Mortgage registration fee in Dubai: the 0.25% explained

It is the Dubai Land Department's fee for recording a bank's mortgage against your property: 0.25% of the loan. Fixed fees and a service partner fee are added on top.

The rate comes from Executive Council Resolution No. 30 of 2013, which sets DLD's fees. Item 10 of its schedule charges 0.25% of the mortgage, meaning the debt value, for registering a mortgage contract. DLD's mortgage registration service page lists the same rate today.

Registration is not optional. DLD's answers say a mortgage is not valid unless it is registered with the department, and any agreement to the contrary is void. Registration is what gives the bank its security over your home and records the mortgage on your title deed or Oqood.

This guide covers that fee and the ones around it. Lending limits, eligibility and the structure of an off-plan loan are in our guide to off-plan mortgages in the UAE, and how your interest rate is set is in our guide to EIBOR and UAE mortgages.

It is a quarter of one per cent of the amount you borrow. A quick check is to divide the loan by 400.

On small loans the fixed and service partner fees are larger than the 0.25% itself. On an AED 500,000 loan the percentage is AED 1,250, but the total is AED 5,720. That is worth knowing if you plan to borrow only a small part of the price.

Three fixed items and a service partner fee. DLD's mortgage registration page lists them separately.

VAT. DLD shows VAT only against the service partner fee. Its own fees, the 0.25%, the AED 250 and the AED 20, are listed without it.

The service partner fee. This is the fee for the licensed trustee office that processes DLD transactions. How it works across every transaction is in our guide to registration trustee fees in Dubai.

Outputs. DLD lists the possible outputs as a title deed, a usufruct title deed, a certificate of title, a statement certificate or a provisional sale registration certificate, the Oqood. All are electronic and emailed to you.

The borrower, unless the parties agree otherwise. DLD's answers say the costs of the mortgage contract are borne by the mortgagor, the owner who mortgages the property.

In practice the bank usually files the mortgage. DLD's online mortgage system lets a bank employee enter the documents, the bank's auditor check them, and the transaction go to DLD, which deducts its fees from the bank's account. The bank then recovers the cost from you as its offer letter sets out, often at drawdown.

Read the offer letter. It should list every fee you pay: DLD's fees, the service partner fee, valuation, arrangement and insurance. Some banks run promotions that cover particular fees. If a fee is covered, have that in writing.

Who pays on a sale. The mortgage is a separate registration from the sale. The buyer's mortgage costs are the buyer's, whatever the contract says about the 4% DLD fee. The seller's costs to release their own mortgage are covered further down.

On transfer day, with the sale. The buyer's bank registers its mortgage at the same time as the title deed passes to the buyer.

The sequence at the trustee centre is: the seller's mortgage, if any, is paid off and released; the sale is registered in the buyer's name; and the buyer's new mortgage is registered against the new title deed. Each step has its own fees.

DLD's page for selling a mortgaged property lists the buyer's mortgage at 0.25% of the mortgage value, with the title deed, map and AED 20 fees. It also says the registrar fee is waived if the mortgage is registered on the same day, and that a service partner fee of AED 4,000 plus VAT applies if it is done the next day. Ask the trustee centre whether that applies to your transaction.

When the bank lends, which for most off-plan buyers is at or near handover. Nothing is due at booking unless a bank is financing your purchase from the start.

The Central Bank caps lending on property bought off-plan at 50% of its value and requires your own money to be paid first. That is why most buyers pay construction instalments in cash and mortgage the handover payment. Our off-plan mortgage guide explains the limits; this section covers when the DLD fee falls.

There are three routes, each with its own fees:

The Oqood route costs AED 1,050 more in service partner fees than the title deed route, with VAT. That is rarely a reason to wait, because the handover deadline in your notice usually decides the timing. It is worth knowing so the figure on your statement is not a surprise.

At conversion. When the Oqood becomes a title deed, the bank's mortgage carries across to the new deed. Ask the developer and the bank who handles the conversion and whether any further fee is charged. Our guides to Oqood and the title deed explain both registers.

Start early. Begin the mortgage application about three months before the expected handover, so approval and valuation fit inside the deadline in your notice. Our guide to the handover process shows where the mortgage fits in the final weeks.

These two cases use the fees DLD lists. They show the cost of registering the mortgage only; the 4% DLD fee on the purchase is separate.

Case 1: a ready apartment, 80% loan

The buyer borrows AED 1,600,000 against a ready apartment with a title deed. The Central Bank's limit for an expatriate's first home under AED 5,000,000 is 80% of value.

Case 2: an off-plan apartment, mortgaging the handover payment

The buyer is on a 60/40 plan. They paid the 4% DLD fee at booking and 60% of the price during construction, and they mortgage the 40% handover payment, AED 800,000, while the unit is still on Oqood.

