Ellington Projects in Dubai: Prices, the Finish Premium and the Record

Ellington Properties has been building in Dubai since 2014 and has delivered more than eighteen projects in that time. The numbers behind the reputation are specific: 847 homes across four projects in 2023, three of them within sixty days of schedule and one four months late after a contractor change; 923 homes in 2024 with two projects finished early and no arbitration cases filed against the company at the Land Department; a reported 96% occupancy across everything it has handed over.

The interesting thing about a design-led developer, though, is not the finish. It is what the finish is worth in each community it builds in — and on the two Ellington buildings we track with live pages the answer differs by more than 40 percentage points. In Arjan its studio prices 40% above the community rate. In Dubai Hills Estate its own price list sits below the community average. This page has both, the delivery record in full, and the clause every Ellington buyer should read before the brochure.

Key takeaways

• Entry is AED 860,000 at Arbor View in Arjan, about Rs 2.21 crore at 25.75, for a studio of roughly 452 sq ft — in a building whose handover began in May this year.
• The premium is not a fixed markup. Arbor View's studio prices at about AED 1,903 per sq ft against Arjan's AED 1,355. Ellington House's developer pricing of about AED 1,950 per sq ft sits under a Dubai Hills Estate average near AED 2,380.
• Rent is where the finish pays. Ellington House I is reported to let about 28% above the market average rent for its area, which is the only argument that makes a specification premium pay for itself.
• The contract allows a twelve-month delay. One buyer publicly reports being refused compensation on a longer one. The completion date in the sale agreement, not the launch date, is the date that binds.
• "Ellington House" is four buildings, not one — phases I to IV, four handover dates, four owners' associations and four service-charge budgets, routinely advertised as a single address.

The two projects we track, with live pages

Both are effectively finished, which is unusual for a developer page on this site and is the main reason these two are worth a buyer's time. You are looking at title deeds and existing tenancy contracts rather than a completion date. Arbor View runs at roughly 19 homes a floor against 35-plus in the largest Arjan towers, and every apartment in it — studios included — has a powder room, a laundry room, a pantry and a balcony. That is where the rate per square foot goes.

The delivery record, project by project

Arbor View is the company's first completed building in Arjan, and that is the caveat to hold on to. The record above was earned in Downtown Dubai, JVC, Mohammed Bin Rashid City and Dubai Hills Estate, where a design premium had established pricing to lean against. Arjan is a cheaper community with cheaper comparables, so this is the first test of whether the Ellington premium holds where the community average is AED 1,355 per sq ft. In build behind these: Kensington Waters, 277 apartments of one to three bedrooms, and The Meriva Collection on Island B of Dubai Islands, a boutique beachfront hotel with five residential towers. Neither has a page on this site yet.

What the premium buys, and where it does not

Run both buildings against their own communities and you get two different answers from the same developer.

The Dubai Hills column is the more interesting one. A design-led building priced under its own community average is a rare thing, and it is why the resale listings there span AED 1.4 million to AED 9.9 million with an average ask near AED 3.42 million — a range wide enough that the average tells you nothing and only the specific phase and layout do.

The Arjan column is where a buyer has to be careful. Arjan rents are set by Arjan, not by your specification: a 40% price premium does not come with a 40% rent premium. The best evidence in Ellington's favour is that Ellington House I is reported to let about 28% above its market average — a real premium, and still smaller than the 40% price gap in Arjan. The two published yield sets for Arjan disagree as well, at 6.39% to 7.58% against studios above 8.1%, and a monthly studio rent quoted just under AED 7,000 does not reconcile with either at Arbor View's asking prices. Nothing settles that except the building's own tenancy contracts, so ask for them. Our yield-by-area page shows how to work the net figure.

Four phases, four purchases

Ellington House is advertised as one development and is legally four. House I completed in 2025; House II began handing over in May this year; House III carried a July 2025 estimate; House IV, about 110 homes, was dated Q4 2025. House III adds studios and four-bedroom duplexes that the first phase never had.

The consequences are practical. Each phase budgets its own service charge, so nothing you learn about one applies to another. No single DLD project number covers the development, which means the project check has to be run per phase. And a listing that says "Ellington House, Dubai Hills" tells you neither the phase nor the handover date of the unit you are being shown. Ask which phase, then ask for that phase's approved service charge and its own project record. The service-charge guide explains where the approved figure is published.

The clause to read before the brochure

Ellington's completion record is good, and it is not a guarantee. Investor discussions record delays on individual projects, and one buyer states publicly that their contract permitted Ellington a twelve-month delay and that the company declined to compensate them for a longer one. A twelve-month grace period is normal in Dubai off-plan contracts; what varies is what happens after it, and that is a clause in your sale agreement rather than a market convention.

