Dubai Property Purchase Costs and DLD Fees: 2026 Buyer’s Worksheet

The cost of buying property in Dubai is more than the advertised price. A buyer may need funds for DLD registration, title and map services, a Real Estate Registration Trustee, broker or legal work, mortgage-related charges and handover or ownership costs.

This guide turns the current DLD fee page into a buyer’s worksheet without assuming that every transaction uses the same services or that the buyer always pays every listed item. It does not estimate future returns or recommend a property.

In this guide, you will learn:

• how DLD currently displays the completed-sale registration charge;
• which fixed and variable service items may sit beside it;
• how a mortgage changes the cost workstream; and
• how to build a dated completion budget without double counting.

Start with the current DLD service, not a generic percentage

DLD’s current Property Sale Registration page displays 2% of the sale value for the seller and 2% for the buyer. It also lists title-deed issuance, map, knowledge and innovation, and service-partner fees.

Do not translate that page into “the buyer always pays exactly 2%” or “every buyer pays exactly 4%.” The contract, parties, property and service channel determine which amounts the buyer must have available. Use the official listing as a current input, then obtain the actual allocation in writing.

Current DLD item	Amount shown on 10 September 2026	Buyer’s check
Sale registration	2% of sale value for seller and 2% for buyer.	Confirm contractual allocation and payment method.
Title Deed Certificate issuance	AED 250.	Confirm that the service and certificate apply.
Service-partner fee	AED 4,000 + VAT for a sale value of AED 500,000 or more; AED 2,000 + VAT below AED 500,000.	Confirm service channel and current threshold.
Map, knowledge and innovation	Listed separately; map amount depends on the property category.	Request the itemised current amount for the property.

Fee pages are time-sensitive. Put the official URL and check date beside the numbers, and refresh them before filing or attending a transfer appointment.

Build six sections in the buyer’s budget

Budget section	Possible items	Evidence required
1. Price and deposit	Purchase price, reservation, deposit and payment milestones.	Signed terms, recipient and refund/default treatment.
2. DLD registration	Percentage-based charge and transaction-specific filing.	Current service page and written party allocation.
3. Title, map and trustee	Certificate, map, knowledge/innovation and service-partner charges.	Current itemised DLD or Trustee schedule.
4. Professional work	Broker, legal, translation or authority work where used.	Engagement scope, fee, VAT, payer and due date.
5. Finance	Valuation, bank arrangement, mortgage registration, release and settlement.	Lender schedule and DLD mortgage service.
6. Handover and ownership	Inspection, insurance, utilities, access and current service-charge position.	Property and building records.

Do not insert a market-average percentage where a written amount is available. If an item is unknown, mark it as open and name who must confirm it. The budget should show both the total known amount and the unresolved exposure.

Use a formula worksheet instead of one headline total

For the DLD component, begin with the current buyer percentage shown on the applicable service page. Add only the title, map, knowledge/innovation and Trustee items that apply. Add the seller’s displayed share only if the agreement actually makes the buyer responsible for it.

• Sale value: the value used by the applicable registration service.
• Buyer registration line: sale value × current buyer percentage.
• Allocated seller line: include only if the contract places it on the buyer.
• Fixed/threshold lines: title, map, knowledge/innovation and service partner.
• Outside-DLD lines: separately sourced professional, finance and property costs.

This method makes a quotation auditable. It also prevents “4% DLD fee” from being added once as a total and again through separate seller and buyer lines.

Add mortgage costs only when finance is in the transaction

DLD publishes a separate mortgaged-property sale service. Its current fee section shows 0.25% of the mortgage value where a mortgage fee applies. That figure is not a charge for every property buyer.

The same mortgaged-property service page separately displays a sale fee of 4% of the sale value, as well as registrar fees. Do not silently substitute the completed-sale page’s seller-and-buyer display into this branch or assume one party’s final allocation. Ask the Trustee, lender and transaction adviser for the current itemised schedule and confirm in the transaction documents who pays each amount.

The buyer’s finance budget may also include lender valuation, arrangement, insurance, settlement or release items, but the DLD service page does not establish a buyer’s eligibility, interest rate or loan-to-value ratio. Obtain a lender-specific schedule and align it with the transfer sequence.

Separate ready and off-plan cost timing

A ready-property budget is concentrated around the agreement, NOC, mortgage/release work and DLD transfer. See the ready and resale purchase guide for the sequence.

An off-plan budget follows reservation, SPA, provisional-registration and construction or handover milestones. The project contract and current DLD service determine the amounts and timing. See the off-plan purchase checklist.

Check the budget again before each commitment

• Has the property price, buyer or funding route changed?
• Were DLD and service-partner fees checked on the current service page?
• Does every line show payer, recipient, due date, VAT and refund treatment?
• Are unknown amounts visible rather than hidden inside a rounded percentage?
• Is enough liquidity available for the timing of payments, not only the final total?

Return to the foreign buyer’s purchase guide for the complete journey, or use the pre-payment verification checklist before sending funds.

Fees checked on 10 September 2026 against Dubai Land Department’s Property Sale Registration and Mortgaged Property Sale service pages. Fees, thresholds, VAT and required services can change and depend on the property, parties and transaction. Recheck the official service before filing or paying.