DLD fee, mortgage registration and the other upfront costs of buying in Dubai

When you buy a home in Dubai with a mortgage, Dubai Land Department (DLD) charges a transfer fee of 4% of the price, listed as 2% for the buyer and 2% for the seller, plus 0.25% of the loan to register the mortgage. Fixed title deed, map and service partner fees come on top, and all of it is paid in addition to your deposit.

Key takeaways

• Dubai Land Department lists a transfer fee of 4% of the sale value: 2% for the buyer and 2% for the seller.
• Registering a mortgage costs 0.25% of the loan, plus an AED 250 title deed fee, small drawing fees and a service partner fee of AED 4,000 plus VAT.
• Fixed sale fees depend on the channel: a trustee centre lists an AED 4,000 service partner fee plus VAT for a sale of AED 500,000 or more, Dubai Now AED 1,000 plus VAT.
• The fees come on top of your deposit, and the Central Bank expects the deposit itself to come from your own money.
• Dubai's First-Time Home Buyer Programme offers card instalment plans for registration fees, but standard DLD fees still apply.

This guide lists each fee as DLD and the Central Bank of the UAE publish it, then adds them up for an AED 1.2 million apartment. How much a bank can lend you is covered in our guide to expat mortgage limits.

Upfront costs at a glance

The upfront costs fall into three groups: the fees to register the sale with DLD, the fees to register the mortgage with DLD, and the bank’s own costs, plus agency commission if you use a broker. These are the lines listed for a completed apartment or villa:

DLD lists two sets of fixed sale fees. A sale completed online through the Dubai Now app has the lower ones, but only for UAE ID holders selling apartments, offices or townhouses in freehold areas that are free from any restrictions or mortgages, with the price and fees paid through an escrow account. A sale registered at a Real Estate Registration Trustee centre costs more, and the worked example uses those figures.

Service partner fee, sale at a trustee centre

AED 4,000 + VAT

For a sale registered at a Real Estate Registration Trustee centre, Dubai Land Department lists 2% of the sale value for the seller and 2% for the buyer, plus a service partner fee of AED 4,000 + VAT when the sale value is AED 500,000 or more, or AED 2,000 + VAT when it is less.

All of these come on top of the deposit, and the Central Bank expects the deposit itself to come from your own money:

Where the deposit must come from

Own funds

The down payment must come from the borrower's own resources, not from other borrowing such as personal loans or credit cards.

The DLD transfer fee

The DLD transfer fee is 4% of the sale value, listed as 2% for the buyer and 2% for the seller. It is charged when DLD registers the sale, and registration is not optional: DLD says a real estate transaction not registered in its registers is invalid.

DLD transfer fee

2% + 2%

For a property sale registered through Dubai Now, Dubai Land Department lists a fee of 2% of the transaction value for the seller and 2% for the buyer.

Who pays it

DLD’s fee lists put 2% on each side, on Dubai Now and at trustee centres alike, but do not say who pays the fixed title deed, map and service partner fees. Your sale and purchase agreement records what each side has agreed, so read its cost clauses before you sign. Agency commission is separate: DLD describes it as a fee agreed in advance between the broker and the customer.

Is the DLD fee refundable?

The DLD service pages we checked do not describe a refund of the transfer fee. On Dubai Now, the sale agreement is signed before the price and fees are paid into escrow, and either party can cancel before signing. If a deal could fall through after you pay, ask DLD how the fee would be treated first.

Is there VAT on DLD fees?

On the pages we checked, DLD adds VAT only to the service partner fees. The 4% transfer fee, the 0.25% mortgage fee and the fixed title deed, map, knowledge and innovation fees are listed with no VAT line. Bank fees differ: the Central Bank’s fee caps are stated before VAT, and VAT is charged on top.

The mortgage registration fee

DLD charges 0.25% of the mortgage amount to register a home loan, plus AED 250 per title deed issued, AED 10 knowledge and AED 10 innovation fees per drawing, and a service partner fee of AED 4,000 plus VAT. Mortgage registration secures the bank’s rights over the property, and DLD says a mortgage is not valid unless it is registered.

Mortgage registration fee

0.25%

Dubai Land Department charges 0.25% of the mortgage value to register a mortgage.

Your bank can register the mortgage through DLD’s online system, in which case DLD deducts its fees from the bank’s account, or the papers can go through a trustee centre, where the customer pays. Either way, DLD’s FAQ says the mortgagor, the owner who pledges the property, bears the costs of the mortgage contract unless the two sides agree otherwise. Ask your bank how and when it will collect the fee from you.

Off-plan: provisional Oqood registration

An off-plan purchase is recorded first through DLD’s initial registration, handled in its Oqood system, before the finished unit moves to the main real estate register. A bank loan on the unit is registered as a provisional mortgage: the fee is still 0.25% of the loan, but the service partner fee is AED 5,000 plus VAT instead of AED 4,000. Banks can also lend only a smaller share of the property’s value:

Maximum loan-to-value, off-plan

50%

The maximum loan-to-value for a mortgage on a property bought off-plan is 50%, regardless of purpose, value or buyer type.

How off-plan mortgages compare with developer payment plans is covered in financing off-plan property.

