Dubai off-plan fees: DLD, Oqood, and the rest

The DLD registration/transfer fee is 4% of the property's declared sale value. Confirmed by the Schedule of the official Executive Council Resolution No. 30 of 2013 ('4% of the value of the sale contract'). This is the single largest government cost on any Dubai property purchase, off-plan or ready. On AED 1,200,000 that is AED 48,000; on AED 2,000,000 it is AED 80,000.

The 4% is legally split 2% buyer / 2% seller, but the buyer pays the full 4% by market convention. Article 3 of Resolution No. 30 of 2013 states the fee 'will be shared equally by the seller and purchaser' unless otherwise agreed (2% each). In practice, Dubai market convention has the buyer pay the entire 4% unless the SPA explicitly negotiates otherwise.

The 4% fee was raised from 2% to 4% in September 2013 to curb speculation. Executive Council Resolution No. 30 of 2013 doubled the transfer fee from 2% to 4%, a measure widely described as aimed at reducing speculative flipping. The rate has remained 4% into 2026.

For off-plan units the 4% is registered through Oqood, not an immediate title deed. Oqood (Arabic for 'contracts') is DLD's interim registration system for off-plan sales. The 'Oqood registration fee' buyers hear about IS the 4% DLD fee, registered via the developer's Oqood portal; it serves as proof of ownership during construction before a title deed is issued at handover.

Off-plan buyers typically pay the 4% upfront at Oqood registration, not at handover. In practice the developer collects the 4% at booking/SPA signing and remits it when it registers the sale on the Oqood portal - the DLD requires the initial sale contract to be registered in the provisional register within 90 days of signing (an administrative DLD requirement rather than a deadline written into Law No. 13 of 2008 itself; late registration draws a reported fine of about AED 10,000). Because the fee is charged on the (lower) off-plan price, buyers can save versus paying at a higher handover value.

No second 4% is charged when Oqood converts to a title deed at handover. At completion the Oqood interim registration is converted to a title deed. Provided the original 4% Oqood registration fee was paid, no additional 4% transfer fee applies at handover - the buyer instead pays the smaller title-deed issuance/admin fees.

Developers periodically offer 'DLD waiver' promotions covering 50-100% of the 4% fee. These are time-boxed campaigns at selected launches, not a standing entitlement. The DLD fee itself is a government charge and non-negotiable; a 'waiver' means the developer pays the 4% (in full or in part) on the buyer's behalf as a sales promotion - always confirm the live offer in writing.

The registration-trustee office fee is AED 2,000 (under AED 500k) or AED 4,000 (AED 500k and above), plus 5% VAT. Trustee (registration-office) service fees are AED 2,000 for properties below AED 500,000 and AED 4,000 for AED 500,000 and above, each subject to 5% VAT (i.e., AED 2,100 / AED 4,200). The AED 2,000/4,000 split plus VAT is the widely reported standard.

On first off-plan sales the trustee office fee is often not charged separately because the developer handles registration. Because the developer processes the initial Oqood registration in-house, the separate trustee-office service fee that applies to ready-property transfers frequently does not apply to the first off-plan sale. It reappears on off-plan resales/assignments processed through a trustee centre.

The mortgage registration fee is 0.25% of the loan amount plus fixed charges of about AED 270. The 0.25% rate is confirmed by the Schedule of the official Executive Council Resolution No. 30 of 2013 ('0.25% of the mortgage (debt) value'). Fixed charges add AED 250 title-deed issuance plus AED 10 knowledge and AED 10 innovation fees (AED 270 in total, often rounded to ~AED 290 in industry guides). It is calculated on the loan, not the property value - e.g., a AED 1,200,000 mortgage incurs AED 3,000 in the percentage fee plus the fixed charges.

Buying off-plan with a mortgage adds a lender valuation fee of roughly AED 2,500–3,500. When financing is used, the bank charges a property valuation fee, commonly AED 2,500–3,500, separate from the DLD 0.25% mortgage registration fee. Off-plan mortgages are also subject to lender-specific rules on eligible developers/projects.

Developers charge their own administrative/Oqood fees, typically AED 1,000–6,000. Beyond DLD charges, developers levy their own admin fees for processing the SPA and Oqood registration - commonly quoted between AED 1,000 and AED 5,000–6,000 depending on the developer and project. DLD also charges developers a ~AED 1,000 self-registration fee via the Real Estate Developers portal, sometimes passed to buyers. Amounts should be documented in the SPA or developer fee schedule.

A first off-plan purchase from the developer does not require a resale NOC, but reselling before handover does. On the initial developer sale there is no prior owner, so no No Objection Certificate is needed. When the original buyer assigns/resells the unit before handover, the developer's NOC is mandatory to approve the transfer of the Oqood contract.

Developer NOC fees at resale are market-reported at roughly AED 1,000 to AED 5,250 (plus VAT). NOC fees are set by each developer and are not publicly standardized - reported examples run from about AED 1,000 (Danube) through ~AED 2,500 (Meraas) to ~AED 5,000-5,250 (Emaar, Sobha, Nakheel). These are developer policies rather than regulation, they change without notice, and the seller usually pays.

Off-plan resale (assignment) often carries a developer assignment/transfer fee of about 2–5% of the original price. To approve an off-plan assignment before handover, many developers charge an assignment/transfer fee of roughly 2–5% of the original purchase price, on top of the NOC fee and DLD Oqood-transfer charges. Combined with agent commission and DLD fees, total off-plan resale transaction costs typically land around 7-11% of the sale price (less where the developer charges no assignment percentage).

Reselling an off-plan unit typically requires having paid a developer minimum threshold, often 30–40% of the price. Before an assignment can proceed, the original buyer usually must have paid a minimum share of the purchase price (commonly cited as 30–40%) and obtain the developer's NOC. Both conditions must be met or the developer will not issue the NOC and the transfer stalls. The exact threshold is set per developer/project.

All off-plan sales must be registered with DLD, and projects require a 30% construction guarantee and an escrow account. Under Dubai Law No. 7 of 2006, every transaction affecting rights over land must be registered at DLD. Separately, under the DLD's project-registration requirements (service rules rather than provisions of Law 7/2006), the developer pays a AED 150,000 project registration fee (plus AED 10 knowledge and AED 10 innovation fees) and must provide a 30% guarantee of construction cost (30% of construction completed, a bank guarantee, or a cash deposit), with buyer payments held in a project escrow account - the legal protection behind the Oqood system.