Selling a property under the hammer runs through two Land Department services: the supervision request, which is free to file and takes two business days, and the sale registration, which takes 25 to 30 minutes. The bill has an unusual shape: the seller pays 2% and, on top of that, auction supervision — and supervision follows two different rules, 1% of the sale value capped at AED 30,000 for a public auction and a flat AED 10,000 for an e-auction.
Checked against the official sources on 17 September 2026: the Dubai Land Department service cards "Registration of a property sold by auction application" and "Permit to sell real estate by public auction for companies application". Both pages were read in their raw form; every figure carries its source link, and the sources are listed at the end.
What the law does with a mortgaged apartment in default we covered separately. This article is about the next link in that chain — and about a standalone way of selling: the property goes under the hammer, and the sale has to be registered. The Department has two services for that, and together they answer questions that neither the law nor the auction houses' listings address.
Two services, not one: supervision first, registration second
The first service is called "permit to sell real estate by public auction for companies", but its description says something different — one of those cases where the card's title and its body diverge:
"This service allows applying for the Land Department's supervision for the properties declared for auction by companies authorized to organize public auctions or e-auctions."
The application is for the Land Department's supervision of properties declared for auction by companies authorised to organise public or electronic auctions. The word "permit" does not appear in the description at all — it stayed in the title. Time to deliver: within two business days, the channel is the Department's website, and there is no fee: the field reads "Free service".
Here the two cards lock together, and this is what matters for the bill. What is free is filing the supervision request. The supervision itself is paid for later, as a separate line at registration — and it costs either 1% of the value or AED 10,000. The door is free, not the service, and confusing the two is expensive.
The second service is the registration of a property sold by auction. Verbatim: "This service allows a customer (purchaser and seller) and companies authorized to register the sale transaction through the auction permit system and issue the property title deed to the new owner, after selling the property through authorized auction companies." Here there is both a fee and a title deed for the new owner, and the service time is 25 to 30 minutes.
A mismatch, and we are not smoothing it over. The first service is called "for companies", its description speaks of auctions run by authorised companies — and its residency status field reads All, every category. Whether the filer is the platform or the owner, the card does not say outright. All three lines are quoted as printed; we are not deciding for the Department.
The seller's bill
| Line | Amount | Where it is stated |
|---|---|---|
| Filing the supervision request itself | free | supervision card |
| Auction supervision, public auction | 1% of the sale value, maximum AED 30,000 | registration card |
| Auction supervision, e-auction | AED 10,000 | registration card |
| Sale registration | 2% of the sale value | registration card |
| Knowledge fee per drawing | AED 10 | registration card |
| Innovation fee per drawing | AED 10 | registration card |
The buyer's bill
| Line | Amount | Where it is stated |
|---|---|---|
| Sale registration | 2% of the sale value | registration card |
| Title deed issuance | AED 250 | registration card |
| Land map for land outside Dubai Municipality jurisdiction | AED 100 | registration card |
| Land plot map unified with Dubai Municipality | AED 225 | registration card |
| Real estate unit map | AED 250 | registration card |
| Knowledge fee per drawing | AED 10 | registration card |
| Innovation fee per drawing | AED 10 | registration card |
The familiar 2% + 2% is the same construction as in an ordinary transfer of ownership: the Department assigns two per cent to each side, not "four per cent to the buyer". An auction does not change that part of the bill.
What the auction adds on top of an ordinary sale — and it lands on the seller only
Auction supervision is the one line an ordinary sale does not have. And it has two different mechanics, not one rate with a discount:
- public auction — a percentage of the sale value (1%) with an upper limit of AED 30,000;
- e-auction — a flat AED 10,000, with no percentage and no cap.
What follows is our arithmetic, not a line from the Department. The card prints two rules only; it draws no comparison between them, and we flag the calculation as ours:
- 1% reaches the AED 30,000 ceiling at a sale value of AED 3,000,000 — above that point public supervision stops growing;
- the flat AED 10,000 equals one per cent at a sale value of AED 1,000,000 — so above a million an e-auction is the cheaper route on this line, and public supervision only undercuts ten thousand on properties below a million.
