Abu Dhabi Holiday Home Permit Cost — Official DCT Fees in AED

What the permit costs (DCT's own fee table)

The Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi (DCT) publishes its holiday-home fee table inside the policy manual itself: AED 1,550 for registration in the online Holiday Homes system; AED 900 for licensing and renewal of the Holiday Homes activity; AED 1,040 for issuance of a classification certificate (if applicable) and the same AED 1,040 for re-inspection; AED 150 for amendments to the licence; and AED 160 for letters, document copies and amendment requests. For a standard unit the first year arithmetic is AED 1,550 + AED 900 = AED 2,450, then AED 900 per renewal year — the table prices the activity flat, with no per-bedroom fee.

Costs the licence fee doesn't cover

The big one is the tourism fee: 6% of the total invoice amount issued to the guest, which the policy says must be declared on every invoice and on the guest card or price lists, and deposited with DCT within fifteen days of the end of the month following the due month. Outside that, the manual requires a unit certificate of insurance, preventive fire-safety certification under the UAE Fire and Life Safety Code with Abu Dhabi Civil Defence approvals, security cameras at the unit entrance per Abu Dhabi's monitoring requirements, a cleaning contract covering every stay before check-in and after check-out, and bilingual (Arabic + English) terms and conditions in digital form. None of these costs sit inside the AED 2,450.

Who can apply and the document checklist

Only the unit's owner — an individual or a company — can hold the licence; a tenant may not operate the unit as a holiday home unless authorised by the owner. Eligible units include apartments, townhouses, independent villas, farms and caravans, licensed as whole units and never individual rooms, with no more than three occupants per room and no rental contract longer than three consecutive months. The application pack is the licence application form, a passport or Emirates ID copy of the owner, the unit's certificate of insurance, and the unit's title deed; operators additionally submit the company licence, a copy of the owner's passport or Emirates ID, and a good-conduct certificate from Abu Dhabi Police.

How to apply — step by step

Applications run through DCT's licensing system behind the Holiday Homes portal at holidayhomes.dct.gov.ae. Review the policy manual first, then submit the application form with the document pack above, sign the operating procedures form and the Terms and Conditions, and pay the registration and licence fees. DCT's Licensing and Regulatory Compliance Department handles inquiries at info@dctabudhabi.ae and the Abu Dhabi Government Contact Centre on 800 555. DCT reviews unit eligibility against its minimum mandatory criteria — safety equipment, CCTV, guest-room and bathroom standards — and may reject units that don't meet them.

Renewal, inspection and classification

The licence is valid for one year. Renewal applications should be submitted within a month of expiry — DCT sends a reminder through the licensing system six to eight weeks before the date. If a licence expires, the owner must stop holiday-home activity until it is renewed. Inspectors from DCT may visit the unit when it is not booked, must carry DCT identification, and write up violations with corrective periods under the fines schedule; a re-inspection, where required, costs AED 1,040. Where a classification certificate applies to the unit, issuing it costs AED 1,040 and amending it AED 160.

How Abu Dhabi differs from Dubai and the other emirates

Dubai's DET charges AED 300 per bedroom plus small fixed fees — AED 370 a year for a one-bedroom unit. Abu Dhabi prices the activity flat instead: AED 900 per year regardless of bedrooms, with the AED 1,550 registration due when you first enter the system. Ajman mirrors Dubai's per-room model at AED 300 a room with its own fixed fees, while Sharjah and Ras Al Khaimah each run separate frameworks through their own tourism authorities. Never copy one emirate's numbers to budget another's permit — pull the fee schedule from the emirate's own authority first.

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