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Freehold areas boost the Dubai real estate market
Converting private properties in Sheikh Zayed and Al Jaddaf areas to freehold, enhances the marketplace value of properties.
– Converting to freehold makes real estate investment in Dubai attractive and flexible
– Property owners will benefit from the price change resulting from converting Sheikh Zayed and Al Jaddaf areas to freehold
Walid Al Zarooni
Dubai, United Arab Emirates:Tuesday, January 28, 2025
“W Capital”, the Dubai-based real estate brokerage, confirmed that the land mark initiative of the Dubai Land Department DLD, allowing owners of private properties in the Sheikh Zayed Road and Al Jaddaf areas to convert their ownerships to freehold has positive long-term effects and enhances the investment climate in these two areas, making them available to all nationalities, and in the emirate as a whole, and supports flexibility and sustainability within the real estate sector.
W Capital stated that this step benefits private property owners in the two areas, as it will maximize the market value of properties in Sheikh Zayed Road and Al Jaddaf for property owners wishing to convert their lands into freehold ownership, and will also enhance investment attractiveness in the two areas.
“The new initiative will contribute to increasing the economic attractiveness of lands within the two designated areas, and contribute to launching modern real estate projects that suit the aspirations of freehold investors,” said Walid Al Zarooni, W Capital CEO.
Al Zarooni explained that according to data from the Land and Property Department, the number of plots included in the permission to convert to “freehold ownership” is 457 distributed over 128 plots overlooking Sheikh Zayed Road (within the area between the Trade Center Roundabout and the Water Canal), and 329 plots in the Al Jaddaf area.
He pointed out that property owners will benefit from the price change resulting from converting the area to freehold ownership. The move will also contribute to making real estate investments in Dubai attractive and flexible while attracting investments in the long term.
Al Zarooni said that the real estate market has reached a high level of maturity and leadership globally and regionally, and continues achieve record sales, thanks to many factors. The first is effective regulatory measures that facilitate investment operations, second, the pursuit of achieving the ambitious goals of the Dubai Real Estate Strategy 2033, which is to increase the volume of real estate transactions by 70%.
That will enhance the value of the Dubai real estate market to one trillion dirhams, in addition to doubling the value of real estate portfolios to reach 20 billion dirhams.
The CEO expected demand for land in these areas to increase compared to other places, while new alliances may emerge to launch projects in areas converted to freehold ownership.
According to the Dubai Land Department, owners of land included in the move can first verify their ability to benefit through the smart application “Dubai REST”, as the transfer requires submitting an application to the Dubai Land Department to evaluate the land. According to the department’s statement, the common areas fee will be calculated and determined. Service fees also will be collected on the transferred property according to the procedures of the Real Estate Regulatory Agency, after which the transfer fee is paid. The fee to be calculated at 30% of the plot value according to the floor area (GFA), after which a map and title deed of “freehold” will be issued for the transferred plot.
