Understanding Service Charges in UAE Properties

Service charges in Dubai are the yearly fees an owner pays to run, maintain and insure the shared parts of a building or community, such as lobbies, lifts, pools, gyms, security and cleaning. The owner pays them, not the tenant (unless the lease says otherwise), and the amount is your share of a budget that RERA must approve.

They are set by Dubai Law No. 6 of 2019 on jointly owned property. The law covers who pays, how your share is worked out, how budgets are approved and what happens if you don't pay. To estimate your own bill, use our service charge calculator.

Article 30 of Law No. 6 of 2019 lists what the service charge account can be spent on:

• Cleaning, security, operation and maintenance of the common parts.
• Insurance premiums for the building.
• The management company's fees.
• A cash reserve fund for emergencies and for replacing equipment in common areas, held in a separate account.
• Audit fees and DLD oversight costs.
• The management entity must pay all service charges into a dedicated bank account for each building, and those funds cannot be seized by its own creditors.
• Service charges are subject to 5% VAT, including in residential buildings, according to the Federal Tax Authority's real estate VAT guide.

Each owner pays a share of the building's approved annual budget based on the area of their unit compared with the total area of the property, using the unit area in the Real Property Register (Article 25). In practice, your annual charge is the approved rate per square foot multiplied by your unit's registered area. The developer pays for units it has not sold.

A management entity may not charge owners anything for managing or maintaining common parts without RERA's approval first (Article 27). RERA only approves a budget once a RERA-recognised certified audit firm has approved it, and can set a temporary budget in the meantime.

Budgets used to be approved one year at a time. Since December 2025, the DLD lets management companies submit a three-year service fee budget through Mollak to keep fees stable, with Palm Jumeirah's master community the first approved. Annual budgets remain an option.

You can look up the approved service charges for any jointly owned building in Dubai for free on the DLD's Service Charge Index. It shows the rates RERA has approved, by project, use and year.

• Open the Service Charge Index on the DLD website or in the Dubai REST app.
• Select the project name, the use (for example residential) and the year.
• The approved rates appear immediately. Compare them with what the seller or management company quotes you.
• Mollak is RERA's system for service charges. Management companies submit budgets and accounts through it, and owners receive their quarterly service charge invoices through it.

Many owners pay two separate charges. The building's management entity collects the service charge for the building itself. In a large master-planned community, the master developer can also collect usage charges for managing and maintaining the community's shared areas, such as roads, landscaping and parks (Article 26).

Usage charges apply to completed buildings, buildings under construction and vacant land. They also need RERA approval and an audited budget (Article 27). When you compare properties, ask for both figures, and check whether a quoted rate includes the master community charge.

Usually not. Under Article 16 of Law No. 6 of 2019, the owner pays service charges and usage charges unless the lease says otherwise. Even if a tenant agrees to pay and doesn't, the owner is still liable to the management entity.

Tenants pay their own utility bills and, in Dubai, the housing fee through DEWA. If a landlord asks you to pay service charges, check that the lease says so before you sign.

An owner cannot refuse to pay RERA-approved charges, and cannot give up their share of the common parts to avoid them (Article 28). If you don't pay, Article 32 sets out what follows:

• The management entity has a lien on your unit. You cannot sell or transfer it until the charges are paid.
• The management entity must send you a written notice, in a form approved by RERA, giving you 30 days to pay.
• If you still don't pay, its claim can be enforced by the execution judge at the Rental Disputes Settlement Centre.
• The judge can order your unit sold at public auction to recover the charges, and you also pay the court and legal costs.

Start by checking the approved rate on the Service Charge Index and asking the management company for the budget and accounts. If the charge you were billed does not match the approved rate, raise it with the management company in writing.

Buildings with an Owners Committee have another route. Under Articles 22 to 24, RERA can appoint a committee of up to nine owners once at least 10% of units are registered to owners. The committee reviews budgets, asks for financial reports and receives owners' complaints. If the management entity does not deal with a complaint within 14 days, the committee can take it to RERA.

The Rental Disputes Settlement Centre has exclusive power to decide disputes under the law (Article 42). If a decision or measure is taken against you under the law, you can also file a written grievance with the DLD Director General within 30 days (Article 46). Keep invoices, notices and correspondence, and get legal advice for large amounts.

• Dubai Law No. 6 of 2019 Concerning Ownership of Jointly Owned Real Property (Articles 16, 22–28, 30, 32, 42, 46)
• Dubai Land Department, Service Charge Index
• Mollak (RERA), About Us
• Dubai Land Department, first three-year fixed service fees for Palm Jumeirah Master Community (10 December 2025)
• Federal Tax Authority, VAT Guide: Real Estate (VATGRE1), section 3.4