Conveyance.ae: Buyer Choice Comes Into Focus in Dubai Property Transfers

Some leading Dubai brokerages require buyers to pay conveyancing or sales-progression fees, even when the service is provided within the business holding the seller’s mandate.

The practice is visible on brokerage websites, while LinkedIn and Instagram show sales-progression teams employed within agencies.

The issue is not whether an in-house conveyancer is competent. It is whether a buyer should be obliged to pay a provider whose strongest commercial relationship may sit on the other side of the transaction.

A seller may have several properties listed with one brokerage or be selling one home before buying the next through it. Either can make that relationship more valuable than a buyer completing one transaction.

That imbalance matters when a seller-side issue affects the transfer. The person resolving the bottleneck should be able to report it to the buyer without competing commercial considerations.

Banks offer a parallel. They appoint third-party valuers because the lender should not also determine the value of its own security. Separation reduces commercial pressure and adds credibility.

"The real test of a transfer service comes when the interests on each side stop aligning," said Jan Baluyut, Director, Property Affairs at Cendale, which operates Conveyance.ae. "An independent transfer provider has no sales mandate to protect, no listing relationship to preserve and no sales commission dependent on completion. That is the procedural oversight buyers pay for."

Functional separation is familiar elsewhere. UK buyers and sellers commonly instruct separate solicitors, while US attorneys, title companies and escrow providers perform distinct roles according to state. Dubai need not copy either system; both show that transaction roles can be kept distinct.

This concern applies to ready properties and secondary off-plan transactions. The mechanics may differ, but the buyer’s need for accurate information does not.

Where an agency offers an in-house service, buyers should be told whether it is optional and remain free to appoint an independent transfer provider. As Dubai’s market continues to grow and attract international buyers, that choice is a natural safeguard in a maturing property market.