Ellington House Dubai Hills Estate: Apartments and Penthouses

Ellington House Dubai Hills Estate is a 12-storey residential building of apartments and penthouses developed by Ellington Properties, described by the developer as its first residential project in the Dubai Hills Estate community. Everything below was checked on 28 October 2026 against Ellington Properties’ own project and news pages, Emaar’s community pages, the Dubai Land Department (DLD), the Central Bank of the UAE rulebook as reported in the press, and UAE government portals. Prices and fees are quoted in dirhams with US dollars in brackets at the fixed rate of 3.6725 dirhams per dollar.

This description explains what the developer states about the building, how its handover has been reported by the developer, what the surrounding community offers according to Emaar, how long drives to common destinations take on a map, what the price on our listing page says, and how a purchase of a completed apartment in Dubai is registered and financed. It also includes a worked cost example on a stated hypothetical price, the residency thresholds that officials publish by property value, and the checks buyers make on service charges and ownership before signing.

Ellington House Dubai Hills Estate at a glance

The table below collects the facts that Ellington Properties states about the building on its own pages (the project page, the contractor-award news item of 29 November 2022 and the handover news item of 1 October 2025), together with the fields shown on the listing page for this property on 28 October 2026. Where the developer gives a planned figure, the wording of the table says so.

Readers comparing this building with other Ellington projects can use the Ellington Properties developer profile, which lists the developer’s other projects on this site, for example Harrington House in Jumeirah Village Circle and Arbor View in Arjan.

The building, homes and amenities of Ellington House Dubai Hills Estate

According to Ellington Properties, the building rises to 12 storeys and contains minimalistic, interior-designed apartments and penthouses. The 2022 contract-award release, which is the developer’s most detailed public statement on the mix, says the project would hold 150 one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments and penthouses. A planned unit count in a 2022 announcement is not a registered unit count, so the number of units that exist at the title-deed stage is a figure that comes from the DLD register, not from a press release.

The amenities have been described twice by the developer, and the two lists differ in detail. The 2022 release named a leisure and lap pool, an outdoor and indoor fitness centre, an activity garden, a clubhouse with lounge and library areas, a kids’ clubhouse, a mini-putt area, a barbecue area and a yoga area. The current project page lists ten items, shown in the table below, and the October 2025 release repeats the pool, fitness, clubhouse, golf-locker and dog-wash features and adds that curated pieces from the Ellington Art Foundation are displayed through the development.

The golf-related features follow from the location. Ellington states that the building looks over the Dubai Hills Golf Course, and the same page describes the community around it as having an 18-hole championship golf course and the Dubai Hills Mall. Amenities in a jointly owned building are shared parts of the property, which means their upkeep is paid for through the annual service charge discussed later in this description.

The three International Property Awards that Ellington cites for the project relate to interior design categories (kitchen design, a residential interior show home and bathroom design) in the 2023-2024 programme. They describe the finish of the show-home and fitted spaces as judged by the award body; they do not describe construction quality, ownership terms or financial outcomes.

Handover timeline for Ellington House Dubai Hills Estate

The handover of this building is described in three dated statements by the developer. The timeline matters because the listing concerns a building that the developer describes as handed over, and a building in that position is bought through a resale or transfer registered at the Dubai Land Department, as the cost section below sets out.

Taken together, these statements show that the developer describes the building in this description as completed before May 2026 and that the developer describes a series of further buildings that carry a similar name. The listing page records 2025 as the year field, which is consistent with a handover that the developer was already describing as under way on 1 October 2025. Ellington House II, III and IV are separate buildings with their own status and are not the subject of this listing.

A buyer who wants the exact handover date of an individual unit, or the date the building received its completion certificate, would obtain it from the title deed and the developer’s handover documents; press releases give the programme-level picture only.

Dubai Hills Estate: the community around Ellington House

Emaar’s community page states that Dubai Hills Estate is developed by Emaar Properties, and Emaar’s launch release for Dubai Hills Mall states that Emaar developed the estate as a joint venture with Meraas. The estate covers about 11 million square metres, which Emaar’s community page also expresses as 2,700 acres. The table shows the figures that Emaar and Gulf News publish; planned figures from the launch release are labelled as plans.

