SERVICE CHARGES
Service charges, and how to check them yourself
Every approved service charge in Dubai is publicly checkable, building by building. Almost nobody tells buyers that. Here is the system, the current figures, and the lookup route so you never take a broker's word for it, including ours.
THE LEGAL SPINE
The legal spine.
Confirmed
Charges on jointly owned property are governed by Law No. 6 of 2019. RERA approves each building's annual budget before a dirham can be collected, Mollak issues quarterly invoices, and your share is your unit's area over the total jointly owned area.
Only RERA-approved charges appear in the index. There is no mid-year increase without DLD approval.
Disputes go to the Rental Disputes Settlement Centre, with a written appeal route to the DLD Director-General within 30 days.
WHAT IT COVERS
What the charge covers.
Master-community charge
The community-wide budget, billed on your unit's share.
Building and Owners' Association charge
The building's own operating budget.
Chiller
Where district cooling passes through, it appears here.
Sinking fund
Reserve for major works. The owner is liable even if the unit is vacant or rented.
Confirmed
CHECK IT YOURSELF
Check it yourself.
- 01Open the DLD Service Charge Index at dubailand.gov.ae, or the Dubai REST app.
- 02Enter the title deed number, or use the Service Fees Indicator by project name, usage type and year.
- 03It returns the approved AED per sq ft, the management company and the breakdown.
This lookup is the reason no one should ever buy on a quoted service charge alone.
THE CURRENT FIGURES
The current figures.
Mollak publishes no bulk export. Every line below is a broker or aggregator reading of the official data and is therefore Indicative. To make any line Confirmed, run that building through the DLD lookup above; it takes minutes.
| Project | Community | Approved AED per sq ft | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Al Furjan apartments | Al Furjan | 14-18 | 2026 |
| Starz Tower | Al Furjan | ~13-15 | 2025 |
| Azizi Samia | Al Furjan | ~14-16 | 2026 |
| JVC community | Jumeirah Village Circle | 8-14 (full range 9.73-22) | 2026 |
| Business Bay average | Business Bay | 14.75 (mixed-use range 12-25) | 2026 |
| Dubai Marina average | Dubai Marina | 16.10 | 2026 |
| Marina Gate | Dubai Marina | ~14 | 2026 |
| Princess Tower | Dubai Marina | ~14-15 | 2026 |
| Elite Residence | Dubai Marina | ~14-15 | 2026 |
| Park Island | Dubai Marina | up to 19.8 | 2026 |
| Downtown average | Downtown Dubai | ~21 | 2026 |
| Burj Khalifa | Downtown Dubai | 67.88 | 2026 |
| Address-branded | Downtown Dubai | 55-65 | 2026 |
| Vida / Burj Vista | Downtown Dubai | 21-39 | 2026 |
| Damac Hills Golf Terrace | Damac Hills | 4.17 | 2026 |
| Damac Hills Golf Veduta | Damac Hills | 19.53 | 2026 |
| International City | International City | ~7 | 2026 |
| Discovery Gardens | Discovery Gardens | ~12.5 | 2026 |
| Bulgari Residences | Jumeirah Bay | 53.7 | 2024/25 |
All lines Indicative. Dubai-wide median across 1,500+ Mollak-registered buildings is approximately AED 17 per sq ft. Indicative.
TWO DATA TRAPS
Two data traps.
The AED 0.8 per sq ft Al Furjan figure
Al Furjan at AED 0.8 per sq ft circulates on aggregator sites. That is a villa or master-community plot rate, not an apartment charge. Al Furjan apartment buildings sit at 14 to 18.
Prime Residency 3
No approved figure could be sourced; newer buildings often have no index entry yet. We publish that as a gap, with the lookup route above, rather than inventing a number.
The Al Furjan area fileSEND A MESSAGE
Rather write than read on?
DIRECTION
Direction.
Charges rose roughly 6 to 10% in 2024 depending on source, with 5 to 10% projected for 2025.
Dubai Municipality sewerage tariffs rise in phases to 2027, the first hike in a decade. The tariff phasing is Confirmed; the percentages are Indicative, sources conflict and we show the range.
OPINION
Model rising charges, especially for older stock and district-cooled towers. Treat any flat assumption as optimistic.
Sources
- Law No. 6 of 2019 on the ownership of jointly owned property, Dubai
- DLD Service Charge Index and Service Fees Indicator, dubailand.gov.ae
- Mollak invoicing system, Dubai Land Department
- Broker and aggregator readings of Mollak data, August 2026
Last verified: August 2026 · Next review: annually, Q1, on the RERA budget cycle; per-building at every transaction.