Buying or Selling a Dubai Property Through Dubai Now: DLD’s Fully Digital Sale Route, Who Can Use It, and What It Costs

Not every Dubai sale needs a trustee appointment. The Dubai Land Department publishes a service called Buy or Sell Property via Dubai Now — a route in which the sale agreement is generated and signed inside the Dubai Now app, the money moves through an escrow account approved by DLD, and the electronic title deed is issued at the end, with no visit to a registration trustee. It is real, it is instant, and it is narrow: DLD’s own page confines it to individuals holding a UAE ID, to freehold apartments, offices and townhouses, and to properties with no mortgage or restriction on them. This guide sets out what DLD’s page says — who qualifies, the steps, the fees, the seven-day clock — and then the sales it does not cover, which are the ones Conveyance coordinates.

Who can use the Dubai Now route (DLD’s conditions)

DLD’s service page (read 30 September 2026) lists the terms. Every one of them has to hold:

  • The service is provided for individuals holding a UAE ID; the residency status shown is citizen or resident, and the documents required are through UAE Pass.
  • The property must be free from any restrictions or mortgages.
  • The property must be located within freehold areas.
  • It applies only to subdivided real estate units — apartments, offices and townhouses.
  • The sale amount and the service fees must be transferred through an escrow account.

Read the list against your own sale before anything else. A seller with a mortgage, a buyer borrowing to purchase, a party who is a company or a non-resident without a UAE ID, a plot of land or a standalone villa, or a unit with any restriction recorded against it, is outside the route as DLD describes it — see the section on what it does not cover.

The four steps, as DLD lists them

  1. Generate the sale and purchase agreement by creating a sale request in Dubai Now.
  2. Sign the agreement — each party signs with their own digital identity.
  3. Transfer the purchase amount and the service fees to the escrow account.
  4. View the title deed and the receipt. The issued documents are the electronic title deed, the electronic map and the fee balances; the service time is listed as instant.

Two rules on the page govern timing. Either party may cancel the process without the other’s approval at any stage before the contract is signed with the digital ID. And the procedure is automatically cancelled before the signing step if it exceeds seven days — so a sale request that is not signed within a week has to be started again.

What the Dubai Now route costs (DLD’s figures)

The fees listed on the service page:

  • Seller: 2% of the transaction value; buyer: 2% of the transaction value.
  • AED 250 for issuance of the title deed; AED 250 for the villa or apartment map.
  • AED 30 innovation fee and AED 30 knowledge fee.
  • Service partner’s fees (Emirates Real Estate Solutions): AED 1,000 + VAT where the transaction value is AED 500,000 or more; AED 500 + VAT below that.

Set that beside the trustee-route sale-registration page: the same 4% and the same AED 250 title deed and AED 250 map, but the registration trustee’s partner fee is AED 4,000 + VAT from AED 500,000 (AED 2,000 + VAT below), and the knowledge and innovation fees are AED 10 each. On a qualifying sale the digital route’s partner fee is therefore the smaller line; the government registration fee is identical. Whether the buyer or the seller bears each line is a term of the sale, not a rule — the same point as on any Dubai transfer.

What the Dubai Now route does not cover

The conditions above exclude most of the sales that need coordination in the first place:

  • Any mortgage on either side. A seller’s mortgage has to be settled and released, and a buyer’s mortgage registered, at a registration trustee — DLD’s sale of a mortgaged property and mortgage-registration pages describe those routes. Dubai Now requires the property to be free of mortgages and restrictions.
  • Companies, trusts and non-residents without a UAE ID. The route is for individuals holding a UAE ID, signing through UAE Pass.
  • Land and standalone villas. The page limits the route to subdivided units — apartments, offices and townhouses.
  • Off-plan units still under Oqood, gifts, inheritance and court-ordered transfers. Each has its own DLD service and its own documents.
  • Anything a developer NOC, a power of attorney or a manager’s cheque is part of. The page describes the parties acting for themselves and paying through escrow; it does not describe representation or paper instruments.

The page also gives no procedure for what happens when a party changes their mind after signing, when the escrow transfer is late, or when a property turns out to carry a restriction — the situations a coordinated file exists to prevent. A quick DLD Property Status Enquiry before starting will show whether a mortgage or restriction is recorded.

Choosing between the two routes

If every condition on DLD’s list holds — two individuals with UAE IDs, a freehold apartment, office or townhouse, no mortgage or restriction, the price and fees moving through escrow, and both parties able to sign within seven days — the Dubai Now route is DLD’s own, and it is the cheaper of the two on the partner fee. If any condition fails, the sale goes through a registration trustee, and the work is to get the documents, the bank outputs, the developer’s NOC and the funds ready for one appointment. That is the work Conveyance does, for a fixed fee by route, listed on the pricing page; the trustee appointment guide explains how the trustee-day sequence runs, and the mortgage transfer guide covers what a mortgage on either side adds.

Official sources

All read on 30 September 2026 (DLD’s site was last updated on 23 September 2026). DLD changes its pages; confirm the current terms and fees on the service page before starting a sale.

Frequently asked questions

DLD’s Buy or Sell Property via Dubai Now service allows it for a narrow set of sales: two individuals holding UAE IDs, a freehold apartment, office or townhouse, no mortgage or restriction, and payment through a DLD-approved escrow account. Outside those conditions the sale is registered at a registration trustee.

As listed by DLD: 2% from the seller and 2% from the buyer, AED 250 for the title deed, AED 250 for the map, AED 30 innovation and AED 30 knowledge fees, and a service partner fee (Emirates Real Estate Solutions) of AED 1,000 + VAT from AED 500,000 or AED 500 + VAT below it.

The government registration fee (4%) and the title deed and map charges are the same. The partner fee differs: AED 1,000 + VAT (or AED 500 + VAT) through Dubai Now against AED 4,000 + VAT (or AED 2,000 + VAT) at a registration trustee; the knowledge and innovation fees are AED 30 each through Dubai Now and AED 10 each at the trustee. Which route you can use is decided by the conditions, not the price.

No. DLD’s page requires the property to be free from any restrictions or mortgages. A sale with a mortgage on either side is registered through a registration trustee.

The service is provided for individuals holding a UAE ID, signing through UAE Pass, with the residency status shown as citizen or resident. Companies, trusts and buyers or sellers without a UAE ID use the trustee route.

DLD’s page states that the procedure is automatically cancelled before the signing step if it exceeds seven days. Either party may also cancel, without the other’s approval, at any stage before the contract is signed with the digital ID.

The sale amount and the service fees must be transferred through an escrow account approved by DLD; the page lists the escrow account as the payment method. There are no manager’s cheques in this route.

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