Conveyancing Fees in Dubai (2026): What You Pay, Who Pays It, and What Is Not a Conveyancing Fee

“Conveyancing fees” in Dubai means two different things, and most of the confusion about them comes from mixing the two. There are the official charges — what the Dubai Land Department and its registration trustee collect to register the transfer — and there is the conveyancer’s fee, a private service fee for preparing and coordinating the file. The first set is published by DLD and does not depend on who you appoint. The second is whatever the provider quotes. This guide sets out both, with DLD’s own figures linked, says who usually pays each line, and works one sale through end to end. Conveyance’s own fees are fixed and listed on the pricing page.

What a conveyancing fee is — and is not

A conveyancing fee pays for the procedural work between an agreed sale and a registered title: the document checklist, the developer and lender dependencies, the trustee appointment and the transfer file. It is a private fee, charged by whoever does that work — a conveyancer, or a broker’s in-house service — and it should appear on your schedule as its own line, with VAT, and with the provider named.

It is not a government charge. DLD’s registration fee, the trustee centre’s partner fee, the title-deed and map charges, a developer’s NOC fee and a bank’s charges each have their own recipient and purpose. A schedule that folds them into one “conveyancing” or “DLD fees” line makes it impossible to see who is being paid for what — which is the first thing to fix before signing.

The official charges on a Dubai sale (DLD, checked September 2026)

These are the figures on DLD’s sale-registration service page, read on 26 September 2026:

  • Registration fee: 4% of the sale value, listed as 2% from the seller and 2% from the buyer.
  • Title deed certificate: AED 250.
  • Property map: AED 250 for an apartment or villa; AED 225 for land inside Dubai Municipality’s jurisdiction; AED 100 for land outside it.
  • Knowledge fee AED 10 and innovation fee AED 10.
  • Registration trustee (service partner) fee: AED 4,000 + VAT where the sale value is AED 500,000 or more; AED 2,000 + VAT below that.

Government fees carry no VAT; the trustee’s partner fee does. On a gift between first-degree relatives the registration fee is 0.125% of the valuation with a minimum of AED 2,000, and the trustee tiers switch at AED 2,000,000 rather than AED 500,000 (DLD gift-registration page).

Charges that appear on some sales only

  • Seller’s mortgage release. DLD’s mortgaged-sale service page lists AED 1,290 for the mortgage-release procedure and AED 315 for the registrar’s release, plus the knowledge and innovation fees. The bank’s own settlement charges are separate and set by the bank.
  • Buyer’s mortgage registration. Charged on the loan amount, not the price; the rate and fixed items are set out on transferfee.ae’s mortgage-registration page.
  • Developer NOC. Set by each developer and paid to the developer; confirm the amount with the developer before completion.
  • Payment instruments. Manager’s cheques and the bank’s charges for issuing them.

What Conveyance charges

Conveyance publishes a fixed service fee for each standard sale route. The route is the seller’s mortgage position followed by the buyer’s funding, and the fee does not rise with the property price.

  • Cash to cash: AED 4,999 + VAT — AED 5,248.95 in total.
  • Cash to mortgage: AED 5,999 + VAT — AED 6,298.95.
  • Mortgage to cash: AED 6,999 + VAT — AED 7,348.95.
  • Mortgage to mortgage: AED 9,999 + VAT — AED 10,498.95.

The standard individual property-gifting service is AED 4,999 + VAT and the defined company-to-individual sale is AED 9,999 + VAT. What each fee covers, and what it does not, is on the pricing and scope page.

Who pays which line

  • DLD registration fee. DLD lists it as 2% seller and 2% buyer. In Dubai’s secondary market the buyer commonly pays the full 4% by agreement — but that is a term of the sale, not a rule, so read Form F rather than assume.
  • Trustee partner fee, title deed and map. Paid at the trustee appointment; in practice usually by the buyer, again by agreement.
  • Mortgage release. The seller’s, because it clears the seller’s loan.
  • Mortgage registration. The buyer’s, because it registers the buyer’s loan.
  • Developer NOC. Usually the seller’s, as the outgoing owner obtaining clearance.
  • Conveyancing fee. Whoever appoints the conveyancer. If a conveyancing line appears in a draft Form F, the who-pays guide sets out the four questions to settle before you sign.

A worked example

An AED 1,500,000 ready apartment, seller with no mortgage, buyer paying cash — the cash-to-cash route — with the buyer paying the full 4% by agreement:

  • DLD registration fee, 4%: AED 60,000
  • Title deed certificate: AED 250
  • Property map (apartment): AED 250
  • Knowledge and innovation fees: AED 20
  • Registration trustee fee (AED 500,000 or more): AED 4,000 + VAT = AED 4,200
  • Conveyance service fee, cash to cash: AED 4,999 + VAT = AED 5,248.95

Total of the items above: AED 69,968.95 — of which AED 60,520 goes to DLD, AED 4,200 to the trustee centre and AED 5,248.95 to Conveyance. A developer NOC, if the building requires one, is on top and set by the developer. The same apartment bought with a mortgage adds the buyer’s mortgage-registration charges and moves the route to cash to mortgage (AED 5,999 + VAT). The transfer-cost calculator does this arithmetic for any price and route.

Before you compare quotes

  • Compare the same route and the same scope. A lower fee that excludes the developer and lender coordination is not lower.
  • Ask for every line with its recipient: DLD, trustee, developer, bank, conveyancer. A “DLD fees” total with no breakdown should be broken down before you sign anything.
  • Check whether the quoted fee includes VAT. Conveyance shows both figures; not every provider does.
  • Confirm who is appointing and paying the conveyancer, and whether the Form F clause ties you to a particular provider.

Official sources

Frequently asked questions

The private service fee for preparing and coordinating a property transfer file — the checklist, the developer and lender dependencies, the trustee appointment. They are separate from the official charges DLD and the trustee centre collect to register the transfer.

They are set by the provider. Conveyance charges a fixed fee by route: AED 4,999 + VAT for a cash-to-cash sale, AED 5,999 + VAT cash to mortgage, AED 6,999 + VAT mortgage to cash, AED 9,999 + VAT mortgage to mortgage. Other providers quote differently; compare on the same route and scope.

The Dubai Land Department’s published charges to register a sale: 4% of the sale value, AED 250 for the title deed, a property map (AED 250 for an apartment or villa), and the AED 10 knowledge and AED 10 innovation fees. The registration trustee’s partner fee (AED 4,000 + VAT from AED 500,000; AED 2,000 + VAT below) is collected at the same appointment but is a separate line.

The registration trustee’s service-partner fee on DLD’s sale-registration card: AED 4,000 + VAT where the sale value is AED 500,000 or more, AED 2,000 + VAT below. On a gift registration the same two amounts apply with the threshold at AED 2,000,000.

Whoever appoints the conveyancer. It is a term of the deal, not a rule — if a conveyancing line appears in a draft Form F, establish the provider, the scope, the fee and the payer before you sign.

No. DLD fees are official charges published by the Dubai Land Department and are the same whoever you appoint. A conveyancing fee is a private service fee. Keep them on separate lines with their recipients named.

Yes — 5% on the service fee, which is why Conveyance shows both the fee and the VAT-inclusive total. Government fees carry no VAT; the trustee’s partner fee does.

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