The figure everyone quotes is the 20% deposit. It understates what you actually need by more than seven percentage points.
On a AED 1.5 million apartment with 80% financing, the deposit is AED 300,000. The cash you need on the day is AED 414,490. The gap is AED 114,490 in fees, and since February 2025 none of it can be borrowed.
This is every cost, sourced to the Dubai Land Department’s own fee schedule where one exists, with worked totals at two price points.
Budget 27% to 28% of the purchase price in cash for a financed resale purchase. Fees run slightly above 7% of price, not the 6% usually quoted, once bank costs and VAT are counted properly.
This is separate from the 4% and often surprises buyers who assumed the transfer fee covered everything.
Small individually, and worth knowing because knowledge and innovation fees apply to each component separately. A combined sale and mortgage registration incurs them twice.
Fees alone: AED 114,490, or 7.63% of the purchase price.
Fees: AED 185,490, or 7.42% of price. The percentage falls slightly with value because the fixed fees stop mattering.
Note that above AED 5 million the expat LTV cap drops from 80% to 70%, which raises the deposit to 30% and pushes total cash past 37%. Our guide to UAE mortgage LTV rules covers the tiers.
The pattern is that government fees are fixed and everything commercial is at least discussable. Bank fees are the softest, particularly near quarter-end.
The total, at a glance
| Purchase price | Deposit (20%) | Fees | Total cash | % of price |
| AED 1,000,000 | AED 200,000 | ~AED 79,000 | ~AED 279,000 | ~27.9% |
| AED 1,500,000 | AED 300,000 | AED 114,490 | AED 414,490 | 27.6% |
| AED 2,500,000 | AED 500,000 | AED 185,490 | AED 685,490 | 27.4% |
Government fees
The 4% DLD transfer fee
The largest single cost. The DLD’s official schedule sets it as 2% from the seller and 2% from the purchaser. In practice the buyer almost always pays all 4%. That’s convention, not law — the split is negotiable even though the rate isn’t. It’s rarely successfully negotiated in a seller’s market, but it costs nothing to raise. On AED 1.5 million that’s AED 60,000.Trustee service-partner fee
Paid to the registration trustee centre processing the transfer:| Sale value | Fee |
| AED 500,000 and above | AED 4,000 + VAT = AED 4,200 |
| Below AED 500,000 | AED 2,000 + VAT = AED 2,100 |
| Oqood (off-plan) route | AED 5,250 |
Title deed, map and the small fees
| Item | Fee |
| Title deed issuance | AED 250 |
| Property map, apartment or villa | AED 250 |
| Land map, within Dubai Municipality | AED 225 |
| Land map, outside Dubai Municipality | AED 100 |
| Knowledge fee | AED 10 per fee |
| Innovation fee | AED 10 per drawing |
Mortgage registration
0.25% of the loan amount, plus AED 250 for the title deed annotation and AED 20 in knowledge and innovation fees. On a AED 1.2 million loan that’s AED 3,000 plus AED 270.The AED 4,200 some buyers pay unnecessarily
Here’s the detail buried in the DLD’s own guidance, and it’s worth real money. The registrar’s fee is waived if the mortgage is registered on the same day as the sale. Register it the next day instead and a service-partner fee of AED 4,000 + VAT applies. That’s AED 4,200 saved by scheduling one appointment rather than two. It requires your bank, the seller and the trustee to be aligned on a single date, which is exactly the kind of coordination that slips when nobody has flagged it. Ask your broker or conveyancer to confirm the mortgage will register same-day. Most transactions do this by default; the ones that don’t rarely realise what it cost.Bank costs
Arrangement or processing fee
0.5% to 1% of the loan, so AED 6,000 to AED 12,000 on a AED 1.2 million mortgage. Frequently waived, particularly for salary-transfer customers or during campaigns. Worth asking about directly — it’s often more negotiable than the interest rate itself.Valuation
AED 2,500 to AED 3,500 plus VAT, paid upfront and non-refundable, including when the valuation comes in low and the deal collapses. You pay it; the bank chooses the valuer from its own panel.Life and property insurance
Every UAE lender requires mortgage life cover, and most require property insurance. Premiums commonly run 0.4% to 0.8% of the declining balance annually. You are not obliged to buy either from your lender. Over 25 years, shopping around saves a meaningful amount, and very few borrowers bother.Third-party costs
Agency commission
