Property Transfer With a Mortgage in Dubai: The Four Routes, What Each Bank Must Produce, and What DLD Charges

A mortgage on either side of a Dubai sale does not change what is being registered — a transfer of title at a Dubai Land Department registration trustee — but it changes who has to produce what, and in which order, before that appointment can happen. The seller’s bank has to release its charge; the buyer’s bank has to register a new one; and where both are involved, the buyer’s bank is usually the one paying the seller’s bank off. This guide sets out the four routes a sale can take, what each bank must produce, how the trustee-day sequence runs, and what DLD charges for the mortgage steps, with DLD’s own service pages linked. Conveyance coordinates all four routes for a fixed fee, listed on the pricing page.

The four routes: seller’s mortgage, then buyer’s funding

Conveyance names a sale by the seller’s position followed by the buyer’s. Read left to right:

  • Cash to cash. No mortgage on either side. The baseline: one appointment, one set of DLD charges.
  • Cash to mortgage. The seller owns outright; the buyer is borrowing. The buyer’s bank joins the file and a mortgage is registered at the same appointment as the sale.
  • Mortgage to cash. The seller has a mortgage; the buyer pays cash. The seller’s bank must be settled and its charge released before, or as part of, the transfer.
  • Mortgage to mortgage. Both. The buyer’s bank settles the seller’s bank, the old charge is released and the new one registered — the route with the most dependencies and the one most often delayed.

A route is a description of dependencies, not a price of the property: the government charges below depend on the sale value and the loan, and Conveyance’s fee depends only on the route.

When the seller has a mortgage: what the seller’s bank must produce

The seller’s bank holds a registered charge on the title, and the property cannot transfer until that charge is released. Three different bank outputs are involved, and they are not interchangeable:

  • A liability letter — the bank’s statement of what is owed for the stated purpose, with its date, conditions and validity. It is the basis for planning settlement; it is not proof that anything has been paid.
  • Settlement — the payment itself, by the seller or, in a mortgage-to-mortgage sale, by the buyer’s bank on the buyer’s behalf, made the way the seller’s bank instructs.
  • The release — the bank’s confirmation that the charge can be removed, and then the DLD mortgage-release step that actually removes it from the register.

Each bank runs its own process and timescale for these, and a blocking letter or release letter should be requested through the bank’s authorised channel with the sale context made clear. The order in which the documents arrive matters as much as their content; the mortgage discharge guide walks through the milestones, and this guide covers what to do when the bank is slow.

When the buyer has a mortgage: what the buyer’s bank must produce

A buyer borrowing to purchase needs the bank to move from a pre-approval to a final offer on the specific property, which normally means the bank’s valuation of the property and its own document checks on the buyer and the seller’s title. Only a final, unconditional offer supports a completion date: a pre-approval is a statement about the buyer, not about this purchase.

At the appointment the bank’s documentation is entered through DLD’s online mortgage system or presented at the registration trustee, and the mortgage is registered against the new title. DLD’s mortgage-registration service page describes the route: the customer prepares the requirements with the bank, the bank enters the documents through the online mortgage system, the department audits the transaction and deducts its fees, and the outputs are delivered by email. The buyer’s bank will also state how it releases the purchase funds — commonly by manager’s cheque to the seller (or to the seller’s bank) on the day — and that instruction has to be matched to the seller’s side before anyone books the trustee.

Both sides mortgaged: the sequence

In a mortgage-to-mortgage sale the buyer’s bank is paying off the seller’s bank, so the two banks’ requirements have to be reconciled before completion. In practice that means: the seller’s liability letter addressed as the buyer’s bank requires; the buyer’s final offer and the buyer’s bank’s undertaking on how and when it will settle the seller’s bank; the seller’s bank’s release arrangements; and one trustee appointment at which the sale is registered, the old mortgage released and the new one registered.

The critical path is usually the seller’s bank: its liability figure has a validity date, and if the completion date moves, the amount or the instruction may have to be re-issued. Conveyance’s work on this route is to hold the two banks’ outputs against one checklist and one date so that the appointment is booked only when every dependency is in hand.

What DLD charges for the mortgage steps (checked 30 September 2026)

These are the figures on DLD’s service pages, read on 30 September 2026 (the DLD site was last updated on 23 September 2026). They are charged in addition to the sale-registration charges — 4% of the sale value, the AED 250 title deed, the property map and the AED 20 knowledge and innovation fees, with the registration trustee’s AED 4,000 + VAT (AED 2,000 + VAT below AED 500,000) — which are set out in Conveyancing fees in Dubai.

