Villa build and renovation cost calculator
An indicative cost for building or renovating a private villa in Dubai or Abu Dhabi, from published 2025–26 market ranges. Every rate is sourced on this page. It is an estimate, not a quote.
Indicative total, including soft costs
Likely total: AED 6,240,000 Range AED 3,950,000 to AED 8,770,000
Construction AED 5,120,000 · AED 680 per sq ft of built-up area (main build only, excluding extras)
- Build AED 4.05m
- Extras AED 1.06m
- Design fees AED 460k
- Approvals AED 50k
- Contingency AED 614k
- FF&E AED 0k
| Cost line | Low | Likely | High |
|---|---|---|---|
| Main build (shell, MEP and finishes) | AED 3,000,000 | AED 4,050,000 | AED 5,100,000 |
| Basement | AED 0 | AED 0 | AED 0 |
| Demolition of an existing villa | AED 0 | AED 0 | AED 0 |
| Swimming pool | AED 80,000 | AED 165,000 | AED 250,000 |
| Landscaping | AED 300,000 | AED 900,000 | AED 1,500,000 |
| Smart home and AV | AED 0 | AED 0 | AED 0 |
| Design and engineering fees | AED 203,000 | AED 460,000 | AED 822,000 |
| Approvals, NOCs and connections | AED 25,000 | AED 50,000 | AED 75,000 |
| Contingency | AED 338,000 | AED 614,000 | AED 1,030,000 |
| Furniture, fixtures and equipment (FF&E) | AED 0 | AED 0 | AED 0 |
| Total | AED 3,950,000 | AED 6,240,000 | AED 8,770,000 |
Indicative timeline
- Design3–4 months
- Approvals and NOCs2–3 months
- Construction8–14 months
- Snagging and handover1–2 months
About 14–23 months on these phases end to end. Real Estate Club Dubai quotes 12–24 months from plot to keys, as phases can overlap.
Approvals in Dubai go through Dubai Municipality, Trakhees or the Dubai Development Authority, depending on where your plot sits. The master developer, Emaar with Meraas, has its own approval requirements; check them before design starts.
Showing the worked example below. Switch on JavaScript to change the inputs.
An indicative estimate from published market ranges, not a quote. Excludes plot and finance; allow for 5% VAT if your quotes exclude it.
How the estimate works
The short answer: a new villa in Dubai costs roughly AED 300–500 per sq ft to build at a standard specification and AED 850–1,400 at a luxury one, before fees, approvals, contingency and furniture. The calculator adds those layers so the total is closer to what an owner actually spends.
- Construction. Built-up area multiplied by the published rate for your specification.[1][2][3][5] The likely figure is the midpoint of the range. A basement is priced as extra built-up area at the same rate.
- Extras. Pool AED 80,000–250,000; landscaping AED 100–500 per sq ft of garden; smart home and AV AED 50,000–300,000; demolition of an existing villa AED 50,000–200,000.[4][3]
- Design and engineering fees. 6–12% of construction, about 9% typical for a multi-discipline practice.[3][5]
- Approvals, NOCs and connections. Real Estate Club Dubai gives AED 25,000–75,000 for approvals, NOCs and DEWA[4] and, elsewhere, 2–5% of the build for approvals and permits.[3] As our own assumption, the calculator uses the fixed AED 25,000–75,000 band; on a large or complex villa the percentage figure would be higher. For comparison, Engel & Völkers puts design, engineering and permits together at AED 50,000–150,000.[1] A basic renovation refresh carries no approvals allowance.
- Contingency. 10–15% of construction, 12% as the likely figure.[3][4]
- Furniture, fixtures and equipment. 30–40% of construction at the top end of the market.[3][4] On standard and premium specifications treat this as a ceiling.
Renovations work differently. The calculator uses Smart Renovation's whole-villa bands by scope rather than rates per square foot: basic AED 200,000–300,000, mid-range AED 400,000–800,000, and luxury above AED 1 million.[6] Those bands suit a typical villa; on a large or older villa needing new services and waterproofing, a per square foot budget will be higher, as our renovation cost guide explains. Pool and landscaping are added on top of the band.
Build rates by specification
Construction only, 2025–26. The right-hand columns apply each rate to a 6,000 sq ft villa with no extras.
| Specification | AED per sq ft | AED per m² | 6,000 sq ft build | With soft costs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | 300–500 | 3,230–5,380 | AED 1.80m–AED 3m | AED 2.11m–AED 3.88m |
| Premium | 500–850 | 5,380–9,150 | AED 3m–AED 5.10m | AED 3.50m–AED 6.55m |
| Luxury | 850–1,200 | 9,150–12,920 | AED 5.10m–AED 7.20m | AED 5.94m–AED 9.22m |
| Ultra-luxury | 1,200–1,400+ | 12,920–15,070+ | AED 7.20m–AED 8.40m+ | AED 8.38m–AED 10.74m+ |
Sources: Engel & Völkers, Real Estate Club Dubai, Knight Frank via Gulf Construction, Optimal Engineering. Knight Frank's Q2 2025 figures were about AED 4,200 per m² (around AED 390 per sq ft) for standard and AED 11,000 per m² (around AED 1,020 per sq ft) for high-end construction.[2]
Worked example
A 6,000 sq ft premium new-build villa in Dubai Hills Estate, with a pool and 3,000 sq ft of landscaped garden. This is what the calculator shows when it first loads.
