Off-Plan Property in Dubai: Rules, Payment Plans and Costs (2026)

Off-Plan Property in Dubai: Rules, Payment Plans and Costs (2026)

Off-plan property in Dubai is a unit that a developer sells before the building is finished, and the rules around it come from Dubai Land Department (DLD) registration, supervision by the Real Estate Regulatory Agency (RERA) and a handful of Dubai laws on escrow accounts, the interim property register and jointly owned property. This guide reflects the position as of 5 November 2026. It explains the legal definition, who can buy, where buyer payments are held, what the sales and purchase agreement and Oqood registration do, how payment plans are built, what the fees add up to, what happens on delay, default and termination, how handover, defects and resale work, and what the official Golden Visa pages say about off-plan units.

Every figure carries its source and date, and the worked examples show each step of the arithmetic. Amounts are in dirhams with US dollars in brackets at 3.6725 per dollar, for example AED 2,000,000 ($544,588). Developer prices and payment plans are taken from the developers’ own pages as retrieved on 5 November 2026; they illustrate how plans are built and are not offers, a comparison of developers or a ranking. Laws, fees and plans can change, so each table states its date.

Off-Plan Property in Dubai: What the Law Means by It

Dubai Law No. 13 of 2008, which regulates the interim property register, defines an off-plan sale as the sale of designated real property units off-plan or of units that are unfinished. The English text on the Dubai Legislation Portal makes two consequences follow. First, any disposition of a unit sold off-plan is entered in the Interim Property Register, which the DLD’s e-services call Oqood, and a sale or other disposition that transfers or restricts ownership is void unless it is entered there (Article 3). Second, the register entry is a stage in a longer process: when the project is complete and the developer holds the completion certificate, the developer must enter the units in the main Property Register in the names of purchasers who have met their contractual obligations (Article 8).

The document a buyer holds during construction is therefore a provisional registration, not a title deed. The DLD’s initial sale registration page lists a provisional registration e-certificate as the issued document. The title deed follows registration in the main register after completion. A separate guide covers that final step in Dubai property handover, snagging and title deed.

The text of Law No. 13 on the portal is the 2008 original. Its Article 11, which deals with a buyer who stops paying under an off-plan contract, was replaced by Law No. 9 of 2009 (printed in the DLD legislation compendium) and later superseded by Law No. 19 of 2020, issued on 24 November 2020. The 2020 wording is the one set out in the termination section below, so older summaries that quote a single 30% deduction or the percentages of the 2010 bylaw may not match the text now on the portal.

How large the off-plan share is

Data from the DLD, reported by Emirates 24|7 on 20 July 2026, put sales in the first half of 2026 at AED 286.44 billion ($78.00 billion) across 86,000 transactions. The report split them into off-plan sales (58,840 transactions worth AED 139.75 billion ($38.05 billion)) and completed-property sales (27,160 transactions worth AED 146.69 billion ($39.94 billion)). The shares in the table are calculated here from those published figures; the DLD figures cover real estate sales generally, not only homes.

Engel & Völkers’ H1 2026 residential market report gives a related but different measure: off-plan units were 71.3% of residential sales in that half-year. The two shares use different bases, since one is the DLD count of all sales and the other is a brokerage’s residential series, so they are not interchangeable. What both show is that off-plan property in Dubai is a large part of the market by number of deals, while by value the DLD figures show completed property slightly ahead. For a longer view of how the market has behaved through cycles, see the separate guide on what 2008 to 2026 data shows about Dubai property prices.

Where foreign buyers can purchase

Under Article 4 of Dubai Law No. 7 of 2006, ownership of real property in Dubai is restricted to UAE nationals, nationals of the Gulf Cooperation Council states, companies fully owned by them and public joint stock companies. Subject to the Ruler’s approval, non-UAE nationals may in certain areas determined by the Ruler be granted freehold ownership without time restriction, or usufruct or leasehold rights of up to 99 years. The DLD’s frequently asked questions describe the same two groups: ownership across all areas for Emiratis and GCC citizens, and foreign ownership in freehold areas.

