Who sets the plan, and where it is written down
Each developer sets the payment plan for each of its projects, and the plan is written into the sale and purchase agreement (SPA) you sign. That document is the one to read: it lists each payment, the share of the price it represents and what makes it fall due.
Developers describe a plan by how the price divides between construction and handover. On a 70/30 plan, 70% of the price is paid during construction and 30% at handover, and 60/40 and 80/20 plans divide it the same way. Some developers offer plans of 1% of the price a month. These are the splits on developers' current offers as summarised by dealr.ae in September 2026, and they change from project to project, so two homes at a similar price can ask for money at different moments.
At signing: the booking deposit
The first payment is the booking deposit, commonly 5 to 20% of the price in the same summary of developers' plans. You pay it when you reserve the home and sign the SPA. Everything after it follows the schedule in that agreement.
At registration: Oqood and the 4% DLD fee
Once the SPA is signed, the sale is registered in Oqood, the Dubai Land Department's interim register for homes that are still being built. Oqood was set up under Law No. 13 of 2008. It records your interest in the unit and stops the same unit being sold twice.
The Land Department's fee of 4% of the price is due at this registration, at the start of the purchase, as developers' own 2026 fee guides set out. On a ready home the same 4% is paid at transfer. On an off-plan home it is paid long before the keys, so it belongs in the first months of your budget alongside the deposit.
Some developers pay part or all of the fee as a launch offer. That is a promotion on one project, and the SPA says who pays it.
During construction: instalments by milestone or by date
Between the deposit and handover you pay instalments, and the SPA ties each one either to a construction milestone or to a date. On a milestone plan the next payment falls due when the building reaches a stage the SPA names, so your payments follow the work. On a dated plan it falls due on a set day, whatever point construction has reached.
The difference shows when you plan your own cash. With dated instalments, read the payment dates next to the construction schedule. With milestone instalments the dates move with the build, so plan for each stage with some room either side.
Where your money goes: the project's escrow account
Every payment towards the price of an off-plan home, from the deposit to the last instalment before handover, goes into the project's escrow account at an approved bank. Law No. 8 of 2007 requires this for off-plan projects in Dubai. The bank releases the money to the developer against certified construction progress, so the developer is paid as the building rises.
Before every transfer you send from abroad, check that the account you are paying into is the project's escrow account.
At handover, and plans that run after it
When the building is finished and the home is handed over, you pay the balance, the 30% on a 70/30 plan.
On some projects the plan continues after handover, and part of the price is paid in instalments once you already have the keys. With a post-handover plan, the home can be lived in or let while the last instalments are still being paid.
What to ask before you sign
These are the questions we put to a developer on a client's behalf before an SPA is signed. How is the price split between construction and handover, and does the plan run after handover? Are the instalments tied to milestones or to dates? Who pays the 4% DLD fee on this project, and when will the sale be registered in Oqood? Which bank holds the project's escrow account?
The answers sit in the SPA and in the project's registration. Our developer checklist covers what to look at in the developer itself.
Book a call with the button below, and our team in Dubai will set the payment plan of a project you are considering against your own timing, payment by payment.