Dubai · Guide · Service charges for apartment owners

Dubai service charges explained: under Law No. 6 of 2019 no building manager may charge owners without RERA approval of the budget, each owner pays by unit area, and unpaid charges can end in a court auction

A Kuwaiti who buys an apartment in Dubai pays the price once, but pays the building's service charges every year. They are not set freely by the developer or the building manager. Law No. 6 of 2019 on jointly owned property, issued by the Ruler of Dubai on 4 September 2019, says no management entity may charge owners anything for the common parts without the prior approval of the Real Estate Regulatory Agency (RERA), and RERA may not approve the budget until a certified audit firm it recognises has approved it, though it may approve a temporary budget where necessary. Each owner's share follows the area of his unit as recorded in the Real Property Register; the money goes into a separate bank account that can be spent only on the purposes the law lists; and the owner stays liable even when a tenant fails to pay. The approved figure for each project can be looked up in the Land Department's Service Charge Index. We opened the law and the Land Department's pages today.

Al Mithaq news desk · Published 26 October 2026 · Source: Dubai Legislation Portal (Government of Dubai): Law No. 6 of 2019 concerning ownership of jointly owned real property in the Emirate of Dubai

Apartment buildings and the shared gardens, lake and walkways of The Greens, an Emaar community in Dubai, photographed in daylight in May 2022. Picture: CoolP1x4rt, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

RERA firstno service charge may be collected from owners without the prior approval of the Real Estate Regulatory Agency, Article 27

7 working daysthe time a management entity has to deposit the charges it collects in the building's own bank account, Article 30

30 daysthe notice an owner who has not paid receives before the claim goes to the execution judge, Article 32

What the law says you pay, and how it is shared

Law No. 6 of 2019, signed by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum as Ruler of Dubai on 4 September 2019, replaced Law No. 27 of 2007 and came into force sixty days after its publication in the Official Gazette. It defines service charges as the annual charges collected from owners to cover the cost of managing, operating, maintaining and repairing a jointly owned property. Article 25 says each owner pays his share to the management entity, calculated on the ratio of the area of his unit to the total area of the property, and that the area used is the one recorded in the Real Property Register. The developer pays the share of the units it has not sold, and of sold units where the sale contract says it will pay on the buyer's behalf. Article 26 adds usage charges, which a master developer may collect for the common parts of a master project, on completed buildings, buildings under construction and vacant land alike.

Approval before collection: RERA and a certified auditor

Article 27 is the owner's main protection. A management entity must not charge owners, or collect any amount from them, for the management, operation, maintenance or repair of the common parts, or for any other reason, without first obtaining RERA's approval. RERA in turn may not approve or ratify the service charge budget unless a certified audit firm that it recognises for this purpose has approved it; where necessary it may approve a temporary budget until the audited one is ready. On 18 November 2019, the day before the law came into force, Gulf News reported that Marwan Bin Ghalita, then Chief Executive of RERA, said owners would not have to pay for any increase in service charges unless it had been vetted by RERA or its approved financial auditor. The paper also reported that 1,240 buildings had been added to the Mollak system, that 89 property management companies had been authenticated to act for owners associations, and that AED 1.3 billion of service fees had been audited under Mollak in its first phase.

Where the money goes

Article 30 requires the management entity to open a service charge account for each jointly owned property with a bank licensed in Dubai and recognised by RERA, and to deposit what it collects within seven working days. The money cannot be attached by the management entity's creditors and may be used only for the purposes the law lists: cleaning of the common parts; security and safety services in the property; the operation, maintenance, repair and improvement of the common parts; insurance of the property; the audit fees; the management company's fees as set by RERA; the developer's administrative costs on major projects as approved by RERA; RERA's fees for inspecting or overseeing the property; other costs in the master community declaration that RERA approves; and a cash reserve for emergencies and for replacing equipment, held in a separate account that cannot be touched without RERA's approval except in critical emergencies. If the reserve is not enough, the Land Department may, with RERA's prior approval, ask owners to cover emergency costs. The Land Department's Mollak pages say owners receive their service charge invoices through the system, and that management companies upload financial statements and copies of maintenance and supplier contracts to it.

