DLD Fee Calculator
Dubai

The DLD (Dubai Land Department) transfer fee is 4% of the property sale price. It is payable at the time of transfer at a DLD-approved trustee office. For a AED 2,000,000 property, the DLD fee is AED 80,000. This is non-negotiable and applies to all property transfers in Dubai regardless of the buyer’s nationality or residency status.

No. DLD fees are additional to the property price and must be budgeted separately. When a developer or agent quotes a property price, the 4% DLD fee is almost never included. You must add DLD fee (4%), trustee fee (AED 4,000), title deed fee (AED 250), and agent commission (2% + VAT) on top of the purchase price to get your total buyer cost.

For off-plan property, the DLD transfer fee is still 4%, but many developers in Dubai offer to pay it on behalf of the buyer as a sales incentive (often advertised as “0% DLD fee”). When a developer pays the DLD fee, it is absorbed into the project’s pricing structure. Always confirm whether the DLD fee is genuinely waived or embedded in a higher price per sq ft.

The DLD trustee fee is paid to a DLD-registered conveyancing trustee office (not to the DLD directly). For properties over AED 500,000, the trustee fee is AED 4,000; for properties under AED 500,000 it is AED 2,000. The buyer typically pays this fee. Trustee offices handle the actual documentation, verification, and transfer process on behalf of the DLD.

Yes. While by market convention the 4% DLD fee is paid by the buyer, this is legally negotiable. In a buyer’s market or for premium properties, sellers sometimes agree to pay part or all of the DLD fee to make the deal more attractive. This should always be explicitly agreed in the MOU and reflected in the transaction documentation.