The same line runs through off-plan projects. To register a project and open its escrow account, a developer must show that the land lies in freehold or long-term lease areas, according to the DLD’s project registration service. A foreign buyer’s rights in a given project therefore depend on whether the land is freehold or leasehold, which the sale agreement and the project registration state. The guides on freehold and leasehold ownership in Dubai and on where foreigners can buy apartments in Dubai cover the area rules in more detail.

The Rules Behind Off-Plan Sales in Dubai

Six instruments do most of the work for a buyer. Law No. 13 of 2008 puts the contract on the register; Law No. 8 of 2007 controls where the money sits; the 2010 bylaw fills in conciliation, cancellation and refund procedures; Law No. 19 of 2020 sets the procedure when a buyer defaults; and Law No. 6 of 2019 governs the building once it is occupied. The table gives the points that affect a purchase, each tied to its article.

The Arabic text prevails over the English translations on the Dubai Legislation Portal if the two differ, a note printed at the foot of each law. RERA, which the DLD lists among its organisations, supervises developers and projects. Article 4 of Law No. 8 of 2007 provides that no developer may carry on development business unless it is entered in the register of developers and licensed by the competent entities, and Article 17 lists the grounds on which a developer is struck off, including failure without acceptable reason to begin construction within six months of receiving permission to sell off-plan.

Escrow Accounts: Where Buyer Payments Go

An escrow account is the bank account of a development project into which off-plan buyers’ payments, and the project’s financiers’ money, are deposited. Article 9 of Law No. 8 of 2007 says the account is opened in the name of the project, is dedicated exclusively to constructing it, and cannot be attached by the developer’s creditors. A developer with several projects needs a separate account for each. The DLD’s FAQ adds that any bank or financial institution licensed by the Central Bank of the UAE to take third-party deposits can act as account trustee, provided RERA approves it.

Money leaves the account only against construction. The DLD FAQ explains that the agreement between the developer and the account trustee lists the main construction stages. The developer’s project manager reports a completed stage and asks for payment of service providers, the trustee’s engineer visits the site to check that the stage is complete, and only then is the trustee authorised to pay. As a general rule payments from the account go to contractors, consultants and marketing, and the DLD gives the example that only 5% of total sales can be paid for marketing.

The retention in Article 14 has a stated purpose. The DLD’s FAQ describes the 5% as protection for defects that are visible at completion or that appear within one year after handover, which links the escrow rules to the defect-liability section further down. A broker involved in the sale has a fixed duty too: under Article 12 of the 2010 bylaw, a broker engaged to market a project must deposit the sale price into the project’s escrow account and may not pay it into its own account or deduct its commission first, and any agreement to the contrary is void. The RERA brokerage practice guide (November 2024 edition) tells brokers to instruct buyers to deposit amounts only into the escrow account of the project.

The same point applies to the registration fee. In a release of 31 May 2021 the DLD stated that the buyer settles the 4% registration fee with the developer, which completes the registration, and that payment goes either through the developer’s Noqodi wallet or by deposit into the project’s approved escrow account. The account to pay into can be checked against the escrow account number the DLD shows for the project, as described next.

Checking a Project and a Seller Before Paying

The DLD’s Dubai REST app gives beneficiaries of off-plan projects real-time information about them: the percentage of completion, actual pictures of the project, the escrow account number and the payments due from owners in projects they have invested in. The Project Status (Mashrooi) service lists status, escrow and completion fields for a project searched by plot, project number or name. These records show whether the project is on the register, how far it has progressed, and which account receives the money.

A developer cannot reach that stage without meeting conditions. The DLD’s register-project service lists, for off-plan sales, land in freehold or long-term lease areas, an ownership deed (preliminary sales certificates are not accepted), registration in the Trakheesi system, units uploaded to the Survey Department with approved plans, and a registration fee of AED 150,000 ($40,844). It also requires a 30% cover, met in one of three ways: 30% of construction completed, a bank instrument covering 30% of construction, or a cash deposit equal to 30% in the institution’s account. Law No. 13 of 2008 adds, in Article 4, that a developer may not begin a project or sell off-plan before taking possession of the land and obtaining the required approvals.

