Dubai Property Transfer Fees

Independent reference — not affiliated with the Dubai Land Department. Operated by Cendale Documents Clearing Services FZCO.

Dubai Property Transfer Fees: The Complete Schedule

Transferring ownership of a property in Dubai involves a fixed set of government fees payable to the Dubai Land Department (DLD) and its authorised Real Estate Registration Trustee offices. The fees are published, predictable, and — with one exception — non-negotiable. This page lists every charge in the schedule; the calculator itemises them for any transaction. Every figure is sourced from the Dubai Land Department’s published service pages and carries the date it was last checked.

Fee schedule verified against Dubai Land Department service pages: 19 July 2026. See the methodology.

The fee schedule at a glance

Nine charges make up a standard Dubai transfer. The percentages are set on transaction value; the rest are fixed.

The DLD transfer fee is 4% of the sale price, paid by the buyer in most transactions — the law provides for a 2%/2% split.
The trustee office fee is AED 4,200 including VAT for a property valued at AED 500,000 or above, and AED 2,100 including VAT below that threshold — paid by the buyer.
The DLD sale and gift service cards list AED 250 for title deed issuance. Map charges and other applicable items are separate. A completion statement sometimes shows a larger single amount; where it does, it should be itemised by its components rather than treated as a different official tariff.
The property map is AED 250 for an apartment or villa (AED 100–225 for land, by jurisdiction).
The knowledge and innovation fees are AED 10 each, applied per fee and per drawing.
The mortgage registration fee, on financed purchases only, is a DLD charge based on the mortgage amount — 0.25% of the loan amount on the DLD registration card — plus that card’s listed document and partner items. Confirm the applicable items for the transaction rather than applying a single administration total.
Where the property is mortgaged, the mortgaged-sale service card lists AED 1,290 and AED 315 release items plus AED 20 knowledge and innovation fees. The lender may charge separately for settlement or administration, so the bank’s current settlement statement and the trustee’s itemised charges are needed before a total is stated.
The developer No Objection Certificate is a developer charge, not a DLD fee — typically AED 500–5,000, paid by the seller.

DLD government fees are exempt from VAT. Only the trustee office fee, a private service charge, carries 5% VAT, which is included in the AED 4,200 and AED 2,100 figures above.

How the fees break down

The 4% transfer fee is the largest component and is calculated on the actual sale price stated in the contract — not the listing price, the valuation, or the mortgage amount. Market convention in Dubai places the full 4% on the buyer unless the Memorandum of Understanding records otherwise. The trustee office fee is the processing charge levied by the authorised registration centre that executes the transfer.

Buyers financing with a bank pay a separate mortgage registration fee calculated on the loan amount, not the property price. Off-plan purchases follow a different path through the Oqood system, and transfers between first-degree relatives qualify for the reduced gift transfer rate of 0.125%.

Worked example: an AED 1,500,000 apartment with a mortgage

On an AED 1,500,000 ready apartment purchased with an AED 1,125,000 mortgage, where the buyer pays the full 4% by agreement, the buyer-side charges are AED 60,000 transfer fee, AED 250 property map, AED 20 knowledge and innovation fees, AED 4,200 trustee office fee including VAT and AED 3,102.50 mortgage registration, plus the title-deed amount and the document and partner items listed on the DLD mortgage-registration service card, which are confirmed at the trustee office. Further scenarios — cash purchases, off-plan, gift transfers, and seller-side costs — are set out on the worked examples page.

Show the source behind each cost

A useful transfer budget separates official registration, trustee partner, conveyancing, developer and lender charges. Record the amount or rule, recipient, payer and source for each line. Where a component is unresolved, show it as unresolved instead of silently counting it as zero. The related Conveyance cost ledger provides a maintained reference for the calculation categories and their limits.

Open the transfer-cost ledger

This resource and Conveyance are part of the Cendale group.

Frequently asked questions

The amount of the DLD transfer fee
The transfer fee is 4% of the sale price stated in the contract, on both ready and off-plan purchases.

Allocation of the 4% between buyer and seller
The law splits the fee 2% to the seller and 2% to the buyer. Market convention places the full 4% on the buyer in most transactions; the allocation is agreed in the Memorandum of Understanding.

VAT on DLD fees
DLD government fees are VAT-exempt. Only the trustee office fee carries 5% VAT, included in the AED 4,200 and AED 2,100 figures.

Off-plan purchases and the 4%
The 4% applies at Oqood registration. No trustee fee applies, admin is lower, and there is no second 4% at handover.