Dubai property purchase fees
Everything you pay on top of the price, itemised, with the money that has to be in your account on the day at the top.
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- Sources cited
- Last reviewed: September 2026
The agreed price. Statutory fees are charged on the transaction value, not on what you pay in cash.
Leave at zero for a cash purchase. Some fees fall due only where there is a mortgage.
A rate the market agrees rather than one the law sets, so it is a field you edit. VAT is added on top of it.
Valuation, a no-objection certificate, legal fees and anything similar.
Worked out in your browser: nothing is sent to a server
Cash needed on the day
474,053 AED
99,053 of fees on a 1,500,000 purchase
Statutory fees
| Transfer fee, 4% | 60,000.00 AED |
| Registration trustee office fee | 4,200.00 AED |
| Title deed issuance | 250.00 AED |
| Property map | 250.00 AED |
| Knowledge fee | 10.00 AED |
| Innovation fee | 10.00 AED |
| Mortgage registration | 2,832.50 AED |
Market costs
| Agent commission | 30,000.00 AED |
| VAT on the commission | 1,500.00 AED |
| Total fees and costs | 99,052.50 AED |
| Fees as a share of the price | 6.6% |
| Total cost of buying | 1,599,052.50 AED |
- These are Dubai fees and Dubai only. Every emirate sets its own, and the Abu Dhabi transfer fee is not 4%, so do not carry this table across an emirate border.
- The law splits the transfer fee equally between seller and buyer, but Dubai practice is that the buyer pays all of it, which is what this calculator assumes.
- An agent's commission is a negotiated price rather than a statutory fee, which is why it is a field you set and not one this site imposes.
- This is an estimate. The statutory fees come from the authority as at the date shown, the market costs are your own figures, and an authority may charge something not listed here.
How are Dubai purchase fees worked out?
- Transfer fee = sale value x 4%
- Trustee fee = AED 2,100 under 500,000, AED 4,200 at or above it, VAT included
- Mortgage registration = loan x 0.25% plus 20, and nothing at all on a cash purchase
- Cash needed = price minus the loan, plus all the fees and costs
Symbols
- Sale value
- The price the transfer is registered at, and what the 4% is charged on
- Fee against price
- Department fees are fixed and not up for discussion; the commission is a negotiated price. That is why the two lists are kept apart
- Cash needed
- The deposit plus the fees. Fees are not lent against, so they come out of savings exactly as the deposit does
Related tools
What cash do I need for a 1.5m apartment?
Buying a ready apartment in Dubai at 1,500,000 with a 1,125,000 loan, a 25% deposit, and a 2% agent commission.
- Transfer fee: 1,500,000 x 4% = 60,000
- Fixed department fees: trustee 4,200 + title deed 250 + map 250 + knowledge 10 + innovation 10 = 4,720
- Mortgage registration: 1,125,000 x 0.25% = 2,812.50 plus 20 = 2,832.50, so 67,552.50 of statutory fees
- Commission 30,000 and VAT on it 1,500, taking fees and costs to 99,052.50, which is 6.60% of the price
The buyer needs 474,052.50 in cash on the day, not the 375,000 that is the deposit alone. The difference is 99,052.50, and no listing mentions it.
What the items are, and which are fees and which prices
Work out the full cost of buying in Dubai: the transfer fee, the registration trustee office fee, the title deed, mortgage registration, and the agent commission with its VAT.
Dubai fees and Dubai only. Every emirate sets its own, and the Abu Dhabi transfer fee is not 4%, so this page names the emirate in its title and repeats it on the result. The largest item is the 4% transfer fee on the sale value; the law splits it equally between seller and buyer, but Dubai practice is that the buyer pays all of it, which the calculator assumes and says.
Below that sit small fixed items: the registration trustee office fee, AED 2,100 under AED 500,000 and AED 4,200 at or above it with VAT already included; the title deed at AED 250; the property map at AED 250; and the knowledge and innovation fees at AED 10 each. Where the purchase is financed, mortgage registration adds 0.25% of the loan plus AED 20, which is the knowledge and innovation fees charged a second time. The title deed is charged once for the transaction, not once for each service.
The trustee figure in particular is disputed in the secondary sources: many sites give AED 4,000 and 5,000, while the Land Department itself publishes 2,100 and 4,200, which are the 2,000 and 4,000 tiers with 5% VAT in them. The department own figure was taken, and the difference is eight hundred dirhams on every deal. The agent commission is a price rather than a fee, so it is a field you edit, and it carries 5% VAT.
- Transfer fee = sale value x 4%
- Trustee fee = AED 2,100 under 500,000, AED 4,200 at or above it, VAT included
- Mortgage registration = loan x 0.25% plus 20, and nothing at all on a cash purchase
- Cash needed = price minus the loan, plus all the fees and costs
Questions about Dubai purchase fees
What is the transfer fee in Dubai?
4% of the sale value. The law provides for it to be split equally between seller and buyer, but Dubai practice is for the buyer to carry all of it, which this calculator assumes and states on the result.
Do these fees apply in the other emirates?
No. These are Dubai Land Department fees and Dubai only, and every emirate sets its own rates. Do not carry this table to Abu Dhabi or Sharjah, where the transfer fee is not 4%.
Exactly what is the registration trustee office fee?
AED 2,100 for a property under AED 500,000 and AED 4,200 at or above it, both including VAT. Many sources quote 4,000 and 5,000; what is used here is what the department itself publishes.
What changes on a cash purchase?
The mortgage registration fee disappears entirely, which is 0.25% of the loan plus 20. In this page example a cash purchase saves 2,832.50, and every other item stays the same.
Are the fees different for an off-plan purchase?
Yes. An off-plan sale is usually registered by the developer, so the trustee office fee falls away and the administrative fee differs. This calculator works out a ready property, so check with the developer and the department for off-plan.
Why is cash needed shown at the top instead of the total cost?
Because the total cost is not what you are short of: most of it is borrowed. What you are short of is the deposit plus the fees, since fees are not lent against and come from the same savings, and no listing states that figure.
Sources
Reviewed September 2026Statutory articles this calculator applies
- Dubai Land Department transfer and registration fees
- Dubai Land Department, sale registration associated with an initial mortgage (service fees)
UAE Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021 on the Regulation of Labour Relations (in force 2022-02-02) and Cabinet Resolution No. 1 of 2022 (Executive Regulations)