Advertising rules reinforce the checks. Article 5 of Law No. 8 of 2007 bars a developer from advertising off-plan units, or taking part in exhibitions to promote them, without written authorisation from the DLD. The DLD’s advertising permit service covers newspaper, SMS, outdoor, vehicle, printed, electronic, billboard and classified advertisements as well as promotional campaigns and open-house events, and for exhibitions it states that off-plan properties not registered with the Escrow Account Department may not be shown. A broker applicant needs a marketing contract with the property owner for most permit types.

The DLD FAQ also describes a right that matters when instalments are tied to construction. Because the payment schedule is based on completion rates, the investor has the right, on receiving a payment request, to know the project’s completion percentage through a letter from the DLD-approved project consultant; unless that stage is confirmed, the investor is not obliged to pay the instalment. A buyer who wants a formal report on the completion percentage of a unit can request one from the RERA technical auditor for an audit fee of AED 15,000 ($4,084), as the same FAQ states.

The Sales and Purchase Agreement and Oqood Registration

The sales and purchase agreement (SPA) is the contract the DLD registers. Under the terms of the initial sale registration service, the contract must be signed by the developer and the purchaser (or a guardian where the purchaser is a minor), and it must be registered in the provisional register within 90 days of signing. The developer files the registration through the Oqood portal and the buyer receives the output by e-mail. That e-certificate is the proof of registration that carries the buyer from signing to title deed.

Several points in the legislation bear on what the SPA says. Payment schedules are tied to construction milestones: Article 20 of the 2010 bylaw lists a developer’s refusal to link payments to the milestones proposed by RERA among the grounds on which a purchaser may go to court to end the contract. Area is stated as net area, and under Article 13 of the bylaw the developer must compensate the buyer if the actual area falls short of the net area by more than 5%. Charges are limited: Article 7 of Law No. 13 and Article 8 of the bylaw allow a developer to collect only the amounts the DLD approves for a disposition of a unit. Service charges are addressed in Article 25 of Law No. 6 of 2019, under which a developer pays the charges for unsold units and for sold units where the sale contract or reservation agreement says it will pay on the purchaser’s behalf.

Booking happens before the SPA. The RERA brokerage guide describes the smart contract forms that brokers must use, including a form recording the buyer’s wish to purchase, but the deposit amount, its refundability and whether it is credited against the first instalment are matters for the developer’s reservation form and the SPA. The deposit terms are therefore found by reading the two documents together.

If the buyer is financed, the sale and the mortgage can be registered together. The DLD’s service for a sale registration associated with an initial mortgage asks for a letter from the bank stating the value and date of the mortgage and the three mortgage contracts signed by both parties, and lists a mortgage fee of 0.25% of the mortgage value with a service time of six business days. Financing rules are covered in the dedicated guide on a mortgage in Dubai for foreigners.

Payment Plans for Off-Plan Property in Dubai Compared

A payment plan is the schedule written into the SPA; it is set by the developer and varies by project. Three structures account for the examples below. In a construction-linked plan, most of the price is paid in instalments tied to construction stages and the balance falls due at completion. In a calendar plan, a down payment is followed by fixed monthly instalments, often a percentage of the price. In a post-handover plan, part of the price is paid after the keys are handed over. The table shows how developers describe specific plans on their own pages on 5 November 2026, and converts each to a common reference price of AED 1,000,000 ($272,294) so the shape of each plan can be seen. The percentages describe the price only; the registration fees in the costs section come on top.