The off-plan buyer borrows half as much but pays almost as much to register, because the service partner fee is fixed and higher on an Oqood. To see the monthly payment on either loan, use our mortgage calculator. To lay out the cash on the rest of the plan, use the payment plan calculator.

The bank's own charges, which are not DLD fees. They are often larger than the registration fee, so put them in the same budget.

Everything is cash. Since 1 February 2025 UAE banks have not financed the 4% DLD fee or agency commission as part of a mortgage. The registration and bank fees are normally paid upfront as well. Our cost guide adds them all up for a whole purchase.

Valuation risk. The bank lends against its valuation, not your price. If the valuation is lower, the loan is lower and the 0.25% is calculated on the smaller loan, but you pay the shortfall in cash.

Each change has its own DLD fee. Increasing the amount is charged at 0.25% of the increase, and changing the term at a flat AED 1,000.

Under the 2013 fee schedule, varying the details of a mortgage is AED 1,000 (item 11) and transferring a mortgage is 0.25% of the debt (item 12). DLD's answers add that a mortgage can be moved from one financier to another provided a no objection certificate is obtained.

Switching, or a "buyout", combines a DLD transfer fee with the old bank's early settlement fee and the new bank's costs. Work it out before you compare interest rates.

Take an outstanding balance of AED 1,200,000 moved to a new lender on a title deed:

Some buyouts are registered as a release and a new registration rather than a transfer. Ask the new bank which route it uses, because the release adds its own fees. How rate resets and fixed periods affect the decision is in our EIBOR guide.

AED 1,585 with VAT, on DLD's standalone release service. That covers AED 1,000 for removing the mortgage, AED 250 for the new title deed, AED 10 knowledge and AED 10 innovation fees, and a service partner fee of AED 300 plus VAT.

When you repay the loan. Ask the bank for a release letter. The bank can file the release through DLD's online mortgage system, with fees deducted from its account; or you take the letter and your Emirates ID to a trustee centre. DLD gives 10 to 15 minutes, and the outputs include a mortgage release letter and a clean title deed or Oqood certificate.

When you sell a mortgaged home. The release happens as part of the sale. DLD's page for selling a mortgaged property lists AED 1,290 for the mortgage release procedure and AED 315 for the registrar to release the mortgage. The buyer pays the bank's balance by manager's cheque, and the sale is completed once the seller hands in the bank's release letter.

Off-plan sold before handover. If a bank holds a mortgage over your Oqood, it has to be cleared or transferred before an assignment can be registered. Ask the developer and the bank early. Our guide to selling off-plan before handover covers the developer's side.

DLD's own fees are paid in full when the mortgage is registered. Spreading them is a matter for your bank or card provider, not DLD.

DLD's First-Time Home Buyer Programme lets eligible buyers pay DLD registration fees in interest-free instalments through eligible credit cards. Its terms are set out in our DLD fee guide. Ask your bank whether mortgage registration fees can be included.

1. Calculating 0.25% of the price. It is 0.25% of the loan.
2. Forgetting the fixed fees. On small loans the AED 270 and the service partner fee are larger than the percentage.
3. Budgeting AED 4,200 on an Oqood. Before the title deed, the service partner fee is AED 5,250.
4. Assuming the bank pays. DLD's default is that the borrower bears the costs. Check the offer letter.
5. Ignoring the release. AED 1,585 on repayment, or the release fees within a sale, should be in your exit budget.
6. Comparing only rates when switching. A transfer costs 0.25% again, plus early settlement and new bank fees.

• Mortgagor. The owner who mortgages the property: the borrower.
• Mortgagee. The bank or finance company that lends against the property.
• Mortgage registration. Recording the mortgage with DLD. A mortgage is not valid until it is registered.
• Provisional mortgage. A mortgage registered on an Oqood, before the title deed is issued.
• Mortgage transfer. Moving a registered mortgage to another lender.
• Release letter. The bank's letter confirming the debt is paid, used to remove the mortgage from the register.

1. Work out 0.25% of the loan and add AED 270.
2. Add the service partner fee: AED 4,200 on a title deed, AED 5,250 on an Oqood.
3. Ask the bank which fees it passes on, and get them in the offer letter.
4. Add valuation, arrangement and insurance costs to the same budget.
5. On off-plan, ask the developer and the bank when the mortgage will be registered and on which register.
6. Keep cash for the 4% DLD fee and agency commission, which banks do not finance.
7. Note the release cost and the early settlement cap for when you sell or switch.

The mortgage registration fee is small next to the loan, but the loan itself is limited on off-plan homes. Read our guide to off-plan mortgages in the UAE for the 50% cap and how banks fund the handover payment, and our EIBOR guide for how the rate is set. Run the numbers in the mortgage calculator, then browse projects near handover if you want a home you can mortgage soon.