If buyer and developer agree to move the purchase to another property of the same developer, the registration fees already paid are not lost — the Land Department has a dedicated service for it. We read the card: what is required, how long it takes, and why fees are charged only on the price difference.
Checked against the official source on 17 September 2026: the Dubai Land Department service card "Transfer of registration fees from one property to another application". Every figure carries its source link, and the source is listed at the end.
A common situation: a buyer registers an off-plan unit, pays the registration fees, and then the parties agree to move the purchase to another property — in a different project of the same developer. The first question is always: do the fees have to be paid again?
The Land Department has a dedicated service for this, and it answers plainly.
What the service allows
Verbatim: "This service allows the transfer of registration fees in case of an agreement between the developer and the purchaser to transfer the purchaser from one property to another in the same developer's projects."
Three conditions sit in the wording itself:
- There must be an agreement between developer and purchaser — not a unilateral decision.
- The purchaser moves from one property to another.
- The properties must be in projects of the same developer. A move to a different developer is not what this service describes.
Fees are charged on the difference, not from scratch
The card states: "Fees shall be charged in case of an increase in the price of the property transferred to" — fees are charged where the price of the property transferred to increases.
So what has been paid is not lost: a top-up arises when the new property costs more. The opposite case — moving to a cheaper property — is not described on the card, and we do not claim the difference is refunded.
| Line | Value | Where it is named |
|---|---|---|
| Department fee, seller | 2% of the sale value | DLD card |
| Department fee, purchaser | 2% of the sale value | DLD card |
| Knowledge fee | AED 10 | DLD card |
| Innovation fee | AED 10 | DLD card |
| Developer self-registration | AED 1,000 | DLD card |
| Processing time | 6 business days | DLD card |
Without a Legal Affairs Department letter the application is not accepted
First on the document list: "A letter or a copy of the e-mail sent by the Legal Affairs Department indicating approval" — a letter or a copy of the email from the Legal Affairs Department indicating approval.
Then: a details table covering the deregistered and the new property, the contract signed after printing from the system, the new sale and purchase agreement, ID (a valid passport for non-residents) and the old title deeds to be transferred.
As at the other steps of this cluster, the channel is the Oqood developers' portal. We traced the same division of roles in reselling off-plan before handover and termination of initial registration: on the procedural side, the applicant is repeatedly the developer.
What follows for the buyer
The agreement must be in writing and in place before filing. The service is built around the parties' agreement plus Legal Affairs Department approval. A verbal understanding with a sales manager does not meet that requirement.
Work out the difference in advance. The top-up is tied to the increase in the new property's price, not to the fact of the move. What the overall registration bill contains is set out in Oqood versus Title Deed and the full transfer bill.
What we do not claim here
- That moving to a cheaper property refunds the difference. The card speaks only of charging where the price increases.
- That the service covers a change of developer. The text says "in the same developer's projects".
- The criteria on which the Legal Affairs Department approves. The card requires the letter but names no criteria.
- The developer's own timing. Six business days is the Department's service time, not the seller's approval time.
Sources
- Transfer of registration fees from one property to another application — Land Department service card: description, the same-developer condition, the Legal Affairs Department letter requirement, charging on a price increase, fees of 2% / 2%, AED 10 + AED 10, AED 1,000, six business days, Oqood channel.