Each plan sums to 100% of the price: 80 plus 20; 90 plus 10; 20 plus 50 plus 30; 20 plus 40 plus 40; 25 plus 75. In the Danube row the middle line is arithmetic on the developer’s wording: 1% of AED 1,000,000 is AED 10,000 ($2,723) a month, and 40 months of that is AED 400,000 ($108,918), so 20% plus 40% plus the final 40% reaches 100%. Developers also describe other structures. Binghatti’s April 2026 blog on payment plans lists 80/20, 60/40 and 70/30 construction-linked models, a plan with a down payment of 5% to 15% followed by monthly instalments of roughly 1%, and post-handover plans with a 20% to 40% down payment.

Two cautions come from the sources themselves. Plan labels on a developer’s page are marketing descriptions, and the Emaar page itself calls its plans limited-time launch offers; the schedule in the signed SPA is what binds. And the plan is a payment schedule between buyer and developer: it is not a bank loan, so the Central Bank’s mortgage rules do not apply to it, although they do apply if a bank finances part of the price, as covered in the costs section. A related guide looks at structures aimed at buyers with little cash up front in how to buy property in Dubai without a down payment.

Off-Plan Property in Dubai vs Ready Property

The main differences between an off-plan unit and a completed one are legal as well as practical: what the buyer holds, what protects the money, how lending works and when running costs begin. The comparison below uses the sources already cited and applies only the rules stated on them.

The VAT line comes from the Federal Tax Authority’s real estate guide, which treats the purchase of a residential building off-plan, directly from the developer before construction, as zero-rated as a future supply of a residential building, and the first supply of a residential building, by sale or lease, as zero-rated if made within three years of completion. A later supply of a residential building is exempt. The Ministry of Finance’s VAT page states that supplies of commercial property are taxable at the standard 5% rate and that supplies of residential property are generally exempt. Other taxes on ownership are covered in tax on Dubai property for foreign owners.

Costs of Buying Off-Plan in Dubai: A Worked Example

The example uses a real price point so that the arithmetic can be traced. Emaar’s page for The Cove at Dubai Creek Harbour showed a starting price of AED 1,320,000 ($359,428) on 5 November 2026, and the company’s offers page listed an 80% during construction and 20% at completion plan for that project. A starting price is the entry figure on the page, so individual units are priced at or above it; the example shows how fees apply to a price of that size. Only fees that the DLD pages list for the initial sale are counted in the main total.

Steps 6 and 7 add back to the price: AED 1,056,000 plus AED 264,000 equals AED 1,320,000. The offers page does not list the individual instalment dates, so the example does not assign any; the SPA would. The registration fees in step 4 are paid separately from the plan, to the developer or into the escrow account as the DLD release describes. On a lower price point the same arithmetic scales: Binghatti listed Skyflame from AED 585,000 ($159,292) on its projects page, so 4% is AED 23,400 ($6,372), plus AED 20 ($5) is AED 23,420 ($6,377), for a cash total of AED 608,420 ($165,669).

Other items that may apply

The main total leaves out charges that depend on the contract, the buyer or later events. The table lists them with their source so that none is an unknown when the SPA is read.

The Golden Visa line reconciles on its own: 700 plus 1,153 plus 2,856.75 plus 4,020 plus 1,155 equals 9,884.75, the total on the DLD page. A broader catalogue of purchase costs, including running costs and examples for ready property, is in the guide to buying property in Dubai fees and costs.

If part of the price is financed

The Central Bank’s mortgage regulation sets the maximum loan-to-value for property being purchased off-plan at 50%, regardless of purpose, value or category of purchaser, as the CBUAE rulebook states. On the example price, the largest loan is 50% of AED 1,320,000, which is AED 660,000 ($179,714), leaving AED 660,000 ($179,714) from the buyer. The rulebook also expects the down payment to come from the borrower’s own resources rather than from a personal loan or credit card. Add the fees from step 4 and the buyer’s own funds reach AED 660,000 plus AED 52,820, which is AED 712,820 ($194,097), before mortgage registration.

These are ceilings and listed fees, not a loan offer; each bank sets its own conditions and the lender’s valuation, tenor and debt-burden rules apply as covered in the guide on a mortgage in Dubai for foreigners. The partner fee and the VAT rate come from two sources, the DLD mortgage page and the Ministry of Finance, and the 5% applied to the partner fee is an application of the standard rate rather than a figure the DLD page states.