| Cost line | Low | Likely | High |
|---|---|---|---|
| Main build (shell, MEP and finishes) | AED 3,000,000 | AED 4,050,000 | AED 5,100,000 |
| Swimming pool | AED 80,000 | AED 165,000 | AED 250,000 |
| Landscaping | AED 300,000 | AED 900,000 | AED 1,500,000 |
| Design and engineering fees | AED 203,000 | AED 460,000 | AED 822,000 |
| Approvals, NOCs and connections | AED 25,000 | AED 50,000 | AED 75,000 |
| Contingency | AED 338,000 | AED 614,000 | AED 1,030,000 |
| Total | AED 3,950,000 | AED 6,240,000 | AED 8,770,000 |
The likely total of AED 6,240,000 works out at about AED 1,040 per sq ft of built-up area once fees, approvals and contingency are added, against a construction-only rate of AED 680. That gap is why a headline per-square-foot rate on its own understates the budget.
What moves the number most
From the contractor's side of the table, where our founder spent 21 years, specification moves a villa budget far more than size. Two houses of the same area can differ by a factor of three once glazing, stone, joinery and services are chosen. When we priced a job as the builder, the first things we looked at were the frame, the ground and the window package, because that is where the money and the risk sit.
- Ground and basements. Shoring, dewatering and waterproofing depend on the plot. We price basements at the build rate, but on a waterfront plot the real figure can be higher.
- Glazing and façade. Large-format and structural glazing is one of the quickest ways to move from premium into luxury rates.
- Services. Cooling, automation and pool plant grow with specification and are easy to under-describe in a tender.
- The design itself. In August 2025 Dubai Municipality warned villa engineering consultancies about over-designing structures and inflating build costs.[8] A design review before tender is usually cheaper than a variation after it.
What is not included
- The plot, transfer fees and any service charges.
- VAT. Published rates do not consistently state whether 5% VAT is included; allow for 5% VAT on contractor invoices if your quotes exclude it.[4]
- Finance costs, insurance and your own advisers' fees, including ours.
- Cost inflation. Currie & Brown forecast about 3% for UAE construction in 2026; the calculator does not apply it.[7]
- A location premium. We have found no published source that supports one, so the area you choose changes the approvals route shown, not the rate.
Sources and assumptions
- Engel & Völkers, Construction cost in Dubai (December 2025). www.engelvoelkers.com
- Knight Frank Q2 2025 construction costs, reported by Gulf Construction. gulfconstructiononline.com
- Real Estate Club Dubai, Villa architects in Dubai: fees, contingency and timelines. realestateclubdubai.com
- Real Estate Club Dubai, Villa build cost calculator methodology. realestateclubdubai.com
- Optimal Engineering, Cost to build a villa in Dubai. www.optimal.ae
- Smart Renovation, Villa renovation in Dubai: 2026 guide to costs, timeline and permits. smartrenovation.ae
- PRASOON, Owner's representative vs project manager in the UAE (citing Currie & Brown). prasoon.design
- Gulf News, Dubai Municipality warns consultancies over inflated villa designs (August 2025). gulfnews.com
Assumptions
- The likely figure for each rate is the midpoint of the published range, except design fees (9%), contingency (12%) and furniture (35%), where the sources give a typical figure.
- Luxury uses Real Estate Club Dubai's AED 850–1,200 per sq ft. Ultra-luxury has no published ceiling: the calculator uses AED 1,200 (Real Estate Club Dubai's floor) to 1,400 (the top of Engel & Völkers' luxury range) per sq ft and marks the high figure with a plus sign.
- Approvals use the fixed AED 25,000–75,000 band rather than a percentage of the build; this is our own choice between two published figures.
- A basic renovation refresh (painting, flooring, small upgrades) carries no design fees or approvals allowance, because cosmetic work rarely needs drawings or an authority permit. Your master developer may still require an NOC.
- Luxury renovations are published as "above AED 1 million". As our own rule of thumb, a full strip-out back to structure approaches new-build cost, so the high figure is the area multiplied by the lowest new-build rate for that specification.
- Basements are priced as extra built-up area at the chosen rate. No published Dubai figure separates them.
- Timelines: design 3–4 months, approvals 2–3 months, construction 8–14 months, snagging 1–2 months; 24–36 months plot to keys for custom luxury.[3] Renovation works two to six months or longer, with approvals taking a few weeks.[6]
- Figures are rounded to the nearest AED 1,000, or AED 10,000 above AED 1 million.
Rates last checked October 2026. This page gives general information, not financial, legal or engineering advice.
Questions
How much does it cost to build a villa in Dubai per square foot?
What does the per square foot rate leave out?
How much does a villa renovation cost in Dubai?
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Get this checked against your plot
A calculator cannot see your plot's ground conditions, setbacks or master developer rules. We can. We review the plot, the brief and the budget together before you commit, and tell you plainly whether the numbers hold.