How much savings to bring

How do you work out how much to bring?

In two parts, because they behave differently. The first is runway: how long you can live and work here before commission arrives reliably. The second is setup: the one-off cost of arriving, most of which falls in the first few weeks.

Runway is the larger part and the one that decides the outcome. Take your monthly cost of living in Dubai, add the costs the job puts on you, and multiply by the number of months you can fund with no commission at all. The reasoning behind planning against months rather than against an expected income is set out in the piece on what agents earn in year one, and the job costs themselves, portals, marketing, transport and phone, are itemised in the piece on the costs agents carry.

Setup sits on top of that, and it is what this page is about. People who have budgeted runway carefully are still caught by it, because Dubai front-loads the cost of a home: rent is commonly paid ahead by cheque, and several deposits and registrations fall due before you have slept there.

Add the licensing fees to the setup figure. They are published by the Dubai Land Department and have their own piece in the getting-licensed section.

1. 01

   Runway

   Monthly living costs plus job costs, multiplied by the months you can fund with no commission.

2. 02

   Setup

   Rent paid in advance, the landlord's deposit, Ejari, the DEWA deposit and connection, transport, and the weeks before you have a home.

3. 03

   Licensing

   The DLD's published broker fees, plus the training provider's own price. Covered in its own piece.

What does renting a home cost up front?

The rent itself is a market price and varies by area, building and season, so this page puts no figure on it. What is worth understanding is how it is paid. Dubai's tenancy law, Law No. 26 of 2007, says rent is paid on the dates the parties agree, and only where there is no agreement does it set four equal instalments a year, paid in advance. u.ae describes post-dated cheques covering the lease period as part of concluding a lease. In practice that means the number of cheques is a term you negotiate, and fewer cheques means more of the year paid on day one.

The same law allows a landlord to take a security deposit when the lease is signed, to be refunded, or what remains of it, at the end, but it does not set an amount. Ask for the deposit in writing before you commit, along with any agency fee on the rental, which is a commercial charge rather than a published government fee.

Then the registrations. A residential lease in Dubai outside the free zones is registered on Ejari, the Dubai Land Department's tenancy system. The DLD's service page lists AED 100 for registering the contract, an AED 10 knowledge fee, an AED 10 innovation fee and a service partner fee, coming to AED 177.75 through the Dubai REST app or the department's website, or AED 220 at a Real Estate Services Trustee Centre. The trustee centre route lists the applicant's Emirates ID among its documents, which matters if you are renting before your ID has been issued: ask the landlord or managing company how they will register it.

There is also a recurring cost that arrives with the first utility bill. u.ae states that tenants pay a housing fee to Dubai Municipality at 5 per cent of the yearly rent, added to the monthly electricity and water bill. It is not paid up front, but it belongs in the monthly figure you use for runway.

What do DEWA and the other connections cost?

For a tenant outside the free zones, the DEWA electricity and water account is opened through the Ejari registration rather than separately. DEWA's move-in page says that once the Ejari is issued it automatically sends a welcome email with the account number, the security deposit and a payment link, and that supply is connected within 15 working hours of the deposit being paid.

DEWA publishes the amounts. The security deposit is AED 2,000 for a flat and AED 4,000 for a villa, for residential premises, and it is refundable. The activation charge is AED 125 for connecting electricity and water on small meters, or AED 300 for large meters, plus AED 10 registration, AED 10 knowledge and AED 10 innovation fees.

Cooling, internet and gas, where a building has them, are billed by other providers whose charges vary by building and provider. Ask the landlord or managing company which apply to the unit before you sign, because some buildings bill district cooling separately from DEWA.

Who pays for the visa, the medical and the Emirates ID?

If a brokerage sponsors you, u.ae's page on employment in private companies states that UAE law requires the employer to pay the costs of the entry visa and travel to the UAE, post arrival requirements such as medical tests, and the issuance of the residency permit. That is u.ae's statement. How it applies to your contract is a question for MOHRE, and if a firm says any of these costs will be yours, put that question to MOHRE before you transfer anything.

If you hold residency some other way, the fees are set by the issuing authorities and published on their service pages, GDRFA Dubai and ICP for residency and the Emirates ID. This page does not print them, because which ones apply depends on your route, and the route is a matter for those authorities rather than a brokerage.

Either way, the order of the paperwork affects the budget. The trustee centre route for registering a lease lists the applicant's Emirates ID among its documents, and the ID follows residency. Ask the landlord which route they use, and plan for the possibility of spending the first weeks somewhere temporary. Budget for that separately, because it is paid at the same time as the deposits on the home you are moving to. The full sequence is in the piece on becoming an agent from abroad.

What else falls in the first months?

Transport, and it is easy to underestimate. This is a job done largely on the road: viewings are spread across the city and not conveniently clustered. Whether you buy, rent or lease a car, and whether a licence from home can be exchanged, are decisions with costs set by the market and by the Roads and Transport Authority's own rules, so ask for the figures in writing from whoever is supplying the car and confirm the licence position with the RTA.

A working phone and a local number from the first week, because enquiries do not wait. Furniture, unless you rent furnished, and the basics of a home. Medical cover for anyone travelling with you who is not covered by your employer's policy.

And the cost that never appears as an invoice: a cushion for the month that goes wrong. A deal that collapses before transfer, a commission paid later than expected, a deposit that takes longer to come back. The piece on the costs agents carry explains why an unproductive month is not a neutral month on a commission-only arrangement.

1. 01

   Transport

   Car, fuel, parking and tolls, or the cost of getting around without one. Varies: get figures in writing.

2. 02

   Temporary accommodation

   For the weeks before residency and a long lease. Varies by area and season.

3. 03

   A margin for the month that goes wrong

   Kept separate from runway, so a single delay does not end the plan.

What should you get in writing before you move?

Every figure on this page that is not published by a government body is one somebody will quote you. The way to turn those quotes into a budget is to ask for them in writing, from the party who will charge them, before you commit money you cannot get back.

From the brokerage: which of the visa, medical and Emirates ID costs it pays, whether anything is recoverable from you if you leave, whether there is a base or a draw under the commission, and what you pay monthly whether or not you transact. From a landlord or managing company: the rent, the number of cheques, the deposit, any agency fee, and which utilities are billed separately from DEWA.

Then add it up the slow way. Runway first, setup second, licensing third, a margin on top. If the total is more than you hold, it is far better to know that before the flight than in the third month. A shorter runway changes which firm and which segment suit you, and the piece on leasing or sales covers that trade.

1. 01

   From the brokerage

   Who pays the visa, medical and ID; anything recoverable on leaving; base or draw; standing monthly charges.

2. 02

   From the landlord

   Rent, cheques, deposit, agency fee, and which services are billed outside DEWA.

3. 03

   From the bodies themselves

   The current DEWA, Ejari and DLD fees on their own service pages, on the day you pay them.