Dubai Service Charges: What You Pay and Where to Check

The service charge is what an apartment owner pays each year to keep the building running. It covers cleaning, security, lifts, the pool and repairs to common areas. The management company can't simply pick a number. The budget goes through an audit and RERA approves it, and you can look up the rate for any building on the Dubai Land Department website in a couple of minutes. I'll explain how it all works, where to find the figures, and what I check before every deal.

What you're paying for

Most apartment buildings in Dubai are jointly owned property. Your unit belongs to you, while the corridors, lobby, car park, façade and building systems are shared. Every owner contributes to their upkeep in proportion to the size of their unit.

DLD splits the charges into two types:

• Service charges pay for managing, operating, maintaining and repairing the building itself.
• Usage charges pay for the shared facilities of the master project, such as roads, parks, lakes and other community areas.

Both are annual, and RERA approves both. So your invoice will often have two lines, one for the building and one for the master community.

Who pays

The owner. Article 16(b) of Dubai Law No. 6 of 2019 on jointly owned property says so directly. DLD explains ↗ that a lease agreement can make the tenant responsible for paying. Even so, if the tenant doesn't pay, the owner remains liable.

The same DLD note mentions something many owners don't realise. If unpaid charges build up, the unit can be sold. So I wouldn't treat these bills as something to put off for a few months. The obligation is attached to the property.

How the amount is calculated

Each owner's share depends on the area shown in their Title Deed. The rate is set per square foot per year. Multiply it by your area and you have the annual bill.

The DLD Service Charge Index adds two details:

• For invoices issued after 2019, the balcony is counted at 0.25 of the suite area. Earlier invoices left the balcony out.
• The index shows approved charges only. Arrears aren't included, so any debt on a particular unit has to be checked separately.

Rates differ a lot between buildings. The class of the building, its amenities, its age and whether it's on district cooling all affect the figure. A "Dubai average" won't help you much here. You need the rate for the specific building.

Where to check: the DLD Service Charge Index

The official tool is the Service Charge Index ↗ on the Dubai Land Department website. You can search in three ways.

By Title Deed number

If the seller already holds the title, ask for a copy of the Title Deed and enter:

1. Certificate No.
2. Certificate Year.
3. Property Type: Land, Building or Unit.
4. Budget Year.

Click "Calculate". The result can be exported as a PDF.

By project (residential)

If there's no Title Deed number yet, choose the project from the list, then the usage (residential, office and so on) and the year. You'll see the index calculation, the budget period and the management company under "Managed By".

By map (commercial)

For commercial property you can search by selecting an area on the map.

Sometimes the system comes back with no data. When that happens, I take it up with the seller and the management company straight away and don't let it slide.

How the budget gets approved, and where Mollak fits in

Mollak is RERA's electronic system for jointly owned property. Management companies, their contracts, auditors and buildings are all registered in it. Approval for charges is requested there, and invoices go out through it as well.

The DLD FAQ ↗ describes the sequence:

1. The management company prepares a budget.
2. A RERA-approved auditor reviews it.
3. RERA approves the budget.
4. Owners receive their invoice through Mollak by email or SMS.

Until RERA approves the budget, management companies should not collect charges, and there are legal measures against anyone who demands unapproved amounts.

One recent change is worth knowing about. DLD and Dubai Holding Community Management approved ↗ the first three-year fixed service fee budget, for the Palm Jumeirah master community. Management companies can now ask for a three-year budget through Mollak or keep the annual model. If your building switches, your costs become easier to plan.

How to pay

According to DLD, payments go only into RERA-approved regulated accounts. You have two options:

• transfer directly to the regulated account and send the slip to the management company;
• pay via Noqodi.

If you live abroad, make sure the invoices actually reach you. Owner contact details can be updated through the DLD call centre on 8004488, by email, or at a Trustee office.

Poor service, or services cut off

Paying and keeping quiet isn't your only option. According to DLD:

• complaints about service levels go through the Dubai REST app and the Real Estate Violations System (RVS);
• an owner whose services have been disconnected files through Dubai REST and RVS too;
• a tenant in the same position goes to the Rental Disputes Center.

Once enough units in a building are registered to owners, they can form an owners committee. Its members are owners who live in the building and pay their own charges. Through a committee, owners have far more say on the budget and on how the management company performs.

What I check before you buy

The service charge affects how much rent you actually keep, or how much you spend if you live in the unit yourself. Before every resale deal I go through four checks.

1. The rate in the Service Charge Index. I look it up by the seller's Title Deed number or by project and compare it with the figure the seller gave.
2. Proof that nothing is owed. Since the index doesn't show debts, I ask the seller for a current statement from the management company. Outstanding charges are settled before transfer as part of preparing for the NOC. Confirm the exact process and timing with the developer or management company.
3. The annual bill for your unit size, with the balcony counted under the 0.25 rule, so the yield model doesn't surprise you later.
4. Who manages the building, from the "Managed By" field. A new management company or a move to a three-year budget can be a good sign. Sometimes it just means I have more questions to ask.

New launches work slightly differently. The budget for a completed building goes through RERA in the same way, but the exact rate usually becomes clear close to handover. Plan for it early by looking up comparable completed buildings from the same developer in the index.

Questions for the seller and the management company

The index tells you the rate. It doesn't tell you everything. Before signing, I also ask:

• Is anything owed on service or usage charges, and up to what date has the unit been paid?
• Have owners been asked for one-off amounts outside the budget, for example for major repairs?
• Is cooling part of the service charge, or billed separately by a district cooling provider?
• Is there an owners committee, and how often has the management company changed?
• Are any complaints or disputes about the building still open?

Ask for the answers in writing, so you can compare what's on paper rather than what someone told you.

From my practice. A client bought a 1BR in Seslia Tower through me. After the deal I handled the payments, ran the snagging, connected DEWA, cooling and gas, and bought the appliances and soft furnishings. The client flew into an apartment that was ready to live in, and after that we found a tenant.

Service charges and rental yield

In any yield calculation, the service charge is one of the owner's largest costs. Gross yield leaves it out and net yield includes it. The difference can be noticeable, especially in buildings with lots of amenities. I go into this in Rental yield: gross vs net.

If you're buying with a mortgage, keep in mind that the bank looks at your loan repayment, and the service charge comes on top. It belongs in your real monthly budget, so I always work the two out together. For a first estimate, try the mortgage calculator.

The short version

• The owner pays the service charge, and any debt stays with the unit.
• RERA approves the rate after an audit, and charges can't be collected before that.
• You can check the rate in the DLD Service Charge Index by project or Title Deed number.
• Arrears don't appear in the index, so check them separately before transfer.
• Invoices arrive through Mollak. Payment goes into RERA-approved accounts or via Noqodi.

Other useful official DLD tools are collected on the Resources page. For every cost of buying, from the DLD fee to mortgage charges, see Dubai property purchase costs.

Looking at a particular building and want to know what it will cost you each year? Send me the project name on WhatsApp. I'll check the rate in the DLD index and work out the annual bill for your unit size.