Glossary / Property

Title deed

A title deed is the Dubai Land Department document proving ownership of a completed property, issued at transfer or at handover and naming the owner, the unit and its area.

It is the instrument that transfers at sale. Until it is issued, an off-plan buyer's interest is recorded in Oqood instead.

The area stated on it is the figure to use in any per square foot calculation, not the one in the brochure.

Where people get it wrong

Using the brochure area for the service charge or price per foot. The deed area is the one the charges are levied on.

Related terms

Oqood Oqood is the Dubai Land Department system that registers off-plan property sales contracts before a title deed exists, creating an official record of the buyer's interest during construction. Freehold Freehold ownership means owning the property and the land it sits on outright and indefinitely, which in Dubai is available to non-GCC nationals only over land plots the Ruler has designated for it. Service charge A service charge is the annual fee an apartment owner pays the owners association for maintaining shared parts of the building, quoted in Dubai as dirhams per square foot per year and levied whether or not the unit is occupied.

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