Most off-plan homes in Dubai are sold on a payment plan: you agree the price today and pay it in stages while the building goes up. The headline split, such as 60/40 or 70/30, is only part of the picture. This guide explains how the common structures work, what registration costs, how Dubai law protects the money you pay, and which clauses deserve a careful read.
What a payment plan is
A payment plan is the schedule of instalments written into your sale and purchase agreement (SPA) with the developer. It usually starts with a booking payment, continues with instalments during construction and ends with a final payment at handover, or after it. Plans are described by two numbers: the share of the price paid before completion and the share paid at or after handover.
Instalments are linked either to calendar dates or to construction milestones. The difference matters. With date-based instalments you keep paying on schedule even if the site slows down; with milestone-based instalments, payments follow actual progress on site.
60/40
You pay 60% of the price during construction and the remaining 40% when the unit is handed over. The handover payment is the large one, so it is worth deciding early whether you will fund it in cash or with a mortgage.
70/30 and 80/20
A larger share is paid before completion and less is left for handover. These plans spread the cost more evenly across the build period, but more of your money is committed before the building exists. That is where the escrow rules below become important.
Post-handover plans
Part of the price is paid to the developer in instalments after you receive the keys, over a period set in the contract. Check whether the contract allows you to use or let the unit while you finish paying. Keep in mind how ownership is recorded: under Dubai's interim register law, a unit sold off-plan is moved into the main property register in the buyer's name once the buyer has met all contractual obligations (Law No. 13 of 2008, Article 8). On a post-handover plan, read how your SPA deals with title until the last instalment is paid.
Registration: Oqood and the 4% fee
Every off-plan sale in Dubai has to be recorded in the DLD's interim property register, known in practice by the name of its portal, Oqood. Law No. 13 of 2008 states that a sale or other disposition of an off-plan unit is void unless it is entered in that register (Article 3).
The DLD's service page for registering the initial sale sets out how it works:
The developer submits the registration through the Oqood portal; the buyer receives a provisional registration e-certificate by email.
The SPA must be registered within 90 days of signing.
The fee is 4% of the sale value, listed by DLD as 2% from the seller and 2% from the purchaser, plus AED 10 knowledge and AED 10 innovation fees. The developer also pays an AED 1,000 self-registration fee.
Payment is made through a Noqodi wallet or deducted from the project escrow account.
How the 4% is shared between you and the developer is set by your contract, so check that clause rather than assuming. Developers may also charge administrative costs on a sale or resale, but only those approved by DLD (Law No. 13 of 2008, Article 7).
Escrow: where your instalments go
Law No. 8 of 2007 on escrow accounts, issued on 6 May 2007, is the main protection for off-plan buyers in Dubai. Its key points:
A developer may sell off-plan only if it is entered in DLD's register of developers and licensed (Article 4).
Buyer payments go into an escrow account opened in the project's name with an escrow agent accredited by DLD. The account is used only for building that project, each project needs its own account, and the developer's creditors cannot attach the money (Articles 7 and 9).
If the developer borrows against the project, the loan is also paid into the escrow account (Article 13).
After the completion certificate, the escrow agent holds back 5% of the account's total value and releases it to the developer one year after the units are registered to buyers (Article 14).
If a project is not completed, the escrow agent, after consulting DLD, must act to protect depositors, either by getting the project finished or by refunding payments (Article 15).
Off-plan projects may only be advertised with DLD's written authorisation (Article 5).
In practice, your instalments should be paid into the project escrow account named in the SPA. A request to pay into any other account is a reason to stop and verify.
If instalments are missed
Article 11 of Law No. 13 of 2008, as amended by Law No. 9 of 2009, sets out what happens when a buyer defaults. The developer must notify DLD, which gives the buyer 30 days' notice to pay. If the buyer still does not pay, the developer's options depend on how far the project has progressed:
at least 80% complete: the developer may keep all payments and claim the balance of the price, with a public auction of the unit as a further option;
at least 60% complete: the developer may terminate and keep up to 40% of the unit's contract value;
construction started but below 60%: termination with up to 25% of the contract value retained;
construction not started for reasons beyond the developer's control: termination with up to 30% of the payments made retained.
This is the main reason to match the payment plan to cash you can rely on, not just to the first few instalments.
What to check before you sign
The project's entry on the DLD project status service, searchable by project name or number.
The escrow account details in the SPA, and that the project is advertised with DLD authorisation.
Whether instalments follow dates or construction milestones, and the exact amount due at handover.
Who pays which part of the 4% registration fee, and that Oqood registration is done within 90 days.
For post-handover plans: the instalment period, what happens on late payment and how title is handled until the final payment.
The handover clause: how the completion date is defined and what the contract says about delays.
Every project page in our off-plan catalogue shows the developer's current payment plan, for example Sobha One or Creek Bay. For developer track records, see our hubs on Sobha Realty and Emaar Properties. If you would like help reading a specific plan, our team is happy to go through it.
Talk to a WiseView broker
Choosing between payment plans? Book a consultation with a WiseView broker: meet our team and pick an advisor, browse off-plan projects in Dubai, or write to info@wiseview.ae or call +971 4 540 9916. We will go through the instalment schedule, escrow details and registration costs of the project you are considering.
General information, not financial or legal advice. Laws and fees are as published on the official sources cited, as of 10 November 2026.
Sources: Dubai Law No. 13 of 2008 on the interim real estate register, as amended by Law No. 9 of 2009, and Dubai Law No. 8 of 2007 on escrow accounts (dlp.dubai.gov.ae); Dubai Land Department, initial sale registration service and project status service (dubailand.gov.ae).