Delays, Default and Termination Rules

The legal position differs depending on who is late. If the developer delays handover, the handover date, any grace period and any compensation for delay are terms of the sale agreement, and the DLD has a limited role. The DLD’s FAQ states that it has no authority to terminate a contract between a developer and an investor at the investor’s request; its role is to conciliate and settle the dispute amicably, and a buyer who wants the contract ended goes to the competent real estate court. Article 14 of the 2010 bylaw describes the same conciliation role and says a settlement approved by the DLD binds both sides.

Article 20 of the bylaw lists grounds on which a purchaser may ask a court to end the relationship: a developer refusing without a valid reason to deliver the final sale agreement; declining to link payments to construction milestones proposed by RERA; materially deviating from the agreed specifications; unfitness for use after handover because of material construction defects; and any other circumstance that requires termination under the general legal rules. If RERA cancels a project, Article 25 requires it to ask the escrow agent to refund purchasers within 14 days of cancellation, and Article 26 requires the developer to refund any shortfall within 60 days of the cancellation decision unless RERA extends the period for valid reasons. Article 11(b), as set by Law No. 19 of 2020, requires the developer to refund all purchasers’ payments under the procedures of Law No. 8 of 2007 where works never began for reasons beyond its control, or where RERA cancels the project by a final reasoned decision.

When the buyer stops paying

The procedure in Article 11 of Law No. 13, as superseded by Law No. 19 of 2020, begins with a notification by the developer to the DLD on the prescribed form. The DLD then serves a written 30-day notice on the buyer requiring performance and, where possible, mediates a settlement. If the notice expires without performance or settlement, the DLD issues an official document confirming the developer’s compliance and the project’s completion percentage as calculated under RERA standards. The developer may then act without court or arbitration, within the limits in the table. The buyer keeps the right to go to court or arbitration (Article 11(g)).

Applied to the example unit of AED 1,320,000 ($359,428), 40% is AED 528,000 ($143,771) and 25% is AED 330,000 ($89,857). A buyer who has paid 50%, which is AED 660,000 ($179,714), and defaults when the project is 70% complete could see the developer retain up to AED 528,000 ($143,771), so at least AED 132,000 ($35,943) comes back (660,000 minus 528,000). A buyer who has paid 20%, which is AED 264,000 ($71,886), would be below the 25% cap of AED 330,000 ($89,857) and there would be no excess to refund on those facts. These are ceilings in the law and the refund depends on the contract.

A developer that wants to remove a defaulting buyer’s registration uses a separate DLD service. The termination of initial registration service requires that the sale was made before completion, that the buyer received or refused to receive the developer’s warning at least a month earlier without paying, that the amount in the warning matches the DLD’s notice, and that the warning claims only the unit price and no fines, registration fees or administrative fees. The listed fee is AED 600 ($163) plus AED 10 ($3) knowledge and AED 10 ($3) innovation fees.

Handover, Snagging and Defect Liability

When the competent entities issue the completion certificate, the developer must register the project in the main Property Register, including each sold unit in the name of the purchaser who met the contract (Article 8 of Law No. 13). Article 7 of the 2010 bylaw adds that the developer may not refuse to hand over or register a unit once the buyer has fulfilled all contractual obligations, even if the buyer owes the developer other amounts unrelated to that sale, and that parking spaces allocated to the unit are registered with it. If the developer refuses, the DLD may register the unit in the buyer’s name on request or on its own initiative. For a developer that delays registering the contract, the FAQ points to the Real Estate Registration Assurance section at the DLD. The step-by-step inspection and handover routine is in the handover and snagging guide.

Snagging means a buyer’s inspection of the finished unit for defects before accepting it. The law supplies the periods during which the developer stays responsible, and Article 40(d) of Law No. 6 of 2019 voids any later agreement that contradicts them.

