Renting in Dubai: the true cost to move in

Most people who rent in Dubai for the first time know the rent. Fewer know the cash they need before they get the keys. A yearly lease here is quoted as one annual figure and paid in a small number of cheques, and around it sit a deposit, an agency fee, registration, utility deposits and a housing fee that arrives inside your electricity bill. A monthly furnished stay looks simpler, but it has its own lines.

This guide lists those lines one by one, so you know what to ask before you pay anything. It does not give average prices: rents move by building, floor and month. For a worked example with real figures, see the UAE page.

A yearly lease or a monthly stay

Most homes you will see in Dubai fall into one of two kinds.

A yearly lease is usually unfurnished or semi-furnished, runs for twelve months, is registered on Ejari and is quoted as an annual rent.
A monthly furnished stay is a serviced apartment or a licensed holiday home, rented for one month or a few, with furniture and usually some bills included.

They are priced in different ways, so compare them line by line, not by the headline number. A yearly rent and a monthly rate are not the same kind of figure.

What a yearly lease costs to start

Before move-in you will normally pay some or all of these. Not every home has every line, and the amounts are agreed between you and the landlord or agent:

The first rent cheque. The annual rent is split into a number of cheques. The first is usually due at signing or on the start date; the rest are post-dated.
The security deposit. By custom it is around 5 % of the annual rent for an unfurnished home and around 10 % for a furnished one. This is custom, not a fixed rule, so check the figure in the contract.
The agency fee, when a broker introduces the home. It is often around 5 % of the annual rent, plus VAT. Agree it in writing before a viewing turns into an offer.
The Ejari registration fee, for registering the contract. Ask who pays it; it is often passed to the tenant.
The DEWA connection: a refundable security deposit and a non-refundable connection fee for electricity and water, paid when the account is opened in your name.
Cooling, in towers on district cooling: often an account set-up fee, and sometimes a deposit with the cooling company.
Building move-in costs in some towers: a move-in permit from the building management, and sometimes a refundable damage deposit.
Optional lines such as piped gas (many towers have a separate gas account), internet and moving costs.

Once you move in, the monthly running costs are the DEWA bill (electricity, water, sewerage and the housing fee), cooling where it is billed separately, gas and internet. Building service charges are normally the owner's, not the tenant's; if a listing asks you to pay them, ask why.

What a monthly furnished stay costs to start

A monthly stay is usually paid month by month, or for the whole stay up front. Before move-in, expect:

The first month's rent, or the full stay if the operator asks for it in advance.
A refundable security deposit, set by the operator. Ask how and when it comes back.
One-off fees such as a booking or admin fee and cleaning on departure.
Bills: many monthly stays include electricity, water, cooling and internet, sometimes up to a monthly cap, with usage above the cap charged to you. Ask where the cap is and how usage is measured.
For licensed holiday homes, a per-night tourism fee may be added to the price.

Licensed holiday homes carry a holiday-home permit and are usually not registered on Ejari. If you need an Ejari certificate, for example for a residence or family visa, ask before you book.

Cheques: same rent, very different first payment

Dubai landlords traditionally take the annual rent in post-dated cheques: one, two, four, six or twelve, depending on the landlord. Fewer cheques can buy a lower rent, because the landlord gets the money sooner. But the cash you need on day one changes a lot. With one cheque you pay the whole year before you move in; with four, roughly a quarter of it, plus the other lines above.

Ask for the number of cheques before you compare two homes, and ask whether the rent changes with it. Some landlords accept bank transfers or direct debits instead of cheques; the contract should say which. Only write cheques you can cover on their dates: a returned cheque has real consequences in the UAE.

Deposits and who holds them

The security deposit is usually held by the landlord, or by the agent on the landlord's behalf, until the lease ends. It is refundable, less the cost of damage beyond normal wear and anything left unpaid, such as final bills.

Ask for a receipt that names who holds the deposit.
Take dated photos and a short video of the home on move-in day.
Keep your final DEWA bill and clearance: many landlords ask for it before they return the deposit.

The DEWA deposit is separate. It is held by DEWA and refunded when you close the account.

Bills: DEWA, the housing fee and cooling

DEWA (Dubai Electricity and Water Authority) supplies electricity and water. The tenant usually opens the account with a move-in request once the tenancy is registered on Ejari, pays the connection deposit and fee, and then receives a monthly bill.

The housing fee. Dubai Municipality charges tenants a housing fee of 5 % of the annual rent. It is not paid at signing: it is spread across the year and added to your monthly DEWA bill. People often miss it when they budget, so count it as part of the monthly cost.

Cooling. In many villas and older buildings the AC runs on your own electricity meter. In towers on district cooling, the chilled water is billed by a separate cooling company, with its own account and sometimes its own deposit and a fixed capacity charge on top of usage. Some landlords include cooling in the rent, others do not. The listing should say which; if it does not, ask before you view.

Ejari: registering the lease after you sign

Ejari is the Dubai Land Department's system for registering tenancy contracts. After the contract is signed, the landlord or agent usually registers it, and you receive an Ejari certificate. You will need it to open your DEWA account and for some residence and family-visa steps.

Registration happens after signing. A listing cannot be "registered" before there is a contract, and LeaseExact never says a lease is registered. At renewal, rent increases are tied to the official rental index, which you can look up on the Dubai Land Department's website.

Reading a Dubai ad: permit, QR, BRN and ORN

Every property ad in Dubai has to carry a DLD advertising permit number and its QR code. Scanning the QR should open the official permit details: check that the property, the advertiser and the status match the ad you are reading.

Where a broker advertises, the ad also shows the broker's BRN (broker registration number) and the office's ORN (office registration number). The Dubai Land Department's official channels let you look these up yourself. An ad without a permit, or with a permit that belongs to another home, is a reason to stop.

Questions to ask before you pay anything

What is the annual rent, and in how many cheques? Does the rent change with the number of cheques?
How much is the security deposit, who holds it, and on what conditions does it come back?
Is there an agency fee? How much, plus VAT, and who receives it?
Who registers the contract on Ejari, and who pays the fee?
Is cooling included in the rent, billed by a separate company, or on the DEWA meter?
Are there building move-in fees or a refundable building deposit?
What does the contract say about leaving early, maintenance and renewal?
Can I see the permit QR, and the broker's BRN, before the viewing?

And one rule above all: never transfer a deposit before you have viewed the home and signed a contract. Our guide to avoiding rental scams lists the patterns to watch for.

How LeaseExact shows this

On LeaseExact, a Dubai listing comes with the exact-cost card. Rent, the number of cheques, the deposit, the agency fee, Ejari, the DEWA deposit, the housing fee and cooling appear as separate cost lines, with the total you need before move-in. Anything the advertiser has not confirmed yet, such as electricity that depends on usage, shows as a range under "Not confirmed yet". We never divide a yearly rent by twelve and call it monthly: a yearly lease shows its cheques.

The permit panel shows the permit number, QR, BRN and ORN as the advertiser provided them, and says "Checked by LeaseExact" only when we actually ran a check, with the date and how. LeaseExact is not a broker, takes no commission and never holds deposits. It is free for renters, always. You can create a free account to save homes and compare them, and read what our badges mean on Trust.

Sources

Last checked: 21 October 2026.