Refinancing costs
Switching a mortgage is not free. The costs split into two halves that behave very differently, and telling them apart is what lets you work out whether moving is worth it.
Short answer
There is no single figure. The costs of switching fall into three groups: what your current bank charges to let you go, what the land department charges to move the mortgage, and what your new bank charges to set it up.
The first group is capped by the Central Bank, so you can know it in advance. The third is set by each bank and varies. Not every item below applies to every borrower.
This is the part most cost lists get wrong. They read as though every borrower pays every item. In practice each charge depends on something: your old bank, your new bank, the emirate, or the size of your loan.
| The cost | When it applies | What sets the amount |
|---|---|---|
| Settling your mortgage early | Almost always, when you leave before the end of the term | Capped by the Central Bank. Depends on your outstanding balance |
| Liability letter | Almost always. Your new bank needs it | Capped by the Central Bank at a fixed amount |
| No-objection certificate | Only where your current bank requires one | Capped by the Central Bank at a fixed amount |
| Clearance letter | Almost always, to confirm the old mortgage is settled | Capped by the Central Bank at a fixed amount |
| Land department transfer | Always, and the figures here are Dubai’s | A percentage of the mortgage, plus fixed fees. Set by the emirate |
| Trustee centre fee | Always, in Dubai | A fixed amount, higher where registration is provisional |
| The new bank’s valuation | Always | That bank’s own tariff. CredMe publishes no figure |
| The new bank’s processing fee | Usually, sometimes discounted or waived | That bank’s own tariff, usually a percentage of the loan |
| Insurance | Normally required, and may be repriced rather than carried over | The provider and your circumstances. Recurring, not one-off |
Everything above is a one-off cost of moving, with one exception: insurance is an ongoing premium rather than a single charge. The rest you pay once, at the point of switching.
These are the charges tied to ending the mortgage you have, and the useful thing about them is that the Central Bank publishes a maximum for each. They are caps, not prices. Your lender may charge less, and not every item applies to every case.
Usually the biggest single item. The Central Bank caps it at 1% of what you still owe or AED 10,000, whichever is less, so on a large balance it is the AED 10,000 cap you pay, not the percentage.
A statement of what you still owe. The new bank needs it before anything can move. Capped at AED 85.
Where your current bank requires one, it is capped at AED 150. Not every bank does.
Confirms the old mortgage is settled. Capped at AED 95.
The settlement cap is worth reading carefully, because it is regularly quoted the wrong way round. It is whichever is less, not whichever is greater. On a smaller balance the 1% applies; above a certain point the AED 10,000 ceiling takes over and the charge stops growing.
The rule: the charge is capped at 1% of what you still owe, or AED 10,000, whichever is less.
If you owe AED 600,000: 1% is AED 6,000. That is less than AED 10,000, so AED 6,000 is the most you could be charged.
If you owe AED 2,000,000: 1% would be AED 20,000, but the cap applies, so AED 10,000 is the most you could be charged.
An illustration of how the Central Bank cap works. The balances used are made-up examples, not thresholds, and the cap is a maximum, so your own bank may charge less than the figure shown.
In Dubai, 0.25% of the mortgage value where an ordinary mortgage and an ordinary or usufruct title deed exist (a usufruct is a long-term right to use a property you do not own outright). Plus AED 250 for issuing the title deed, and AED 10 knowledge and AED 10 innovation fees.
The transfer is completed at a registration trustee centre. Service-partner fees are AED 4,000 plus VAT on a Dubai mortgage transfer, or AED 5,000 plus VAT where the registration is provisional (the off-plan case).
The new bank values the property itself. What it charges is set by that bank’s own current tariff, so CredMe does not publish a figure for it.
Usually a percentage of the loan, and the item that varies most between banks. Sometimes discounted, occasionally waived, which is why it belongs in your comparison rather than as an afterthought.
Life and property cover are normally required on the new mortgage, and may be repriced rather than carried across. What it costs depends on the provider and your circumstances.
The first two are published government charges. The last three are set by whichever bank you move to, and CredMe does not publish a number for them. An average would look authoritative and be wrong for almost everyone. What matters is that they exist, that they vary between banks, and that they belong in your comparison.
The land department figures above are Dubai’s. Registration is charged by the emirate the property sits in, so if your property is elsewhere the charge will differ. How registration works in Dubai covers that side in more detail.
One thing worth knowing.The government and Central Bank figures on this page are the ones those authorities publish. CredMe’s own upfront-cost estimate may differ, because CredMe uses its own buyer-cost model to work out the cash you are likely to need. They answer different questions, and neither is a substitute for the other.
The 2% from the seller and 2% from the buyer that the land department charges on a sale. Nobody is buying or selling in a refinance, so this does not arise.
A purchase cost, not a switching cost.
You are moving a balance, not putting fresh money in. What changes is which bank holds the security over your property.
This is the most common source of over-estimation. A refinance moves the charge over a property; it does not move the property. The costs of buying are a different subject and do not arise here.
One calculation does most of the work. Divide the total cost of moving by the monthly saving, and you get the number of months before you are ahead. Breaking even in ten months is a very different proposition from breaking even in six years, even if both save the same amount each month.
Four things move that answer more than the rate does.
It sets the settlement charge, and it decides how much a rate difference is actually worth each month. The same rate saving is worth far more on a large balance than a small one.
The fewer years you have left, the less time a monthly saving has to build up, and the harder it is for the cost of moving to pay for itself.
What it will actually charge to let you go, and whether it would rather give you a better rate than lose you. Worth asking before you assume moving is the only option.
Not just the rate. The fees, the number of years offered and the structure all change the total. Two banks quoting the same rate can leave you in different positions.
Which is why a lower rate is not, on its own, a reason to move, and why whether switching is worth it is a separate question from what it costs. If you are also thinking about taking cash out as part of the move, switching while releasing equity adds a second decision with its own arithmetic.
CredMe prices these against your own balance, rate and remaining term rather than publishing a total that would be wrong for most readers, and reports how many months the saving takes to recover the cost. It also shows which lenders fit your file and why.
That analysis is an initial assessment, not a lending decision. A CredMe Mortgage Consultant reviews it with you and refines it before any lender is approached. The lender underwrites the application and makes the final decision. CredMe is not a bank and cannot approve or decline a mortgage, and it does not promise that switching will save you money.
Written by CredMe Team
Based on CredMe's mortgage assessment methodology and verified regulatory sources
Last reviewed 16 August 2026
Every figure here is quoted from the sources below, each opened and read on the date shown. The Central Bank figures are caps a lender may not exceed rather than prices, and the land department figures are Dubai’s. Where a cost is set by the lender’s own tariff this page names the category and gives no number, because no official lender source has been verified for it.
Indicative guidance only. Not a formal offer of finance and not a lending decision. Not every charge listed applies to every case, government charges depend on the transaction and the emirate, and lender charges depend on the lender. Regulatory figures are maximums; each lender applies its own criteria and tariff. CredMe is not a bank and cannot approve or decline a mortgage. See our disclaimer.
Whether moving your UAE mortgage is worth it, what switching actually costs, and when staying with your current bank is the better answer.
Moving your UAE mortgage to a new lender and releasing equity in the same transaction: how the two halves are priced separately, what it costs, and when it is worth doing.
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