Service charges are a running cost of owning in a jointly owned building. Under Article 25 of Law No. 6 of 2019, each owner pays a share of the annual charges calculated by unit area against the total area, using a method approved by the DLD’s Director General, and the developer pays the share for unsold units. Article 32 gives the management entity a lien on a unit for unpaid charges: the unit cannot be disposed of until the charges are paid, a written notice gives the owner 30 days, and the execution judge may order a sale by auction. Approved charges can be checked in the DLD’s Service Charge Index, and the practical side is explained in Dubai service charges: who sets them, how to check and pay.

Reselling an Off-Plan Unit Before Handover

An off-plan unit entered in the interim register may be disposed of by sale, mortgage or any other legal disposition (Article 6 of Law No. 13), which is what makes resale before completion possible. The mechanics follow the DLD’s property sale registration service, which covers sales of land, property or a completed or under-construction unit. In freehold areas the required documents are the Emirates ID of both parties or a valid passport for non-resident foreigners, and a no-objection e-certificate (e-NOC) from the developer obtained through the Dubai REST app. The procedure on the page ends with a booking reference number that is used to follow the request.

Any minimum share of the price paid before resale, any lock-in period and the developer’s charge for the certificate are terms of the SPA and the developer’s policy, so they are read before booking; the DLD page lists the e-NOC as a required document. Law No. 13 limits the developer’s charges: it may collect only the administrative costs the DLD approves for a resale (Article 7).

As an illustration, a unit sold at AED 1,500,000 ($408,441) attracts 2% each side, which is AED 30,000 ($8,169) for the seller and AED 30,000 ($8,169) for the buyer, together AED 60,000 ($16,338) before the fixed and partner fees. The costs and timeline of a sale are covered in how to sell property in Dubai.

Off-Plan Property in Dubai and the Golden Visa

Four official pages describe the real estate investor route, and they do not use identical wording. Each gives conditions on which an applicant can apply; none says that a purchase grants a residence permit. The Federal Authority for Identity, Citizenship, Customs and Port Security (ICP) and the Ministry of Economy both describe a route for off-plan units, and the Dubai pages describe owned property with a title deed or e-certificate, a DLD certificate of value and a bank letter where the property is mortgaged.

Compared against the example unit, AED 1,320,000 is 66.0% of the AED 2,000,000 threshold (1,320,000 divided by 2,000,000), leaving AED 680,000 ($185,160) to the threshold. The ICP wording counts the total value of one or more units, so the test is on the total across units from an approved company. How a given off-plan unit is read by the DLD and GDRFA, including what proof of payment or registration is requested, is assessed at application. The wider programme is explained in the guide to the Dubai Golden Visa.

Step-by-Step Process and Document Checklist

The sequence below combines the sources used above. Only the steps and documents named on an official page are shown with a source; the order is the order in which the pages place them.

Frequently Asked Questions

What counts as off-plan property in Dubai?

Under Law No. 13 of 2008, off-plan property in Dubai is a unit sold off-plan or while unfinished. Such a sale is entered in the Interim Property Register (Oqood), and a disposition that is not entered there is void. The buyer receives a provisional registration e-certificate during construction and a title deed after the unit is registered in the main register.

How are buyers’ payments protected on an off-plan purchase?

Payments go into an escrow account opened for the project and used only for constructing it, and creditors of the developer cannot attach it (Law No. 8 of 2007, Art. 9). The trustee’s engineer confirms construction stages before money is released, and 5% is retained after completion. These rules limit how the money is used; they do not fix a price or a delivery date. Off-plan property in Dubai still carries market and delay risk that the buyer bears.

Can foreigners buy off-plan property in Dubai?

Foreign buyers can purchase off-plan property in Dubai where the Ruler has determined areas for non-UAE ownership: freehold, or usufruct or leasehold rights of up to 99 years (Law No. 7 of 2006, Art. 4). A project must stand on freehold or long-term lease land to be registered for off-plan sales, so the project’s land status decides what a foreign buyer receives. The DLD initial sale page lists a passport copy for non-resident individuals.