The mall figure needs a note on definitions: Emaar’s launch release gave a gross leasable area of over 2 million square feet and more than 750 outlets as a plan, while the opening-day report from Gulf News gave about 2 million square feet and about 700 stores and outlets. Both are developer or press figures at a point in time, and the current tenant count is whatever the mall’s directory shows.

Drive times from the community

Emaar’s community page gives approximate travel times from the estate: about 15 minutes to Downtown Dubai and Dubai Marina, about 20 minutes to Dubai International Airport, about 25 minutes to the Expo 2020 site and about 30 minutes to Al Maktoum International Airport. Those figures are the developer’s approximations. As an independent check, the table below uses the OpenStreetMap-based OSRM routing service, with Dubai Hills Mall as the reference start point inside the community because the exact position of the building is not part of the developer’s public text. OSRM computes free-flow driving time and distance from road geometry and speed limits and does not include traffic, so rush-hour trips take longer.

The two sets of figures agree for Dubai Marina and Expo City and differ for the two airports, where the routing result is longer than Emaar’s approximation. Both are legitimate readings of different assumptions, and a trip from Ellington House Dubai Hills Estate itself would differ by a few minutes in either direction from the mall-based figures.

Price information for Ellington House Dubai Hills Estate

Per the listing page for this property, as of 28 October 2026, the price field reads “Starting from $680,350”. At the fixed rate of 3.6725 dirhams per dollar, which the Central Bank of the UAE publishes in its foreign exchange tables, that corresponds to AED 2,498,585 ($680,350), calculated as 680,350 x 3.6725 = 2,498,585 rounded to the nearest dirham. The page states the price in dollars, so the dirham figure is a conversion and not a figure quoted by a seller in dirhams.

The listing page does not show a built-up area field, a bathroom count or a payment plan for the unit that corresponds to the “starting from” price. A starting price describes the lowest-priced unit type in a range and does not describe every apartment or penthouse in the building. Prices of individual units in a completed building are agreed between each seller and buyer, and the DLD register records the price at transfer. The 28 October 2026 reading is a snapshot of the listing page; readers comparing it with other prices should note the date.

For comparison across the market, the guides on this site on how much a Dubai apartment costs and on apartment prices per square metre by area set out the cost structure used in the sections that follow.

Freehold ownership and Dubai Hills Estate

The UAE government portal explains that foreign ownership of property in Dubai is permitted only in areas designated as freehold, and cites Article 3 of Regulation No. 3 of 2006 as the instrument that lists designated land plots. According to the same portal, non-resident foreigners and expatriate residents may acquire freehold ownership rights over property in those areas without restriction, and usufruct or leasehold rights of up to 99 years are also available. Gulf News reported on the 2006 order, which listed 23 areas and 45 plots, and named Jebel Ali, the Palm Island projects, The World islands, Dubai Marina, Emirates Hills and Al Barsha among them.

For Dubai Hills Estate itself, Emaar’s sales page states: “Dubai Hills Estate is a freehold community, allowing foreigners full ownership of properties.” That statement comes from the master developer. The document that records ownership of an individual unit is the title deed issued by the Land Department, and the DLD’s sale-registration service requires, for freehold areas, an electronic no-objection certificate (e-NOC) from the developer, obtained through the Dubai REST app, together with the passports or Emirates IDs of buyer and seller. A buyer therefore sees the freehold nature of a unit in the title-deed record at registration rather than in a brochure.

The difference between freehold and leasehold affects financing, resale and inheritance, and the site’s guide to freehold versus leasehold in Dubai compares the two. Readers who want to know which nationalities and residency statuses can buy can read can foreigners buy apartments in Dubai, and the UAE country page lists the other markets and projects on this site.

