Utilities & connections Updated May 2026

What is the Housing Fee on my DEWA bill?

It's a Dubai Municipality fee equal to 5% of your annual rent, paid in monthly instalments via DEWA.

The "Housing Fee" line on your DEWA bill is a Dubai Municipality charge, not a DEWA charge. DEWA just collects it.

How it's calculated

  • Tenants: 5% of your annual rent (as registered on Ejari), divided by 12 → that's your monthly Housing Fee.
  • Owner-occupiers: 5% of your property's annual rental value, as estimated by Dubai Municipality, divided by 12.

Common surprises

  • It only kicks in after Ejari is registered, then often arrives backdated to the start of the contract — so the first big DEWA bill can include several months of Housing Fee at once.
  • If your rent goes down at renewal, the Housing Fee should reduce too — but you may need to update Ejari for the change to flow through.
  • Owner-occupiers don't always realise they pay this. You do.

If a backdated charge looks wrong, you can dispute it with Dubai Municipality directly — DEWA can't adjust the underlying calculation.

Sources: Dubai Municipality, DEWA bill format.

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