How much do the DLD fees add to an off-plan purchase?

The DLD lists a registration fee of 2% for the purchaser and 2% for the seller, and its 2021 release says the buyer settles the 4% with the developer, plus AED 20 ($5) in knowledge and innovation fees. On a price of AED 1,320,000 ($359,428), that is AED 52,800 ($14,377) plus AED 20 ($5), or AED 52,820 ($14,383). Mortgage registration, title deed fees and service charges are separate.

What happens if a developer delays handover?

For off-plan property in Dubai, the SPA sets the handover date, any grace period and any compensation. The DLD cannot terminate the contract at a buyer’s request and can only conciliate; a buyer who wants it ended goes to the real estate court, on grounds such as those in Article 20 of the 2010 bylaw. If RERA cancels a project, purchasers’ money is refunded from escrow and, for any shortfall, by the developer within 60 days of the cancellation decision unless RERA extends it.

What if a buyer cannot keep up the instalments?

The developer notifies the DLD, which serves a 30-day notice and may mediate. After that, the options depend on completion: above 80% the developer may keep the contract and claim the balance, request an auction or terminate keeping up to 40%; from 60% to 80% it may terminate keeping up to 40%; below 60% with works started, up to 25% (Law No. 19 of 2020, Art. 11). The buyer can still go to court.

Can an off-plan unit be resold before handover?

Units of off-plan property in Dubai that are entered in the interim register can be sold. The DLD sale registration page lists a developer e-NOC via Dubai REST in freehold areas, 2% each from seller and buyer, and service partner fees. Any minimum share of the price paid, lock-in or NOC charge sits in the SPA and the developer’s policy.

Can a bank lend against an off-plan purchase?

Yes, within the Central Bank’s ceiling of 50% of value for property bought off-plan, regardless of purpose, value or buyer category. The DLD lists a mortgage registration fee of 0.25% of the loan plus a partner fee of AED 5,000 ($1,361) plus VAT for a provisional registration. See the separate guide on a mortgage in Dubai for foreigners for tenor, debt-burden and bank conditions.

Does off-plan property in Dubai count for the Golden Visa?

For off-plan property in Dubai, ICP and the Ministry of Economy describe a route for one or more off-plan units with a total value of at least AED 2,000,000 ($544,588) bought from an approved local real estate company. The DLD page for the investor service asks for an e-Certificate of Title or title deed and, for mortgaged property, a bank letter showing the paid amount. A purchase does not itself grant the permit; the authorities assess the application.

Does a buyer need to be in Dubai to buy off-plan?

The DLD initial sale registration lists a copy of a valid passport for non-resident individuals and a power of attorney where one is used for company applicants, so the registration step itself is not tied to the buyer’s presence. Whether the reservation form and SPA can be signed remotely depends on the developer’s procedure. For the Golden Visa investor service, the applicant must be inside the UAE and attend in person.

Last checked: 5 November 2026. Sources: Dubai Law No. 13 of 2008, Law No. 19 of 2020, DLD legislation compendium (Law No. 9 of 2009), Law No. 8 of 2007, Executive Council Resolution No. 6 of 2010, Law No. 7 of 2006, Law No. 6 of 2019, DLD FAQ, DLD initial sale registration, DLD sale registration, DLD sale with initial mortgage, DLD mortgage registration, DLD project registration, DLD advertising permit, DLD licence verification, DLD project status, Dubai REST, DLD termination of initial registration, DLD release, 31 May 2021, RERA brokerage practice guide, DLD Service Charge Index, DLD Golden Visa service, GDRFA Dubai, ICP Golden Residency, Ministry of Economy, FTA real estate VAT guide, Ministry of Finance VAT, CBUAE mortgage regulation, Emirates 24|7 (DLD data), Engel & Völkers H1 2026, Emaar offers, Emaar The Cove, Emaar Alana, Emaar Park Horizon, Binghatti Skyflame, Binghatti projects, Binghatti payment plans blog, Danube Greenz.