Dubai mortgage costs since 2025: the 4% DLD fee and agent commission must be paid in cash

Until early 2025, many UAE lenders let buyers roll the transaction costs of a Dubai purchase into the mortgage: the 4% Dubai Land Department transfer fee and the agent's commission of around 2%. The buyer paid the deposit and the fees were spread over 20 or 25 years. That ended on 1 February 2025, when a UAE Central Bank directive stopped banks from financing either item. As of September 2026 the rule stands, and it is the line most often missing from buyers' spreadsheets.

What the loan now covers — and what it does not

The loan now covers the property price within the permitted loan-to-value ratio and nothing else. The following must be paid from your own funds:

• the 4% DLD fee on the purchase price;
• agent commission — typically 2% on a resale, plus 5% VAT on the commission;
• trustee office fees — AED 2 000 plus VAT below AED 500 000, AED 4 000 plus VAT above;
• mortgage registration — 0.25% of the loan plus an administrative fee of about AED 290;
• bank charges — an arrangement fee (up to 1% of the loan at most banks) and the valuation.

The loan-to-value limits themselves are unchanged: for an expatriate's first home up to AED 5m, up to 80%; above AED 5m, up to 70%; less for second and subsequent properties. Everything else a mortgage costs beyond the interest rate is itemised in our breakdown of mortgage costs.

Worked example: a AED 2m resale apartment

Item (AED)	Before Feb 2025	Now
20% deposit	400 000	400 000
DLD fee, 4%	financed	80 000
Agent commission 2% + VAT	financed	42 000
Mortgage registration, 0.25% of AED 1.6m	4 000	4 000
Trustee, valuation, other fees	≈ 8 000	≈ 8 000
Cash needed at completion	≈ 412 000	≈ 534 000

The gap is about AED 122 000 — roughly 30% more cash to get through the door. Measured against the price, a "20% deposit" purchase now needs 26–27% in cash. The figures are rounded; with a 1% arrangement fee, add another AED 16 000.

What it changes in practice

First, the comparison between resale and off-plan. On new launches the developer normally pays the agent, and many developers periodically absorb all or half of the 4% DLD fee as a sales incentive. For a financed buyer, that incentive is now worth real cash rather than a few hundred dirhams a month on the repayment.

Second, the first-home buyer programme launched by the Land Department with developers and banks includes an interest-free instalment plan for the 4% fee — details in our note on the programme. Who pays commission in which kind of deal is covered in a separate explainer.

Third, the reserve. A buyer with exactly 20% could once reach completion; now the budget has to be re-run before choosing a unit, not after mortgage approval.

Run the repayment and deposit for a specific price in our Dubai mortgage calculator, then add 6–7% for fees — that is the cash you actually need at completion.