Aldar in Dubai

Aldar is the newest name on this site and, on the numbers that protect an off plan buyer, the strongest. It is Abu Dhabi's largest developer, listed on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange, rated Baa2 by Moody's, and the company behind Yas Island, Saadiyat Island and Al Raha Beach. In 2025 it reported group revenue of AED 33.8 billion and net profit of AED 8.8 billion.

It is also brand new to Dubai. Aldar entered this market in 2023 through a land joint venture with Dubai Holding and has not yet handed over a single home here. The first Dubai handovers are due at Haven in 2027. Dubai now accounts for roughly a quarter of Aldar's UAE sales, so the commitment is real, but the completed record is in the emirate next door rather than this one.

That combination, an unusually strong balance sheet and an unusually short local history, is what makes Aldar worth understanding properly rather than taking on the brochure.

Aldar at a glance

The delivery record, Abu Dhabi and Dubai

This is the part of the Aldar story that matters most and gets written about least. Aldar has been delivering homes in Abu Dhabi since the early 2000s. Yas Island, Saadiyat Island, Al Raha Beach and Reem Island are all Aldar, and they are finished, occupied and trading on a secondary market that has been running for years. By any measure that is a long and clean delivery record.

In Dubai, Aldar has delivered nothing. Not one home, not one building, not one phase. It bought into the Dubai market in 2023 through a land joint venture with Dubai Holding, launched Haven on Al Ain Road, then Athlon and The Wilds in Dubailand, and the first of those handovers is scheduled for 2027.

I am not telling you that as a warning, because I do not think it is one. A developer rated Baa2 by Moody's with a thirty year record in the emirate next door is not a credit risk, and the escrow rules that protect your money are the same whoever builds the home. But if someone tells you Aldar has a proven Dubai track record, they are describing Abu Dhabi and hoping you will not check.

What you can read instead is the Abu Dhabi build quality, which is high, and the Abu Dhabi handover punctuality, which has been good. Those are reasonable proxies. They are not the same as the thing itself.

What Aldar is building in Dubai

Three masterplans, all on the southern and eastern edge of the city, all reachable from Al Ain Road or Emirates Road.

Haven by Aldar is the wellness led community on Al Ain Road, built around a water feature that runs through the middle of it. It is the one with the cheapest entry, the Verdes apartment phase from about AED 990,000, and it is the one handing over first, in 2027.

Athlon by Aldar is the active living masterplan in Dubailand, built around sport and movement rather than around a mall. It carries both apartments, in the Rise phase, and townhouses and villas, in phases like Diagon. The payment plans here start at 5 per cent, which is the lowest upfront cash of anything on this site.

The Wilds by Aldar is next door to Athlon and is the nature led one, built around preserved desert landscape rather than manicured lawns. It sits at the upper end of the Aldar range, with the third residences phase from about AED 5.6 million.

What the three have in common is location. None of them is central. All of them are a drive from Downtown, Marina or the airport, and that is reflected in the price per square foot, which runs below the equivalent Emaar product. You are being paid to go further out and to buy from a developer that is new here.

Payment plans and what you pay up front

Aldar is using lower deposits than anyone else selling in Dubai at the moment. Three of the five projects on this site open at 5 per cent on booking. For comparison, Emaar normally asks 10 per cent and Binghatti has asked for as much as 40 per cent on its Mercedes-Benz tower.

A low deposit is a genuine advantage and a genuine trap, depending on who you are. It lowers the cash you need to secure a unit, which is useful if your money is working elsewhere until handover. It also means the balance sitting on the handover date is larger, and that is the payment people get wrong. On a 5 per cent plan with 40 per cent due at handover, you need to be as certain of your funding in 2029 as you are today.

Running costs and service charges

Service charges in the Aldar Dubai communities have not been set, because nothing has completed. The figures in the sales literature are estimates.

What I would budget on is the Dubai average for comparable stock. Apartments in a mid range community run in the region of AED 12 to AED 18 per square foot a year, and townhouses and villas in a masterplan with shared landscaping and amenity run lower per square foot but higher in total because the homes are bigger. On an 850 square foot one bedroom at Forest, that is roughly AED 10,000 to AED 15,000 a year.

Add the standard Dubai costs on top: 4 per cent to the Dubai Land Department at purchase, Oqood registration, and if you let the home, about 5 per cent of annual rent to a managing agent plus the Ejari registration. Yields quoted anywhere on this site are gross unless I say otherwise, so these are the numbers that turn a gross figure into a net one.

My view on Aldar

Aldar is the most interesting new name in Dubai, and the reason is the balance sheet rather than the architecture.

When you buy off plan you are taking a three to five year unsecured position on a developer finishing what it started. Dubai's escrow rules mean your instalments go into a project account rather than to the developer directly, which is real protection, but escrow does not finish a building. A developer's ability to fund construction through a soft patch does. On that measure Aldar is the strongest covenant you can buy from in this city, and it is not close.

Against that, you are buying location risk instead. Haven, Athlon and The Wilds are all outer communities. The rental demand there is real but it is not Marina demand, and the resale market in 2029 will depend on how much else has been built around them by then. Aldar is also pricing to win market share, which is good for you as a buyer and tells you something about how hard it expects to work for the sales.

The way I would put it to a client: Aldar is the sensible choice if your worry is the developer, and the wrong choice if your worry is the postcode.

Who it suits

Aldar suits you if:

I would point you elsewhere if:

How Aldar compares

The honest comparison is against Emaar, because that is the decision most of my clients are actually making.

Aldar projects on this site

Five Aldar launches are live on this site, from the cheapest entry at Forest to the premium townhouses at Oasis. They are listed below.

Aldar: common questions

Figures checked 22 October 2026 from Aldar's published results, Moody's rating actions and the current Dubai price lists. Prices and payment plans move with every release, so treat them as a starting point and ask me for the current list.