  • Registering the buyer’s mortgage (mortgage registration): 0.25% of the mortgage value; AED 250 for the title deed; AED 10 knowledge and AED 10 innovation fees per drawing; and a registration-trustee fee of AED 4,000 + VAT (AED 5,000 + VAT for an Oqood mortgage).
  • Releasing the seller’s mortgage as part of a sale (sale of a mortgaged property): AED 1,290 for the mortgage-release procedure and AED 315 for the registrar to release the mortgage, alongside the sale charges. The same page states that the registrar’s fees are exempted where the mortgage is registered on the same day as the sale.
  • Releasing a mortgage on its own (mortgage release): AED 1,000 for the release, AED 250 for the title deed, AED 10 + AED 10 knowledge and innovation fees, and a registration-trustee fee of AED 300 + VAT.
  • Moving a mortgage to another bank (mortgage transfer): the same items as a registration — 0.25% of the mortgage value, AED 250 title deed, AED 10 + AED 10 fees, and AED 4,000 + VAT for the registration trustee.

Government fees carry no VAT; the trustee’s partner fees do. The bank’s own charges — settlement, early-repayment, arrangement and valuation — are set by the bank and are not on any DLD page.

The day at the trustee centre

On a financed sale the appointment is booked only when the bank outputs above are in hand and dated to it. On the day, the sale and the mortgage steps are registered in one sitting where the banks’ documents allow it; DLD’s sale-of-a-mortgaged-property page gives the sequence — the parties attend, the documents are checked by the registrar, the transaction is entered, the fees are paid and the receipt issued by email. Payment of the DLD and trustee charges is made on the day by the methods DLD’s sale-registration page lists — ePay, Dubai Pay, Noqodi and manager’s cheque. The purchase price and the seller’s settlement move by the instruments the banks require, which is why they are agreed in writing beforehand. What to bring, and what to check the night before, is in how to prepare for the trustee appointment.

What Conveyance does on a mortgaged route

Conveyance coordinates the file: the document checklist for both sides, the bank dependencies and their dates, the developer NOC where one applies, and the trustee appointment. The fee is fixed by route — AED 5,999 + VAT cash to mortgage, AED 6,999 + VAT mortgage to cash, AED 9,999 + VAT mortgage to mortgage — and does not rise with the price. It does not include the lending decision, the bank’s charges, negotiating the sale or deciding contractual rights; the pricing and scope page says what is and is not covered. Choose the route on the services page or ask about the sale on WhatsApp.

Official sources

All read on 30 September 2026. Figures on DLD’s pages change; confirm at the trustee before completion.

Frequently asked questions

Yes. The seller’s bank must be settled and its charge released from the DLD register as part of the transfer. The liability letter, the settlement and the release are three separate steps, and the DLD release step has its own charges.

The seller’s bank’s statement of what is owed for the stated purpose, with a date, conditions and validity. It is used to plan settlement. It is not proof that the mortgage has been paid or released.

On DLD’s mortgage-registration page: 0.25% of the mortgage value, AED 250 for the title deed, AED 10 knowledge and AED 10 innovation fees per drawing, and a registration-trustee fee of AED 4,000 + VAT (AED 5,000 + VAT for an Oqood mortgage). Government fees carry no VAT.

As part of a sale, DLD lists AED 1,290 for the mortgage-release procedure and AED 315 for the registrar’s release. On its own, the release page lists AED 1,000, AED 250 for the title deed, AED 20 in knowledge and innovation fees and AED 300 + VAT for the registration trustee. The bank’s settlement charges are separate.

They are normally registered at one appointment, and DLD’s sale-of-a-mortgaged-property page states that the registrar’s fees are exempted where the mortgage is registered on the same day as the sale. A mortgage registered on a separate day attracts its own registration-trustee fee.

That is the mortgage-to-mortgage route: the buyer’s bank settles the seller’s bank as the buyer’s bank instructs, the old charge is released and the new one registered at the appointment. The two banks’ requirements have to be reconciled before a completion date is fixed.

Yes — DLD’s mortgage-transfer page covers it, with the same items as a registration: 0.25% of the mortgage value, AED 250 for the title deed, AED 10 + AED 10 fees and a registration-trustee fee of AED 4,000 + VAT. The two banks’ settlement and release steps still apply.

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