Bank and valuation costs

The bank’s own costs come on top of DLD’s: an independent valuation of the property and the bank’s fees for the loan. The Central Bank’s fee table has no line for a valuation or arrangement fee on a new home loan, so those amounts come from each bank’s tariff.

Valuation before the loan is approved

Independent valuation

Before any irrevocable commitment to lend, the property must be valued on site by a qualified third party who is independent of the borrower, seller, developer and the lending decision.

Banks cannot add charges freely. A fee that is not in the Central Bank’s table needs the Central Bank’s approval first, the caps in the table are maximums rather than standard prices, and the Central Bank says up-to-date fees should be easy for consumers to find, for example online and in branches. Two checks follow from that:

• Ask each bank for its full home loan fee list, including valuation, and compare total costs, not only the headline rate.
• Check whether quoted fees include VAT, since Central Bank caps are set before VAT.

If you get a mortgage pre-approval before choosing a property, ask which fees apply at that stage. It also helps to check your AECB report before applying, so any error can be corrected before a bank sees it.

Worked example: cash needed for an AED 1.2 million apartment

The example uses the highest loan-to-value ratio the Central Bank allows an expatriate on a first home worth less than AED 5 million. UAE nationals have different loan-to-value limits and housing programmes, which a separate guide will cover.

Maximum loan-to-value, expat first home

80%

Expatriates buying a first home to live in worth less than AED 5 million can borrow up to 80% of the property's value.

Worked example

Expat first home: AED 1,200,000 apartment with an 80% loan

The price is an illustration. We assume the bank’s valuation matches the price, the sale is registered at a trustee centre, one drawing is issued for the mortgage and the buyer pays every fixed fee on both registrations.

1. Loan: AED 1,200,000 × 80% = AED 960,000, so the deposit is AED 1,200,000 - AED 960,000 = AED 240,000.
2. Buyer’s transfer fee: AED 1,200,000 × 2% = AED 24,000.
3. Sale fixed fees: AED 250 title deed + AED 250 map + AED 10 knowledge + AED 10 innovation = AED 520.
4. Sale service partner fee: AED 4,000 plus VAT, because the sale value is AED 500,000 or more.
5. Mortgage registration: AED 960,000 × 0.25% = AED 2,400.
6. Mortgage fixed fees: AED 250 title deed + AED 10 knowledge + AED 10 innovation = AED 270.
7. Mortgage service partner fee: AED 4,000 plus VAT.
8. DLD-side total: AED 24,000 + 520 + 4,000 + 2,400 + 270 + 4,000 = AED 35,190.

Item	AED
Deposit	240,000
Sale registration fees	28,520 + VAT
Mortgage registration fees	6,670 + VAT
Cash needed before bank fees	275,190 + VAT

This buyer needs about AED 275,190 in cash, plus VAT on the two service partner fees, before the bank’s fees, the valuation and any agency commission.

Here the registration fees come to about 2.9% of the price before VAT (AED 35,190 ÷ AED 1,200,000). Your actual figures appear on the fee balance DLD issues at registration. If the sale and the mortgage are registered on the same day, ask the trustee centre whether it charges both service partner fees.

Paying the fees: cards and the First-Time Home Buyer Programme

Yes, DLD fees can be paid by credit card. DLD’s FAQ lists credit cards as an approved way to pay its fees, along with certified bank cheques, the Noqodi wallet and cash. Each service also lists its own channels; a Dubai Now sale, for example, is paid through a DLD-approved escrow account.

Dubai’s First-Time Home Buyer Programme adds a payment option for its members:

First-Time Home Buyer Programme

Under AED 5M

Dubai's First-Time Home Buyer Programme is open to UAE residents of any nationality aged 18 or over who do not own freehold residential property in Dubai and are buying a property below AED 5 million.

Its listed benefits include priority access to new launches, preferential prices from participating developers, and relaxed payment plans for DLD registration fees through eligible credit cards, with interest-free instalments. The programme does not remove the fees: joining is free, but DLD says standard registration fees and any developer or bank charges still apply unless a special programme offer says otherwise. Its pages list no waiver of the 4% transfer fee.

Buying outside Dubai

DLD’s fees apply to property in Dubai only. The other emirates register property through their own authorities, each with its own fee schedule, so the Dubai 4% and 0.25% are not a guide to Abu Dhabi, Sharjah or the northern emirates. Get the fee list from the land registry of the emirate where the property is.

The Central Bank rules in this guide, on deposits, valuations and bank fees, are federal: they apply to banks and finance companies lending on a home in any emirate.

Moving your mortgage later

You can move a Dubai mortgage to another bank once your current bank gives you a no-objection certificate (NOC), DLD says. The Central Bank caps the fee for that letter and for the clearance letter you get when the loan is repaid:

Home loan letter fee caps

AED 95 clearance letter

Home loan document fees are capped: clearance letter AED 95, NOC AED 150, liability letter AED 85.

The new bank’s mortgage must be registered with DLD too, and the old loan may carry an early settlement fee, which the Central Bank also caps. If you move the loan to a different property instead, the bank’s property swap administration fee is capped at AED 1,320, valuation included. Mortgage buyouts and refinancing will get their own guide; for the rest of the home-buying picture, see our Mortgage guides.