AED 1,290 for the release procedure and AED 315 for the registrar's release) and a registrar fee of AED 2,100 below AED 500,000 or AED 4,200 at AED 500,000 or more. DLD does not state who pays these release charges, so confirm the allocation in the contract.

Both examples use the official DLD and service partner figures above. Lines marked assumption are not official and depend on your contract or provider. We assume the buyer pays the add-on and trustee fees, which DLD does not allocate.

Example 1: ready apartment, AED 1,500,000, cash purchase

• DLD registration (buyer's 2%): 1,500,000 × 2% = AED 30,000
• Title deed, map, knowledge and innovation fees: 250 + 250 + 10 + 10 = AED 520
• Trustee centre fee: 4,000 + 5% VAT (200) = AED 4,200
• Total A, official buyer share: AED 34,720 (30,000 + 520 + 4,200; about 2.3% of the price)
• Seller's 2%, if the buyer agrees to pay it (assumption, market practice): + AED 30,000
• Total B, buyer pays the full 4%: AED 64,720 (34,720 + 30,000; about 4.3%)
• Agency commission (assumption: 2% + 5% VAT): 30,000 + 1,500 = AED 31,500, giving AED 96,220 with Total B
• Developer NOC: set by the developer, not included

Example 2: ready villa, AED 3,000,000, with a mortgage of AED 2,400,000

The loan assumes 80% loan-to-value, the maximum for an expatriate's first home up to AED 5 million under the Central Bank rules summarised in our mortgage guide (assumption: your lender may offer less).

• DLD registration (buyer's 2%): 3,000,000 × 2% = AED 60,000
• Title deed, map, knowledge and innovation fees: 250 + 250 + 10 + 10 = AED 520
• Trustee centre fee: 4,000 + 5% VAT (200) = AED 4,200
• Mortgage registration: 2,400,000 × 0.25% = AED 6,000
• Mortgage title deed, knowledge and innovation fees: 250 + 10 + 10 = AED 270
• Total A, official buyer share: AED 70,990 (60,000 + 520 + 4,200 + 6,000 + 270; about 2.4%)
• Total B, buyer pays the full 4%: AED 130,990 (70,990 + 60,000; about 4.4%)
• Mortgage service partner fee (check with the trustee office): DLD's mortgage registration service lists AED 4,000 + 5% VAT = AED 4,200. DLD's page for selling a mortgaged property says the registrar fee is waived when the new mortgage is registered on the same day as the sale. Ask the trustee office which applies to your transfer and budget for it until confirmed (with it, Total A becomes AED 75,190 and Total B AED 135,190)
• Bank valuation, arrangement and insurance: set by the lender, not included
• Agency commission (assumption: 2% + 5% VAT): 60,000 + 3,000 = AED 63,000, not included above
• Down payment: 3,000,000 − 2,400,000 = AED 600,000. This is not a fee, but with Total B the cash needed at transfer is at least AED 730,990 before commission and bank charges.