Neither conclusion appears on the Department's page. We present them as a plain consequence of its two figures, and any reader can check them with the same division.
Documents: the valuation must be recent and obtained for the auction specifically
The lists for the permit and for the registration are nearly identical, and one line in them matters most:
- an application letter from an official entity — Dubai Courts or Minors Affairs, if applicable — or, alternatively, a personal application;
- a property valuation certificate valid for six months and obtained specifically for the purpose of the auction;
- an electronic copy of the property's Certificate of Title / Title Deed;
- the land map of the municipality and of the Department, showing the property's location;
- Emirates ID for all property owners; for non-resident foreigners, a valid passport;
- a copy of the power of attorney, if any;
- the auction award letter — this line appears on the registration card only, which makes sense: at the permit stage the auction has not happened yet.
Look at point 2. Not any valuation will do: the card requires a certificate obtained for the purpose of the auction and caps its age at six months. Last year's valuation prepared for a bank does not qualify. How the valuation service itself works and what it costs we covered separately.
An auction is not necessarily a forced sale
The first item on the document list allows a personal application alongside a letter from the courts. By the letter of the card, an owner can put a property up for auction on their own initiative, not only under a court ruling or in a minor's interest.
We deliberately stop at that line: the card does not state the conditions under which a personal application suffices, and we will not invent them. The recorded fact is this: both grounds are listed in one item, joined by "or".
The money does not go straight to the Department
The payment method field on the registration card is worded unusually: "The department fees are paid through the licensed auction company by depositing a fee check to the Land Department account." — the Department's fees are paid through the licensed auction company, by cheque into the Land Department's account.
The practical takeaway for a buyer: there is no "pay by card in the app" window on this route, and the intermediary in the settlement is the auction company. Which means the question "have my fees arrived" is addressed to them first.
What you walk away with
The registration card names three outputs: the Certificate of Title / Title Deed, the map and the payment receipts. The channel is the Land Department website; the applicant status is all categories.
So the exit from an auction is a full title for the new owner, not an interim document. How a title differs from a provisional registration we cover in a separate piece.
What we are not claiming here
- What the auction company itself charges. The cards do not name its commission at all — only the Department's fees are stated.
- How the bidding works. Increments, deposits and admission rules are absent from the cards; those are the platform's rules, and we do not reproduce them.
- Exactly which figure the 2% and 2% are taken from. The cards print "sale value"; how that value is determined at auction is not explained.
- Whether a public register of licensed auction companies exists. The card refers to "authorized auction companies" but provides no list.
- Whether a personal application is enough without a court. The line allows it; no conditions are attached, and we are not filling them in.
- A grand total for the deal. The Department did not add its lines up, and we do not print a total of our own.
Sources
- Registration of a property sold by auction application — Dubai Land Department service card: service description (purchaser, seller and authorised companies, the auction permit system, issuance of the title deed to the new owner), seller fees (public auction supervision at 1% capped at AED 30,000, e-auction AED 10,000, sale registration 2%, AED 10 knowledge and AED 10 innovation per drawing) and purchaser fees (registration 2%, title deed AED 250, land map AED 100 outside municipality jurisdiction and AED 225 unified, unit map AED 250, AED 10 knowledge and AED 10 innovation), service time 25–30 minutes, channel — the Department's website, documents including a valuation certificate valid six months obtained for the auction and the auction award letter, payment through the licensed auction company by cheque into the Department's account, issued documents (title deed, map, receipts), applicant status — all.
- Permit to sell real estate by public auction for companies application — service card: description — an application for the Land Department's supervision of properties declared for auction by companies authorised to organise public or electronic auctions; filing is free of charge, delivered within two business days, channel — the Department's website, applicant status — all, a list of six documents (application letter from an official entity or a personal application, valuation certificate valid six months for the purpose of the auction, electronic copy of the title deed, municipality and Department land map, Emirates ID of all owners or a non-resident's passport, copy of the power of attorney).
