In this note
Most landlords count an empty month as one month's rent lost. It's more than that.
Your service charge doesn't pause when the tenant leaves. I matched each Dubai apartment's 2026 service charge to the rent it actually let for. The charge takes 12% to 19% of the rent, depending on the community. In an empty month, you pay your share with nothing coming in.
What one empty month costs
An empty month costs a month's rent plus a month of service charge you get nothing back for. For a typical apartment, that's about:
- International City: AED 3,600
- JVC: AED 5,900
- Dubai Marina: AED 11,000
- Downtown Dubai: AED 12,400
And empty months are common. When a Dubai unit changed tenants in 2026, almost half sat empty for more than three weeks, and one in five for more than three months.
The service charge takes a bigger bite in cheaper areas
Source: Dubai Land Department service-charge records (2026 budget year, annual budgets only) and Ejari tenancies. Each apartment's 2026 service charge against the rent of its latest 12-month Ejari tenancy that started in 2025 or 2026; each community's figure is the median of its apartments' own shares. 23 communities with at least 800 matched apartments, 63,655 in all. The chart shows the 19 with a community name; the table adds 4 known only by their DLD area name. Rentinit analysis.
Show the numbers(23 communities)
| Community | Apartments | Median rent | Median service charge | Share of rent | An empty month costs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| International City | 9,412 | 36,000 | 7,116 | 19.2% | 3,627 |
| DAMAC Hills | 1,434 | 52,000 | 9,917 | 18.8% | 5,024 |
| Jabal Ali | 2,092 | 48,967 | 8,017 | 18.7% | 4,745 |
| Motor City | 910 | 74,775 | 14,210 | 18.4% | 7,292 |
| Liwan | 990 | 50,000 | 9,002 | 18.0% | 4,927 |
| Dubai Sports City | 2,979 | 51,000 | 9,615 | 17.7% | 5,108 |
| Dubai South | 1,508 | 53,000 | 9,191 | 17.7% | 5,314 |
| Wadi Al Safa 5DLD area name; not charted | 2,238 | 50,000 | 7,516 | 16.3% | 5,024 |
| Dubai Production City | 2,787 | 42,000 | 7,126 | 16.0% | 4,094 |
| JVC | 7,130 | 60,000 | 10,055 | 15.8% | 5,916 |
| Al Jaddaf | 1,396 | 70,000 | 11,378 | 15.7% | 6,900 |
| Dubai Silicon Oasis | 2,661 | 50,000 | 9,043 | 15.5% | 4,981 |
| Business Bay | 3,994 | 85,000 | 13,393 | 15.5% | 8,181 |
| Dubai Marina | 5,483 | 115,000 | 17,293 | 14.8% | 10,976 |
| Dubai Creek Harbour | 1,348 | 132,650 | 19,487 | 14.7% | 12,755 |
| JVT | 2,905 | 53,000 | 7,645 | 14.7% | 5,039 |
| Al Thanyah FifthDLD area name; not charted | 2,739 | 80,000 | 12,161 | 14.6% | 7,593 |
| Downtown Dubai | 3,128 | 130,000 | 18,545 | 14.0% | 12,378 |
| Jabal Ali First | 2,639 | 60,000 | 9,174 | 13.9% | 5,845 |
| Dubai Hills Estate | 923 | 100,000 | 14,197 | 13.5% | 9,478 |
| Al MerkadhDLD area name; not charted | 2,724 | 65,000 | 7,876 | 13.1% | 6,232 |
| Palm Jumeirah | 1,183 | 190,000 | 23,489 | 12.5% | 17,445 |
| Al Thanyah ThirdDLD area name; not charted | 1,052 | 110,000 | 12,638 | 12.3% | 10,127 |
| Amounts in AED a year. An empty month: a month’s rent and a month’s service charge, the median over the community’s apartments. | |||||
You might expect prime areas to hurt most, because their charges are the highest in dirhams. A median Dubai Marina apartment pays about AED 17,300 a year, against about AED 7,100 in International City.
But as a share of rent, it runs the other way:
| Median rent | Median service charge | Share of rent | |
|---|---|---|---|
| International City | AED 36,000 | AED 7,100 | 19% |
| JVC | AED 60,000 | AED 10,100 | 16% |
| Dubai Marina | AED 115,000 | AED 17,300 | 15% |
| Downtown Dubai | AED 130,000 | AED 18,500 | 14% |
| Palm Jumeirah | AED 190,000 | AED 23,500 | 12.5% |
Service charges are also climbing. The median charge per square foot rose 11% between 2023 and 2026.
What's left after the service charge
Source: Dubai Land Department service-charge records (2026 budget year, annual budgets only) and Ejari tenancies. The service charge is the median of each apartment's own share of its rent, as in the service-charge chart. “What you keep” is the rent less the service charge and the empty months; it leaves out maintenance, cleaning and utilities while empty, so the real figures are lower. Rentinit analysis.
Show the numbers(9 cases)
| Community | Empty | Kept | Service charge | Lost to empty months |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| International CityAED 36,000 rent | Let all year | 80.8% | 19.2% | 0.0% |
| 1 month empty | 72.5% | 19.2% | 8.3% | |
| 3 months empty | 55.8% | 19.2% | 25.0% | |
| JVCAED 60,000 rent | Let all year | 84.2% | 15.8% | 0.0% |
| 1 month empty | 75.9% | 15.8% | 8.3% | |
| 3 months empty | 59.2% | 15.8% | 25.0% | |
| Dubai MarinaAED 115,000 rent | Let all year | 85.2% | 14.8% | 0.0% |
| 1 month empty | 76.9% | 14.8% | 8.3% | |
| 3 months empty | 60.2% | 14.8% | 25.0% | |
| Shares of the full year’s rent. The service charge is the median of each apartment’s own share of its rent, as in the service-charge chart. | ||||
Take a median International City apartment let for the full year. You keep about 81% of the rent after the service charge. One empty month takes that to 72%. Three empty months take it to 56%.
In Dubai Marina the same three cases leave 85%, 77% and 60%.
That's why a quick re-let matters more than the last few thousand dirhams of asking rent. It's also why a reliable tenant at a fair rent is often worth more than a higher rent from someone new (I worked through that in renew or re-let).
Before the unit goes empty
- Start the renewal conversation early. I suggest about four months before the lease ends. If the tenant is leaving, you'll know in time to market the unit while it's still occupied.
- Price to let, not to list. A month on the market at an ambitious price usually costs more than the difference. My pricing guide shows how I set an asking rent from completed rents rather than listings.
- Know your service charge. Tell me what your building charges, and I'll record it against the unit as a standing cost. Then your monthly figures show what you actually keep, not just the rent that came in.
Add your property, and I'll reach out on WhatsApp. I'll record its rent and service charge, so you can see what an empty month would really cost you.
How Hazel measured this
- Service charges: the Dubai Land Department service-charge records for the 2026 budget year, using annual budgets only.
- Rents: each apartment's most recent 12-month Ejari tenancy that started in 2025 or 2026.
- Matching: each unit's charge is compared with its own rent, and the figures are community medians.
- 23 communities with at least 800 matched apartments.
- About 64,000 apartments in total.
- "What you keep": rent minus the service charge. It leaves out other costs such as maintenance, cleaning and utilities while empty, so the real figures are lower.
- Empty periods: from the same Ejari records used in renew or re-let.
General information about Dubai residential property, not financial advice.