Dubai Property Transfer Fees
Independent reference — not affiliated with the Dubai Land Department. Operated by Cendale Documents Clearing Services FZCO.
Worked Examples: What a Dubai Transfer Actually Costs
The scenarios below itemise every DLD and trustee charge for five common transaction types, using the current published schedule. Figures assume the buyer pays the full 4% (market convention) unless stated; the fee split is negotiable in the MOU. Agent commission, bank arrangement fees, and conveyancing costs are commercial charges outside the DLD schedule and are excluded. All scenarios can be re-run with any figures in the calculator.
Fee schedule verified against Dubai Land Department service pages: 16 July 2026. See the methodology.
Scenario 1 — Cash purchase, ready apartment, AED 1,000,000
- DLD transfer fee (4%) — AED 40,000
- Trustee office fee (≥ AED 500k, incl. VAT) — AED 4,200
- Title deed issuance — AED 250
- Property map (apartment) — AED 250
- Knowledge and innovation fees — AED 20
- Buyer total — AED 44,720.
A cash purchase of an AED 1,000,000 ready apartment costs the buyer AED 44,720 in government and trustee charges — approximately 4.5% of the price.
Scenario 2 — Mortgaged purchase, ready apartment, AED 2,000,000 at 80% LTV
- DLD transfer fee (4%) — AED 80,000
- Trustee office fee (incl. VAT) — AED 4,200
- Title deed issuance — AED 250
- Property map (apartment) — AED 250
- Knowledge and innovation fees — AED 20
- Mortgage registration (0.25% × AED 1,600,000) — AED 4,000 · Mortgage admin fee — AED 290
- Buyer total — AED 89,010.
With an AED 1,600,000 loan, the buyer’s government-side total is AED 89,010 — about 4.45% of the price. Same-day registration of sale and mortgage avoids a second trustee sitting.
Scenario 3 — Off-plan purchase from a developer, AED 1,500,000
- DLD fee at Oqood registration (4%) — AED 60,000
- Oqood administrative fee — approx. AED 40
- Trustee office fee — not applicable
- Buyer total at registration — approx. AED 60,040 ·
Conversion to title deed at handover — approx. AED 520. Off-plan government costs are lower in fixed charges: no trustee fee applies, and the 4% is collected at Oqood registration with no second 4% at handover.
Scenario 4 — Gift transfer, villa AED 3,000,000, parent to child
- DLD gift rate (0.125%) — AED 3,750
- Title deed issuance — AED 250
- Property map (villa) — AED 250
- Knowledge and innovation fees — AED 20
- Trustee office fee (incl. VAT) — AED 4,200
- Total — approx. AED 8,470.
The same villa transferred as a sale would carry AED 120,000 at the 4% rate; the first-degree gift route reduces the DLD percentage charge to AED 3,750.
Scenario 5 — Seller-side costs, mortgaged apartment AED 1,800,000
- DLD mortgage release fee — AED 1,290
- Trustee fee (release) — AED 315
- Knowledge and innovation fees — AED 20
- Developer NOC — AED 500–5,000 (set by developer)
- Seller total — AED 2,125–6,625.
Under buyer-pays-all convention the seller’s DLD-side costs are limited to the mortgage release (if any) and the developer NOC, plus any early-settlement charge levied by the seller’s own bank.