Registration costs when buying a completed apartment in Dubai

For a completed unit that changes hands, the Dubai Land Department publishes the fees of its sale-registration service. The page states that the transfer fee is 2% of the sale value payable by the seller and 2% payable by the buyer, which together make the 4% commonly called the DLD fee. The same page lists a title-deed issuance fee of AED 250 ($68), a knowledge fee of AED 10 ($3) and an innovation fee of AED 10 ($3), and service-partner fees through the Real Estate Trustee Centers of AED 4,000 plus VAT for a sale value of AED 500,000 or more, and AED 2,000 plus VAT below that. The UAE government portal states that VAT is 5% on the purchase of goods and services, which gives a service-partner fee of AED 4,200 ($1,144) including VAT on a sale of AED 500,000 or more.

Payment on the DLD page is accepted through ePay, Dubai Pay, Noqodi Wallet or a manager’s cheque. The page does not state who bears each fee other than the 2% and 2% split of the transfer fee, so who pays what in an individual transaction is a matter of the sale contract. Costs that sit outside this table and vary by transaction include broker commission, lender valuation and arrangement charges, and furnishing or moving costs. The UAE portal states that the UAE does not levy income tax on individuals, which is relevant to the holding costs but not to the one-off costs above.

The step-by-step purchase sequence for a completed unit (offer, memorandum of sale, developer e-NOC, payment, transfer at a trustee centre, title deed) is covered in the guide on buying property in Dubai with little cash up front, and the comparison of completed with off-plan purchases is in the off-plan buyer’s guide.

Mortgage limits for an apartment like Ellington House Dubai Hills Estate

Mortgage lending in the UAE is governed by the Central Bank’s mortgage regulations, which cap the loan-to-value (LTV) ratio by borrower category, property value and whether the property is a first home. The table reproduces the caps as Khaleej Times reported them on 22 February 2026 from the Central Bank’s Notice 226/2013, Article 3; Khaleej Times also describes the same 80%, 70%, 60% and 50% expatriate caps in its explainer on mortgages for expatriates (updated 25 November 2024).

These percentages are ceilings. The Khaleej Times explainer adds three more Central Bank parameters for expatriates: a debt burden ratio of at most 50% of gross monthly income, a maximum tenor of 25 years, and financing capped at seven times annual income. It also reports that most banks require a minimum salary of AED 15,000 a month and that the minimum borrower age is 21; the article presents the salary figure as common bank practice, not as a Central Bank rule. Each lender sets its own rate, fees and eligibility within the ceilings, and an applicant living outside the UAE is assessed under the lender’s own policy.

The income cap gives a way to test whether an LTV result is the binding constraint. A loan of AED 2,000,000 ($544,588) divided by seven gives a required annual gross income of AED 285,714 ($77,798), which is AED 23,810 ($6,483) a month. A borrower with a lower income is limited by the multiple rather than by the 80% LTV. The guide on mortgages in Dubai for foreigners discusses lender requirements in more detail.

Worked purchase-cost example for a completed apartment

The example below is an illustration on a hypothetical price and not a quotation for any unit in the building. It uses a round price of AED 2,500,000 ($680,735), close to the converted figure on the listing page, and applies the DLD fees and Central Bank caps from the two sections above. Mortgage lines assume a borrower who is an expatriate buying a first home at the 80% ceiling, and a borrower buying a second home at the 60% ceiling; neither is a statement of what a bank would offer.

Arithmetic for the cash purchase: transfer fee 4% x 2,500,000 = 100,000; title deed 250 + knowledge 10 + innovation 10 = 270; service-partner fee 4,000 + 5% VAT of 200 = 4,200. Registration costs are 100,000 + 270 + 4,200 = 104,470, and the total cash outlay is 2,500,000 + 104,470 = 2,604,470 (AED 2,604,470, or $709,182). For the 80% case: loan 0.80 x 2,500,000 = 2,000,000; down payment 500,000; mortgage registration 0.25% x 2,000,000 = 5,000, plus 270 and 4,200, giving 9,470. For the 60% case: loan 1,500,000; down payment 1,000,000; mortgage registration 0.25% x 1,500,000 = 3,750, plus 270 and 4,200, giving 8,220.

