Off-plan purchase costs in Dubai: worked examples for 2026

What actually sits on top of the published price

A published starting price is never the full cheque you write. The Dubai Land Department (DLD) charges a registration fee of 4% of the price, Oqood registration applies to the off-plan sale itself at a fixed fee confirmed in your contract, and the developer may add its own administration fee, also confirmed in the contract. None of these three are optional, and none of them is a number your adviser can guess before you pick a specific unit. What we can do here is take five starting prices that are actually published for 2026 and recalculate the one figure that is always 4% of the price: the DLD fee.

Five published prices, the DLD fee recalculated twice

Project	Published starting price	DLD fee (4%)	Price in USD (≈)	DLD fee in USD (≈)
The Woods Abode	AED 1.00 million	AED 40,000	≈ USD 272,300	≈ USD 10,900
Porto View	AED 1.93 million	AED 77,200	≈ USD 525,500	≈ USD 21,000
Valia	AED 1.96 million	AED 78,400	≈ USD 533,700	≈ USD 21,300
Chelsea Residences, 1 bedroom	AED 2.17 million	AED 86,800	≈ USD 590,900	≈ USD 23,600
Fior 1	AED 2.2 million	AED 88,000	≈ USD 599,000	≈ USD 24,000

Every DLD figure above was calculated twice to confirm the rounding: 4% of AED 1,000,000 is AED 40,000; 4% of AED 1,930,000 is AED 77,200; 4% of AED 1,960,000 is AED 78,400; 4% of AED 2,170,000 is AED 86,800; 4% of AED 2,200,000 is AED 88,000. The USD figures use the fixed AED/USD peg of 3.6725, so they move only if your own currency moves against the dollar, never against the dirham. All five starting prices are published subject to availability, not the price of a specific unit, floor or view today.

Oqood: a fixed fee, not a percentage

Because these are off-plan sales, the DLD registers them through the Oqood system rather than a standard title deed transfer. Oqood carries its own fixed fee, separate from the 4% DLD registration, confirmed in your sale contract rather than published as a general figure here. Our guide on buying an off-plan property and moving from reservation to a title deed walks through where Oqood sits in that sequence, and your adviser confirms the exact Oqood amount for the unit you choose before you reserve.

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The developer's own administration fee

Separate again from the DLD and Oqood fees, some developers charge their own registration or administration fee. Like Oqood, this is a fixed amount confirmed in your contract, not a percentage you can apply across projects. Ask for this figure in writing before you reserve so your total first-payment budget is complete, not just the headline price and the DLD fee. Our broader guide on what fees beyond the price you should budget for sets out the full list of cost categories to ask about, and our guide on Dubai property purchase costs: DLD, 4%, Oqood and what to budget covers the registration side in more detail.

What happens after handover

The table above stops at registration because that is what the 4% DLD fee covers. Costs that start after handover, community or service charges, district cooling, utility connections, are a separate budget line entirely, and none of our five example projects has published a service charge figure for 2026. Your adviser confirms these on request once a specific unit and building are identified, rather than us applying a generic percentage that may not match your tower.

Why the published price is only the starting point

A starting price such as Valia's AED 1.96 million or Fior 1's AED 2.2 million applies to a specific unit type, subject to availability, not to every unit in the building. Larger layouts, higher floors or better views carry their own price, confirmed by your adviser, and the 4% DLD fee then recalculates on that actual price rather than the published starting figure. Treat the table above as a method you can apply to any confirmed price, not as a quote for a unit you have not yet selected.

Talk through your own budget with an adviser

Send your target project and unit type on WhatsApp to +971 52 776 1939, or by email to sales@orvenproperties.com, and your adviser replies with the confirmed price, the Oqood fee and any developer administration fee for the units currently available, so your full first-payment total is accurate before you reserve.

FAQ

Is the 4% DLD fee the only government cost on an off-plan purchase? It is the main one, alongside the Oqood registration fee for off-plan sales specifically, which is a fixed amount confirmed in your contract rather than a percentage.

Does the 4% DLD fee apply on top of the deposit or instead of part of it? On top. The DLD fee is calculated on the full price and paid in addition to your reservation deposit, not deducted from it.

Can I calculate the DLD fee myself for a different price? Yes: multiply the confirmed price by 4%. For a price that is not yet confirmed, treat any total as an estimate until your adviser sends the exact figure.

Why does this guide not show the Oqood fee amount? Because Oqood fees are fixed and confirmed in each contract rather than published as a single figure across projects; your adviser sends the exact amount for your unit.

Are service charges included in these worked examples? No. Service charges apply after handover and are confirmed on request once a specific unit and building are identified; they are not part of the DLD registration cost shown here.