If the charge is not paid: tenant, lien and auction

Article 16 lets an owner lease out his unit, and unless the lease says otherwise the owner pays the service charges; in all events he is not released from the charges if the tenant fails to pay them. Article 28 says an owner may not refuse to pay charges approved by RERA, and may not give up his interest in the common parts to avoid them. Article 32 gives the management entity a lien on every unit for its unpaid service charges, and the unit may not be disposed of until they are paid. An owner who does not pay is served a written notice approved by RERA and has thirty days to pay; after that the claim is enforceable by the execution judge at the Rental Disputes Settlement Centre, and where necessary the judge may order the unit sold at public auction to collect the charges, with the court costs and lawyers' fees on the defaulting owner. Article 29 works the other way: a developer or management entity may not stop an owner from taking possession of or using his unit, or the common parts, to force him to pay outside these procedures.

Owners committee and the Service Charge Index

Under Article 22, in major projects and ordinary jointly owned buildings (Categories 1 and 3; hotel projects are treated separately), an owners committee is formed once at least 10% of the units in a jointly owned property are registered in their owners' names, with up to nine members appointed by RERA; a member must be an owner living in the property who pays his service and usage charges. To see what a building is allowed to charge, the Land Department's Service Charge Index lets anyone, whatever their residency status, log in, choose the project, the use and the year and see the approved service fees immediately, through the Land Department's website, the Mollak system or the Dubai REST app; the page lists no fee for the service, and the support line is 8004488.

Why it mattersOur view for a Kuwaiti buyer: put the service charge in your sums before you sign, because it comes out of every year's rent or living cost for as long as you own the home. Ask for the project name and look it up yourself in the Land Department's Service Charge Index (in the Dubai REST app or on the Land Department's website), for the use and the latest year shown, rather than relying on a figure in a brochure or a listing. If the approved charge is shown per square foot, multiply it by the unit's registered area: for example, at AED 10 per square foot, a home of 1,567 square feet pays AED 15,670 a year (our own calculation). Check that the area on the title deed is the area you are paying for, because that is the area the law uses. If you let the home, the rent you collect pays the charge, but the law keeps the bill in your name even if the tenant defaults, so a lease should say who pays and the rent should be set with the charge in mind. When you buy a resale unit, ask the management entity for written proof that nothing is owed, because the law gives the management entity a lien on the unit and the unit cannot be sold until arrears are paid. And a building whose charges are approved, audited and spent on cleaning, security and upkeep keeps its rent and its resale price better than one that is cheap to run and tired.

What Al Mithaq adds

Our page of ready-to-move Emaar homes in Dubai lists seven finished homes in Dubai Hills Estate, Dubai Creek Harbour, Downtown Dubai and Emaar Beachfront, each with its size and Emaar's list price, and says that we confirm the unit, the price and the service charge before you pay. When you ask about one of them, we send you the approved charge for that project from the Land Department's index next to the price, so your yearly cost and your net rent are worked out on the official figure. Read also our guides to the 4% Dubai registration fee, to Dubai's rent increase rules and to the off-plan escrow law. Tell our team in Kuwait the budget and whether the home is to live in or to let, and we will send the options and the figures by call or WhatsApp on the same working day.

Sources

Key facts

The law: Dubai Law No. 6 of 2019 on jointly owned real property, issued 4 September 2019, in force 60 days after publication; replaced Law No. 27 of 2007
Who approves the charges: RERA, only after a certified audit firm it recognises has approved the budget; a temporary budget where necessary (Article 27)
How your share is set: Your unit's area as a share of the total area, using the area in the Real Property Register (Article 25)
Unsold units: The developer pays their share (Article 25)
Where the money is held: A service charge account at a bank licensed in Dubai and recognised by RERA, deposit within 7 working days; reserve in a separate account (Article 30)
Let units: Owner pays unless the lease says otherwise, and stays liable if the tenant does not pay (Article 16)
Unpaid charges: Lien on the unit, no sale until paid; 30 days' written notice; execution judge at the Rental Disputes Settlement Centre; public auction where necessary (Article 32)
Owners committee: Categories 1 and 3: formed once 10% of units are registered to their owners; up to 9 members appointed by RERA (Article 22)
Check the approved figure: Land Department Service Charge Index: by project, use and year, immediate, website, Mollak or Dubai REST app; support 8004488