On the other side of handover the process is more structured than most. Ellington runs a pre-handover inspection thirty days before the date, gives the buyer an independent seven-day inspection window before the handover appointment, and grades logged defects as A for safety, B for functional and C for cosmetic. Residents still report snagging and post-handover maintenance items — a premium price does not mean a defect-free flat — but a written snagging window with graded categories is a real advantage over a developer that hands you keys and a phone number. Use the seven days and pay an independent snagging firm; it is the cheapest money you will spend on the purchase.

Who should buy, and who should not

Buy Ellington if you are letting to a tenant who will pay for specification and you can prove that tenant exists in that community. In Dubai Hills Estate the case is straightforward: the developer's rate sits below the community average, the schools and the mall are already open, and House I's reported rent premium is evidence rather than a claim. Buy in Arjan if you intend to live in the flat, where a powder room and a laundry room in a studio are worth paying for in a way a spreadsheet will not show.

Do not buy Arbor View purely as a yield asset. At roughly 40% over the community rate, Arjan's own rents cannot carry the price to the yields the community publishes, and Arjan has no Metro station today — the Blue Line is a plan with a date, not an operating stop. Do not buy a phase without identifying which phase it is. Do not buy on the strength of a AED 3.42 million average ask in a building whose listings run to AED 9.9 million. And if the total ticket is the constraint rather than the finish, a high-volume developer on a long instalment plan is a different product at a different price — Samana is the clearest contrast on this site, selling studios in cheaper districts on plans up to 75 months. Only the three-bedroom at Arbor View, around AED 2.5 million, clears the AED 2 million Golden Visa threshold; Ellington House does so from its mid-range units upward.

What it costs to buy one

Both of these are ready purchases, so the arithmetic is a transfer rather than a schedule. On a AED 1.4 million resale at Ellington House: the 4% DLD transfer fee is AED 56,000, trustee and title-deed fees about AED 4,200, and agency commission 2% plus VAT, or AED 28,000 — roughly AED 1,488,000 to own it. A UAE resident can borrow up to 80% of value and a non-resident typically 50% to 75%. On the AED 860,000 studio at Arbor View the transfer fee is AED 34,400 and the total to own is about AED 898,600. The annual service charge on a 790 sq ft apartment runs AED 9,500 to AED 15,800 depending on which benchmark applies, and on a 452 sq ft studio in Arjan about AED 4,600 to AED 8,200. There is no annual property tax in the UAE and no VAT on a residential resale, so that service charge is the whole recurring bill. The full fee schedule is on what buying in Dubai costs, and the resale guide covers buying from an existing owner.

FAQs

Is Ellington Properties a good developer?

On the record, yes. More than eighteen projects delivered since 2014, 847 homes in 2023 and 923 in 2024, two of those finished early, no Land Department arbitration cases filed against it, and a reported 96% occupancy across delivered buildings. The qualification is that individual projects have slipped and its contracts permit a twelve-month delay, so read the completion clause rather than the track record.

What is the cheapest Ellington property in Dubai?

Arbor View in Arjan, from about AED 860,000, roughly Rs 2.21 crore, for a studio of around 452 sq ft in a building that started handing over in May this year. It is also Ellington's first completed project in that community.

Do Ellington apartments rent for more than the market?

Ellington House I is reported to let about 28% above its area's average rent, which is the strongest published evidence of the specification premium translating into income. Treat it as one building's result, not a company-wide rule, and ask for the actual tenancy contracts in the building you are buying.

Why are there four Ellington House buildings?

Because it was developed in four phases in Dubai Hills Estate, with separate completion dates from 2025 into this year and a different unit mix in the later phases. Each phase has its own owners' association, service-charge budget and project record, so the phase number matters as much as the address.

What happens if an Ellington project is late?

The sale agreement sets a completion date and a grace period, commonly twelve months in Dubai off-plan contracts, and what follows that period depends on the wording of your own contract. At least one buyer has publicly reported being refused compensation for a delay beyond it. Get the clause read before signing, and confirm the escrow account and project number at the same time.

Before you offer

Ask which phase, which floor and which layout; ask for the title deed, the current tenancy contract and that phase's approved service-charge budget; and book an independent snagging inspection inside the seven-day window if you are taking handover from the developer. Send us the specific unit and we will price it against what has transacted in that building rather than against the developer's average. The communities are covered on the Arjan page and the Dubai Hills Estate page, and everything we track is on the Dubai property list.