Buy to Let Mortgages in Dubai: Rules, Costs and Calculator

A buy to let mortgage in Dubai is a loan on an investment property that you intend to rent out. For an expatriate the Central Bank allows a loan of up to 60 percent of the value, so you need at least 40 percent of the price in cash, plus the transfer and mortgage costs. The loan is judged on your income, not only on the rent. This guide works as a buy to let mortgage calculator on paper: it explains the rules and shows a worked calculation you can repeat with your own numbers, and lists what to check before you commit. Rules and figures are as of October 2026.

How do buy to let mortgages work in Dubai?

The UAE has no special "buy to let" product in the UK sense. Banks treat a loan on a property you do not live in as an investment property mortgage, and apply stricter rules than for a first home. The core rules are set by the Central Bank in its mortgage regulations, and every bank applies them.

Repayments must come from salary or verifiable business or rental income. End of service benefits cannot be used. Lenders may apply tighter limits than the Central Bank minimum, and the figures above come from the Central Bank rulebook. For a home you live in, see our guide to getting a mortgage in Dubai as an expat.

How much cash do you need to buy to let?

This is an illustration on a AED 2,000,000 purchase with a 60 percent loan. Only fees we can source from the DLD are shown.

That adds up to roughly AED 888,000 in cash, which is 44 percent of the price, before the bank's arrangement and valuation fees, agent commission and insurance. Ask each lender for its own fees in writing. Our guide to Dubai Land Department fees lists every transfer cost.

Buy to let mortgage calculator: what will the repayment be?

The monthly payment on a repayment mortgage follows a standard formula: loan times monthly rate, divided by one minus (one plus monthly rate) raised to minus the number of months. You can put it in any spreadsheet. These payments are calculated over 25 years on a reducing balance for a AED 1,200,000 loan, the 60 percent loan in the example above. The rates are examples only, not offers.

Read the last column as the rent you must collect each year just to cover the mortgage, before service charges, management, repairs and empty months. Compare it with real asking rents for your unit type, not with a headline yield. Our rental yields by community guide shows how to compare areas properly.

Fixed rates usually revert to a variable rate after the fixed period, so run the numbers again at a higher rate. The Central Bank requires banks to do the same stress test.

Will the bank count the rent as income?

Often only part of it. The rulebook says lenders must deduct at least two months of rent from the affordability calculation, to reflect empty periods. In practice banks also look at your salary, and many require that your salary alone passes the debt burden test. Ask each lender how it treats rent, and whether a signed and registered tenancy contract changes the answer. If the unit already has a tenant, see how to rent out your property in Dubai for how the contract is set up.

Worked example: does your income pass the Central Bank tests?

These figures are hypothetical, chosen to show the arithmetic. A buyer earns AED 45,000 gross a month, has AED 4,000 a month of other debt payments, and plans to borrow AED 1,200,000 over 25 years.

The same buyer with AED 25,000 of other monthly debt would already be over the AED 22,500 limit before any new mortgage. Existing debts are often what limits an investor, not the property. Check your own position before you pay a deposit.

Mortgage or cash: how does the investment compare?

A mortgage lets the same cash buy more property or leaves it available, but it adds a fixed monthly cost. The calculation that matters is the net cash flow in the table above, not the price.

Best places to buy to let in Dubai: what to look at

We do not name a "best" area here, because the answer depends on your budget, your tenant profile and rent evidence we can show. Compare areas on these points instead, and fill in each from real listings and registered transactions.

Browse Dubai communities to compare areas and use our rental yields guide for method.

Buying an investment property with a mortgage: step by step

1. Work out your debt burden and the loan limit for the type of property.
2. Obtain pre-approval from a bank, stating that the property is for investment.
3. Choose the unit, using real rents and service charges, and run the cash flow table.
4. Sign the contract of sale and pay the deposit.
5. The bank values the unit and issues its final offer.
6. Transfer at the trustee centre, with your mortgage registered at 0.25 percent of the loan.
7. Register the tenancy contract on Ejari when you let the unit, and consider a manager. See property management.

What does the full annual cash flow look like?

Do this before you sign the sale contract, with actual numbers for the unit you are buying. A property can show an attractive gross yield and still lose money each month once the mortgage and service charge are paid.

Can non-residents and off-plan buyers get a buy to let mortgage?

The Central Bank rulebook sets limits by UAE national and expatriate, and it does not set a separate non-resident ceiling. Each bank decides whether to lend to non-residents, and on what terms, so expect more documents and stricter limits than the rulebook maximum. Our expat mortgage guide shows the limits commonly applied.

For a property bought off plan, the maximum loan is 50 percent. The rulebook also says that where stage payments are financed, the buyer's own equity is paid to the developer first, and the bank releases the loan against construction milestones that are physically confirmed. That changes your cash timetable, so ask the lender for the schedule.

What should you check before choosing a lender?

• The loan to value limit they will actually offer, which may be below the Central Bank maximum.
• Whether the rate is fixed, for how long, and what it reverts to.
• Arrangement, valuation and early settlement charges.
• Whether interest only is offered, for how long, and what the payment becomes afterwards.
• How the bank treats rent in its affordability test.
• Insurance requirements.
• For off-plan: how the bank releases money against construction stages, because the buyer's own equity is paid first.

If the seller has a mortgage as well, two banks are involved at transfer. Our guide to buying a property that has a mortgage on it explains the sequence.