K|Wise · Glossary
Mortgage Registration Fee
A fee charged by the Dubai Land Department to register a mortgage against a property title — currently 0.25% of the loan amount plus a fixed AED 290 admin fee.
In plain English
A fee charged by the Dubai Land Department to register a mortgage against a property title — currently 0.25% of the loan amount plus a fixed AED 290 admin fee.
What Mortgage Registration Fee means in practice
Registering the mortgage is what gives the lender an enforceable charge over the property. Until that registration is recorded against the title, the bank has an agreement but no security.
The fee is calculated on the loan amount rather than the purchase price, so it scales with how much you borrow, not with what you buy.
How it works in the UAE
In Dubai the charge is 0.25% of the loan plus an AED 290 administrative fee, payable at the trustee office on transfer day. It sits alongside the 4% Dubai Land Department transfer fee and cannot be added to the loan, so it has to be funded in cash.
A worked example
A AED 1,600,000 mortgage attracts a registration fee of AED 4,000 plus AED 290 — AED 4,290 due on the day, separate from the AED 80,000 transfer fee on a AED 2,000,000 purchase.
Terms that come up alongside Mortgage Registration Fee
Amortisation
The gradual repayment of a mortgage loan through scheduled monthly instalments of principal and interest. In the early years more of each payment goes to interest; in the later years more goes to principal.
Read the definitionBuy-to-Let Mortgage
A mortgage used to purchase a property that will be rented out rather than occupied by the borrower. Lenders assess the deal on projected rental income alongside the borrower's personal income.
Read the definitionCap
A contractual maximum on how much your variable mortgage rate can rise over a defined period. A common UAE structure caps the rate at 5.99% for the first 3 years.
Read the definitionConveyancing
The legal process of transferring property ownership from seller to buyer, including title checks, NOC issuance, mortgage registration, and the final Land Department transfer.
Read the definitionDBR (Debt Burden Ratio)
The total of your monthly debt commitments — mortgage, car loan, credit card minimums, personal loans — expressed as a percentage of your net monthly income. UAE Central Bank caps the DBR at 50%.
Read the definitionDrawdown
The point at which the lender releases the mortgage funds — typically paid directly to the seller at the Land Department on transfer day.
Read the definition