Two readings of the table are worth stating. First, the DLD fees add 4.18% to the price in the cash case (104,470 divided by 2,500,000). Second, the table assumes the buyer pays the full 4% transfer fee; if the 2% and 2% split in the DLD schedule applies as written, the buyer’s share of the transfer fee is 50,000 and the other 50,000 is the seller’s. Lender charges, broker commission and the first year’s service charge are not included, because they are not set by a published schedule.

Residency thresholds by property value

A property purchase does not itself grant a residence permit; the permits below are separate applications with their own conditions, and each official page states the property value that its application tests. The thresholds in the table come from the DLD, the General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs in Dubai (GDRFA), the Federal Authority for Identity, Citizenship, Customs and Port Security (ICP) and the U.ae government portal.

The DLD lists a Golden Visa total government cost of AED 9,884.75 ($2,692) for the 10-year investor permit, made up of a medical examination (AED 700), Emirates ID (AED 1,153), residency permit confirmation (AED 2,856.75), DLD fees (AED 4,020) and administrative fees (AED 1,155). The two-year investor residence is listed at AED 10,212.50 ($2,781). The ICP page states that off-plan units can also count towards the AED 2,000,000 total when bought from an approved local real estate company and that the applicant must hold valid health insurance throughout the permit, and that financing is allowed if the loan comes from an approved local bank. The GDRFA page states a 10-year validity for the real estate category, during which the property cannot be disposed of.

Arithmetic against the price on this listing page: the converted price of AED 2,498,585 is AED 498,585 ($135,762) above the AED 2,000,000 threshold. Because the DLD measures the threshold at the time of purchase, the figure that counts is the registered purchase price of the unit, not a later valuation. The site’s guide to the Dubai Golden Visa sets out the property rules, costs and steps in full.

Service charges and checks before buying at Ellington House Dubai Hills Estate

Under Dubai Law No. 6 of 2019 on jointly owned real property, each owner pays a share of the annual service charge calculated from the ratio of the unit’s area to the total area of the property. The law states that the management entity cannot charge or collect any amount for managing common parts without prior approval from the Real Estate Regulatory Agency (RERA), and that RERA cannot approve a budget unless a recognised audit firm has certified it. Common parts, which in a building such as this include the lobby, the pools and the fitness and clubhouse areas, are paid for from this charge, and the funds must be held in a dedicated service-charge account.

The DLD’s Service Charge Index lets an owner or prospective buyer look up the approved service fees of a jointly owned project. The page describes it as a service available through the Land Department website (Mollak system) and the Dubai REST app: the user logs in, selects the service, chooses the project name, the use and the year, and views the result. The page publishes no rates itself, and the rate for any individual project is the figure the index shows for that project and year.

Checklist of verifiable items

The items below are verifiable through the official channels described in this description and do not rely on brochures.

1. The title deed or e-certificate of title of the specific unit, confirming freehold status, the registered area and the owner name.
2. The developer’s e-NOC, which the DLD requires for freehold areas at transfer.
3. The approved service charge for the project and year in the DLD Service Charge Index.
4. The Emirates ID or passport of both buyer and seller, which the DLD service requires for identity verification.
5. The unit’s registered built-up area, compared with any area quoted in an advertisement.
6. The fees in the DLD schedule above, confirmed with the trustee centre before payment.

Readers who want to see how buyer protection works in the Emirate, including escrow rules and the role of RERA, can read the guide on how buyer protection works in Dubai, and the comparison of communities in villa communities in Dubai covers the neighbouring villa areas of Dubai Hills Estate. The master developer’s profile is on the Emaar Properties developer profile, and the Dubai developer directory lists the other developers covered on this site.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Ellington House Dubai Hills Estate?

Ellington House Dubai Hills Estate is a 12-storey building of apartments and penthouses by Ellington Properties, which describes it as its first residential project in the Dubai Hills Estate community. The developer’s 29 November 2022 release spoke of 150 one-, two- and three-bedroom homes, and its 1 October 2025 release said that handover was progressing.

Who built Ellington House Dubai Hills Estate?

Ellington Properties developed Ellington House Dubai Hills Estate, and Ellington announced on 29 November 2022 that it had awarded Al Ashram Contracting an AED 112 million ($30.5 million) contract for design, procurement and construction. The release adds that Al Ashram had previously worked with Ellington on Harrington House in Jumeirah Village Circle.