2% plus 5% VAT, so 2.1% effectively. On AED 1.5 million that’s AED 31,500. Paid by the buyer by convention. Since February 2025 it cannot be financed.Developer NOC
Obtained by the seller, costing AED 500 to AED 5,000 plus VAT depending on the developer. Some pass it to the buyer by agreement, so confirm who’s paying before you sign.Conveyancing
Optional. AED 5,000 to AED 15,000 for full support including title verification and lien checks. Worth it on remote purchases, mortgaged sellers and corporate transfers; often unnecessary on a straightforward resale. Our guide to whether you need a conveyancer covers where the line sits.The February 2025 change that moved 6% into cash
The single most consequential development in UAE mortgage costs, and plenty of buyers still budget as though it hadn’t happened. Banks previously financed around 80% of the transaction costs, equivalent to roughly 5% of property value, which pushed effective lending to around 85% LTV. The Central Bank instructed lenders to hold to 80% of collateral. The practical effect: the 4% DLD fee and the 2% agency commission must now come from your own funds. On a AED 1.5 million purchase that’s AED 91,500 that used to be borrowable and no longer is. If you’re working from advice or a calculator built before February 2025, your cash estimate is roughly AED 90,000 short on a property of this size.Worked example: AED 1,500,000, financed at 80%
| Item | Amount |
| Down payment (20%) | AED 300,000 |
| DLD transfer fee (4%) | AED 60,000 |
| Trustee service-partner fee | AED 4,200 |
| Title deed | AED 250 |
| Property map | AED 250 |
| Knowledge + innovation (sale) | AED 20 |
| Agency commission (2% + VAT) | AED 31,500 |
| Mortgage registration (0.25% of AED 1.2m) | AED 3,000 |
| Mortgage title deed annotation | AED 250 |
| Knowledge + innovation (mortgage) | AED 20 |
| Bank arrangement fee (1% of loan) | AED 12,000 |
| Valuation | AED 3,000 |
| Total cash required | AED 414,490 |
Worked example: AED 2,500,000, financed at 80%
| Item | Amount |
| Down payment (20%) | AED 500,000 |
| DLD transfer fee (4%) | AED 100,000 |
| Trustee service-partner fee | AED 4,200 |
| Title deed, map, knowledge, innovation | AED 520 |
| Agency commission (2% + VAT) | AED 52,500 |
| Mortgage registration (0.25% of AED 2m) | AED 5,000 |
| Mortgage annotation + fees | AED 270 |
| Bank arrangement fee (1% of loan) | AED 20,000 |
| Valuation | AED 3,000 |
| Total cash required | AED 685,490 |
Off-plan costs differ
Off-plan is cheaper upfront and back-loaded. The 4% DLD fee is typically paid at Oqood registration rather than at handover, and Oqood registration itself costs around AED 40 plus processing, roughly AED 250 to AED 260 total. The Oqood trustee route carries a higher service-partner fee of AED 5,250. At handover, converting Oqood to a full title deed brings the standard title deed fee of AED 250 plus an administrative charge. Overall, off-plan works out to roughly 4.5% to 5% in DLD-side costs against 5.5% to 6% for a ready property. What offsets that is a 50% LTV cap on off-plan financing regardless of who you are, so the deposit requirement is far higher.Ongoing costs after you buy
Easy to overlook when budgeting for the transaction, and they start immediately.- Service charges. AED 3 to over AED 60 per square foot annually depending on the development. Often payable upfront and pro-rated in the first year.
- District cooling activation, where applicable, commonly AED 2,000 to AED 4,000 as a deposit.
- DEWA connection, plus deposit.
- Ejari registration, around AED 220 online through Dubai REST.
- Mortgage life and property insurance, annually.
What’s negotiable and what isn’t
| Cost | Negotiable? |
| 4% DLD fee rate | No, fixed by law |
| Who pays the 4% | Yes, though rarely successfully |
| Title deed, map, knowledge, innovation | No |
| Trustee fee | No, but avoidable in part via same-day registration |
| Agency commission | Sometimes, on higher values |
| Bank arrangement fee | Often, especially with salary transfer |
| Valuation | Occasionally waived in a campaign |
| Insurance provider | Yes, you can source it elsewhere |
| Conveyancing | Yes, and optional entirely |
Costs when you eventually exit
Worth knowing at the outset, because they affect how long you need to hold to break even.- Mortgage release costs AED 1,290 to the DLD, AED 315 to the trustee office, plus AED 20 in knowledge and innovation fees.
- Early settlement is capped by the Central Bank at 1% of the outstanding balance or AED 10,000, whichever is lower.
- Agency commission on the sale, if you use an agent.
