Dubai Maritime City Service Charges are set per building and billed per sq ft of title deed area each year. The only approved 2026 rate on the peninsula is AED 23.44 per sq ft, in the upper part of the AED 10 to 30 range for Dubai apartments. The owner pays it, the tenant does not, and it is due whether the unit is let or empty. On current asking rents it takes 17 to 23 percent of income, which is why it belongs in the calculation before the payment plan, not after the first invoice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At Honey Money Real Estates we run the service charge before we run the yield, and the 2 numbers often tell different stories. A gross yield of 5.6 percent on a studio looks strong until AED 12,072 a year comes off the top. In our experience the charge, not the rent, is where most first time investors get the return wrong.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Every figure below comes from the published rate for the district\u2019s completed tower, registered transactions and live asking prices as of 28 September 2026. Where no approved rate exists, including for every Danube tower on the peninsula, the guide says so rather than guessing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One building on the peninsula has an approved annual budget, and its 2026 rate is AED 23.44 per sq ft. A rate is published for a year only once that year\u2019s building budget has been reviewed and approved, so no off plan tower in the district has one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At AED 23.44, Dubai Maritime City service charges are in the upper part of the AED 10 to 30 band that covers most Dubai apartments. The pool, gym, spa and concierge in that tower are all on the cost side of the budget, and every owner in the building shares them by floor area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The formula is short. Annual charge equals the unit\u2019s area on the title deed, in sq ft, multiplied by the approved rate. A 1,003 sq ft 1 bedroom at AED 23.44 owes AED 23,510 a year, invoiced quarterly or annually depending on the building\u2019s budget cycle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because the rate is per square foot, the same tower charges a 2 bedroom about 2.7 times what it charges a 515 sq ft studio. Rent does not scale the same way, which is why the charge takes a bigger bite of income as units get larger.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The published rate has 3 parts, and the official index shows them separately.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What the charge does not cover is inside the front door. DEWA for the apartment, internet, repairs to fixtures within the unit and contents insurance are the occupant\u2019s bills. Any figure quoted as a service charge should be checked against those 3 parts and nothing else.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Applying the published AED 23.44 rate to unit sizes currently listed in the completed tower gives the following annual bills.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Those bills arrive whether the unit is rented, vacant or being used by the owner. On a 2 bedroom, the charge alone is close to AED 2,700 a month before a single dirham of rent is collected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Gross yield ignores the charge. Net yield subtracts it. Using current asking prices and rents in the completed tower, and a registered 2 bedroom lease from January 2026, the gap looks like this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The pattern is the one we see across the peninsula: the larger the unit, the larger the share of rent the charge takes, and the wider the gap between the yield in the brochure and the yield in the bank. About 1 point of return disappears on the studio once the charge is counted, and 1.1 to 1.2 points on the 1 bedroom and 2 bedroom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Danube has 4 towers under way on the peninsula, Oceanz 1, 2 and 3 and Breez, and a 5th planned, the residential Shahrukhz tower. None has an approved service charge, because none has been handed over. Oceanz is scheduled for Q1 2027 and Breez for 2029, and a rate for each will follow its first approved budget after that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Breez is sold as fully furnished with more than 40 amenities. Facilities of that kind are funded through the general fund, so a tower with a larger amenity list has more to maintain than a tower with a pool and a gym. Until Danube\u2019s own budgets are approved, the only defensible number for a Shahrukhz Residences<\/a><\/strong> buyer to plan with is the district\u2019s published AED 23.44 per sq ft, tested against the Dubai wide AED 10 to 30 band.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As a worked example at that rate, a 450 sq ft studio would owe about AED 10,548 a year and an 800 sq ft 1 bedroom about AED 18,752. When we build a return for a client on this launch, those are the figures that go into the sheet, and they are revised the day Danube\u2019s budget is published.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In Dubai the owner pays the service charge. A tenant on an annual Ejari contract pays rent, DEWA and any chiller bill for the unit, and nothing towards the building\u2019s common areas. A landlord who quotes a rent has to fund the charge out of that rent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For a unit run as a holiday home, the owner or operator still pays the charge to the building, and short stay guests pay nothing towards it. Unpaid charges follow the unit: a seller needs a clearance certificate from the building\u2019s management before the Dubai Land Department<\/a> will transfer the title, so arrears block a sale until they are settled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The official index is the only figure that counts, and checking it takes a few minutes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If a project does not appear in the list, no rate has been approved for it, and any figure quoted for that building is an estimate. Rates change with each annual budget, so the check is worth repeating every year of ownership.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The service charge rate in this guide is the approved 2026 rate for the first completed residential tower in Dubai Maritime City. Rates are set per building by its approved annual budget and can change each year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Asking prices and rents are from active listings on 28 September 2026; the 2 bedroom rent is a registered tenancy from January 2026. Yields are calculated on those figures and exclude purchase costs, vacancy, letting fees and maintenance inside the unit. Danube has not published a service charge, price list or payment plan for its residential Shahrukhz tower, and the district benchmark is used only as a planning figure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This guide is general information and not financial, legal or tax advice. Honey Money Real Estates L.L.C (ORN 28658) is a RERA registered brokerage.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWho Pays Service Charges in Dubai: Owner, Tenant and Holiday Home Rules<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
How to Check Service Charges on the Dubai Land Department Index<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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A Note on the Figures<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n