Is Ellington House Dubai Hills Estate completed?

For Ellington House Dubai Hills Estate, Ellington’s 21 May 2026 release refers to the earlier completion of Ellington House I and the start of handover of Ellington House II, a separate building. The listing page shows 2025 as the year for this property. The title deed of an individual unit is the document that records its status.

Is Dubai Hills Estate a freehold area for foreigners?

For buyers of Ellington House Dubai Hills Estate, Emaar’s sales page states that the community is a freehold area allowing foreigners full ownership of properties. The UAE government portal explains that foreign ownership in Dubai is permitted in areas designated as freehold, and the unit’s title deed issued by the Land Department records the ownership.

How much does Ellington House Dubai Hills Estate cost?

Per our listing page for Ellington House Dubai Hills Estate, as of 28 October 2026, the price field reads “Starting from $680,350”, which converts to about AED 2,498,585 at 3.6725. A starting price covers the lowest-priced unit type, and the price of a specific apartment or penthouse is the one agreed at transfer and recorded by the DLD.

What fees apply when buying a completed apartment in Dubai?

The DLD lists a transfer fee of 2% payable by the seller and 2% by the buyer, a title-deed fee of AED 250, knowledge and innovation fees of AED 10 each, and a service-partner fee of AED 4,000 plus VAT for sales of AED 500,000 or more. On a hypothetical AED 2,500,000 purchase these come to AED 104,470 for a cash buyer when the full 4% is counted.

What mortgage limits apply to an apartment at this price?

As reported from the Central Bank’s mortgage regulations, an expatriate first home below AED 5 million can be financed up to 80% of its value, and a second or subsequent home up to 60%. On a hypothetical AED 2,500,000 apartment these ceilings mean a minimum down payment of AED 500,000 and AED 1,000,000 respectively.

Does buying here lead to a Golden Visa?

A purchase of a unit in Ellington House Dubai Hills Estate is not a visa. The DLD states that an applicant for the real estate Golden Visa must own one or more properties worth at least AED 2,000,000 ($544,588) at the time of purchase, with a bank no-objection letter if the property is mortgaged. The listing page price converts to AED 2,498,585, which is above that figure, but the application and its conditions are separate from the sale.

How do I find the service charge for Ellington House Dubai Hills Estate?

For a unit in Ellington House Dubai Hills Estate, use the DLD Service Charge Index on the Land Department website or the Dubai REST app, choose the project name, the use and the year, and read the approved fee. Under Dubai Law No. 6 of 2019 the charge is allocated by the ratio of a unit’s area to the total area and requires RERA approval.

How long does it take to reach Downtown Dubai from Dubai Hills Estate?

Emaar’s community page gives about 15 minutes to Downtown Dubai. An OpenStreetMap-based OSRM routing check from Dubai Hills Mall gave 16.8 minutes to Burj Khalifa and 17.8 minutes to The Dubai Mall in free-flow conditions without traffic.

Last checked: 28 October 2026. Sources: Ellington Properties – Ellington House project page; Ellington Properties – Al Ashram Contracting contract news (29 November 2022); Ellington Properties – handover news (1 October 2025); Ellington Properties – Ellington House II handover news (21 May 2026); Emaar – Dubai Hills Estate community page; Emaar – Dubai Hills Estate property for sale; Emaar – Dubai Hills Mall launch release; Gulf News – Dubai Hills Mall opening (17 February 2022); Dubai Land Department – property sale registration; Dubai Land Department – mortgage registration; Dubai Land Department – Service Charge Index; Dubai Land Department – Golden Visa (investor); Dubai Land Department – investor residence; GDRFA Dubai – golden residence for investors; ICP – UAE Golden Residency; UAE government portal – expatriates buying property; UAE government portal – taxation; Gulf News – Dubai freehold locations order; Khaleej Times – financing and LTV (22 February 2026); Khaleej Times – expat mortgages; Dubai Law No. 6 of 2019; Central Bank of the UAE – exchange rate table (3.6725); Project OSRM routing with OpenStreetMap data.