Landlords face deadline

Property owners who have not yet registered with the Dubai Land Department risk paying registration fees based on the market value of their property rather than on the initial purchase price.

Mohammed Sultan Thani, Director of Development and Marketing Administration at Dubai Land Department said it will soon launch a two-month awareness campaign to urge owners of residential units in Dubai to register their property. This is important to guarantee their legal rights in case of disputes. “During the campaign, a mid-2008 deadline will be set. After that a registration fee of two per cent of the unit’s market value will be levied,” he said, adding this amount could be many times more than the fees of the original value of the property given the big increase witnessed in the market.

Registration costs two per cent of the nominal value of the sold unit. The developer and buyer pay one per cent each. “So far less than 25 per cent of about 200,000 units sold in Dubai until mid-2006 have been registered with the Land Department. For example, out of 17,000 units sold by Emaar until mid-2006 only 4,800 units have been registered so far,” he said.