Off-Plan Projects in Dubai Hills Estate

Emaar Properties and Meraas Holding agreed a joint venture in June 2013 to develop Dubai Hills Estate as the first phase of Mohammed Bin Rashid City, and Emaar releases most of the new homes. Its current apartment launches on this page include Golf Grand, Club Drive, Park Horizon, Hills Park, Rosehill, Lime Gardens, Greenside Residence, Hillsedge, Address Residences Dubai Hills Estate and several Vida Residences buildings. Park Lane, Parkwood and Parkside Views mix apartments with townhouses.

Three other developers have projects here too: Ellington Properties with Ellington House III and House IV, City View Developments with Hyde Branded Residences, and Fortimo Real Estate Development with The Golf Residences. Because these firms sell inside a community Emaar planned, check each one on its own record rather than on the estate's name. If you want a standalone house, our off-plan villas in Dubai Hills Estate page covers the villa collections separately.

The estate covers more than 11 million square metres, about 2,700 acres, and sits by the junction of Umm Suqeim Road and Al Khail Road. Dubai Hills Mall stands at that intersection. The homes are arranged around an 18-hole championship golf course, and Emaar lists 1,450,000 square metres of parks and open space, including the 180,000 square metre Dubai Hills Park.

Getting around is mainly by car. Emaar puts Downtown Dubai and Dubai Marina about 15 minutes away and Dubai International Airport about 20 minutes, and says times vary by location within the estate. King's College Hospital London, Dubai, open 24 hours, is inside the community.

Under Dubai Law No. 8 of 2007, a developer who wants to sell homes off-plan must apply to the Dubai Land Department to open an escrow account for the project, buyers' payments are deposited into that account, and the money is reserved for building that project alone. Law No. 13 of 2008 set up the Interim Property Register, and a sale of an off-plan unit is void unless it is entered in it. The Dubai Land Department runs this register through its Oqood system. In practice:

• Pay only into the escrow account. The account details belong in your sale contract. Do not send money to any other account.
• Get the sale registered. Ask for proof that your contract has been entered in the Interim Property Register before you treat the purchase as done.
• Check the developer. Emaar has finished buildings across the estate, so you can visit a completed tower to judge the finish. For the smaller developers, ask for a list of projects they have completed and handed over, and read our guide on how to check a developer before buying off-plan.
• Look up the service charges. The Dubai Land Department Service Charge Index shows the approved service fees for a project by year, on its website and the Dubai REST app. A new building may have no approved figure yet, so ask the developer for its estimate in writing. Branded and hotel-serviced buildings usually carry different charges from standard ones, so compare like with like.

One more protection is worth knowing: once the completion certificate is issued, the law requires the escrow agent to hold back 5% of the account, and that sum is only released to the developer one year after the homes are registered in the buyers' names.

Dubai Hills Estate already has many finished apartment buildings, so you can choose. Off-plan gets you a new building, a fresh layout and payments spread over the construction period, but you wait for handover and buy from plans. A finished apartment lets you see the exact view and the distance to the park or mall, check the building's service charge history and move in straight away.

Compare both with our Dubai Hills Estate area guide and the apartments for sale in Dubai Hills Estate.