Service charges in Dubai are not set by a landlord or invented by a management company. They are submitted by the owners association, reviewed and approved, and published per building. That means the figure for the tower you are considering is a matter of record rather than something you have to take on trust.

Why this is the number that matters

It recurs every year, forever, and it comes straight off your return. A difference of a few dirhams per square foot between two otherwise similar buildings is the difference between a good buy and a mediocre one, and it is entirely knowable before you commit.

Buyers routinely check the purchase price to the dirham and accept the service charge as whatever the agent says. That is the wrong way round: the purchase price is paid once and the service charge is paid for as long as you own.

How to look it up

Ask for the approved figure per square foot for the specific building, not the community and not the developer average. Buildings in the same community differ substantially.
Check what it covers. A high charge on a building with a serviced pool, gym, concierge and chilled water may be better value than a lower charge that covers cleaning and little else.
Ask whether chilled water is inside or outside the charge. This single line changes the comparison between two buildings more than anything else.
Ask for the reserve fund position. A building with no reserve is a building where the next major repair arrives as a special levy.
Ask for the last two years, not just this one. The direction of travel tells you more than the current figure.

What a high charge is telling you

Usually one of three things: genuine amenity that costs real money to run, an ageing building where maintenance has caught up, or a management company that has not been challenged. The first is a fair trade. The second is a negotiating point. The third is a reason to look at how active the owners association is.

We will pull the figure for a specific building before you make an offer. It takes a phone call and it has changed clients’ minds more than once. Also worth reading: service charges in Dubai explained and how owners associations work.