Real Estate Agent Commission in Dubai
Who Pays What, and Why the 2% Is a Convention Rather Than a Rule
Every buyer in Dubai is quoted 2%. Almost nobody is told that no Dubai law sets that figure. The bylaw that governs brokers regulates who may charge you and when they have earned it — not how much. Here is what the law actually says, what the market actually charges, and the four things to settle before you sign a brokerage agreement.
What Dubai Law Actually Says About Commission
Ask ten people what a Dubai estate agent charges and ten of them will say two percent. It is repeated so consistently that most buyers assume it is a regulated rate, in the way the Land Department’s transfer fee is a regulated rate. It is not. The instrument that governs real estate brokerage in Dubai is Bylaw No. 85 of 2006 Regulating the Real Estate Brokers Register in the Emirate of Dubai, and it contains no commission percentage and no ceiling anywhere in its text.
What the bylaw regulates is the broker, not the broker’s price. Article 3 provides that no person may engage in real estate brokerage activities in the Emirate unless they are licensed by the competent entities and entered in the Register. Article 6 sets out what a brokerage has to produce to get there — a valid trade licence, Chamber of Commerce membership, passport copies, an office deed or lease, a good conduct certificate, evidence of non-bankruptcy, completion of real estate training and a pass in the Department’s brokerage examination. That is a serious gate, and it is the part of the system that protects you.
On money, the bylaw is deliberately light-touch. Article 27 states that the broker’s remuneration is determined by agreement between the parties, and that only in the absence of an agreement is it determined according to prevailing practice. Article 26 requires that the brokerage agreement be in writing and state the names of the contracting parties, the specifications of the property and the brokerage terms. Read those two together and the position is clear: the number is whatever you and the broker write down, and the law’s contribution is to insist that you write it down at all.
That has a practical consequence most buyers never act on. Because there is no statutory rate, commission in Dubai is genuinely negotiable, and the moment to negotiate it is before the brokerage agreement is signed — not at the point the Form F memorandum of understanding is drawn up, by which time the rate has usually already been fixed in the Form A or Form B behind it. It is also worth being precise about what commission is not: it is not a Land Department charge. Our breakdown of DLD fees in Dubai lists agency commission explicitly as a cost set by agreement between the parties and absent from any published DLD schedule.
Commission at a Glance
Law versus market convention
What Is Regulated, and What Is Merely Customary
The single most useful distinction in this whole subject. The left column is enforceable. The right column is what the market has settled on, and every figure in it is a starting point for a conversation rather than a fixed price.
| Element | Position | Where it comes from | الحالة |
|---|---|---|---|
| Who may charge a commission | Only a person licensed by the competent entities and entered in the Real Estate Brokers Register. | Bylaw 85 of 2006, Article 3 | Law |
| Written brokerage agreement | Required. It must name the parties, specify the property and state the brokerage terms. | Bylaw 85 of 2006, Article 26 | Law |
| How the amount is set | By agreement between the parties. Only where there is no agreement does prevailing practice decide. | Bylaw 85 of 2006, Article 27 | Law |
| When the fee is earned | Only if a contract is concluded between both parties. No concluded contract, no fee, unless otherwise agreed. | Bylaw 85 of 2006, Articles 28(1) and 30 | Law |
| Two brokers, one deal | Where brokers are appointed severally, only the broker who concludes the transaction takes the full fee. Where several act together on one side, the fee is divided proportionally. | Bylaw 85 of 2006, Articles 31 and 32 | Law |
| One broker, both sides | Permitted, but both parties remain severally liable for their own share of the fee, and the broker needs express authorisation to represent the other party. | Bylaw 85 of 2006, Articles 33 and 20 | Law |
| Sale commission rate | 2% of the sale price paid by the buyer, with sellers also paying 2% to their own agent. | Property Finder, published 9 July 2026 | Convention |
| Tenancy commission rate | Tenants pay 5% or AED 5,000, whichever is higher. Landlords may pay anywhere from 0% to 8% depending on what is agreed. | Property Finder, published 9 July 2026 | Convention |
| Off-plan, direct from developer | The developer pays the broker rather than the buyer, at a rate reported in the 2% to 8% range. | Property Finder, published 9 July 2026 | Convention |
| VAT on the commission | Brokerage is a service. VAT has applied across the UAE since 1 January 2018 at a standard rate of 5%, with a mandatory registration threshold of AED 375,000 of taxable supplies and imports. | UAE Ministry of Finance | Tax |
Legal positions above are taken from the text of Bylaw No. 85 of 2006 Regulating the Real Estate Brokers Register in the Emirate of Dubai, cross-checked against the Al Tamimi & Company briefing “Brokers 101: What Every Property Purchaser must know about Real Estate Agents in Dubai”. Market conventions are as reported by Property Finder in its Dubai real estate commission guide published 9 July 2026. VAT position per the UAE Ministry of Finance. All sources retrieved 31 August 2026. TruHauz publishes no commission rate of its own here because none is fixed by law — ask any agent, including us, to put their rate in writing. This page is general information, not legal or tax advice.
Six Things to Settle in the Brokerage Agreement
Article 26 requires the agreement to be in writing. These are the six terms worth reading properly before you add your signature to it.
Want our commission in writing before you engage us?
That is the correct order, and it is what Article 26 was written for. Ask TruHauz for the rate, the trigger and the VAT treatment up front.
What the Convention Costs on a Real Transaction
Three worked illustrations using the market conventions reported by Property Finder on 9 July 2026 and the 5% standard VAT rate published by the UAE Ministry of Finance. These are arithmetic on stated inputs, not quotations, and not rates TruHauz asserts you must pay.
Buyer, AED 1m resale
Inputs: sale price AED 1,000,000, buyer-side commission 2%, VAT 5% on the commission. Commission AED 20,000, VAT AED 1,000, total AED 21,000. Illustration only.
Buyer, AED 2.5m resale
Inputs: sale price AED 2,500,000, commission 2%, VAT 5%. Commission AED 50,000, VAT AED 2,500, total AED 52,500. Every 0.25% negotiated off this rate is worth AED 6,562 including VAT. Illustration only.
Tenant, AED 100k annual rent
Inputs: annual rent AED 100,000, tenant commission the higher of 5% or AED 5,000, VAT 5%. Commission AED 5,000, VAT AED 250, total AED 5,250. Illustration only.
الأسئلة المتداولة
The questions buyers, sellers and tenants ask most often about agent commission in Dubai.
Ask for the Rate in Writing First
TruHauz puts the commission, the payment trigger and the VAT treatment in the brokerage agreement before any viewing takes place. If another agent will not, that tells you something. Tell us what you are looking at.
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