Buying a Flat in Dhaka: What to Check Before You Pay, and the Flat Registration Cost

In this guide: Flat buying checklist: papers to see before you pay · Your rights under the Real Estate Development and Management Act 2010 · How flat registration works · Flat registration cost in Dhaka · Buying a resale (second-hand) flat · Buying a flat from abroad

The short answer

Before buying a flat, check the landowner’s title to the land, the landowner-developer agreement and the registered power of attorney given to the developer, the approved building plan and permitted floors, any bank mortgage on the project, and the terms of the allotment agreement. Under the Real Estate Development and Management Act 2010, the developer must hand over and register the flat within three months of full payment. Registration is a sale deed for the flat with its undivided land share, and costs stamp duty, registration fee, local government tax and source tax, plus VAT on a new flat from a developer.

Flat buying checklist: papers to see before you pay

1. Land title: the landowner’s deeds, khatians (CS, SA, RS, city survey), mutation and the current khajna receipt. See what to check before you buy land.
2. Landowner-developer agreement: the written joint venture or land-sharing agreement, which says which flats belong to the landowner and which the developer may sell.
3. Registered power of attorney from the landowner to the developer. Without it the developer cannot sign a valid sale deed for the land share.
4. Approved plan: the building plan approved by RAJUK (or the local authority), with the number of floors. Count the floors on site.
5. Developer registration under the 2010 Act, and REHAB membership. Membership of the trade body helps but is not a guarantee.
6. Mortgage: whether the land or project is mortgaged to a bank, and the bank’s release before your deed.
7. Allotment agreement: price, payment schedule, specifications, parking, handover date, delay compensation and refund terms.
8. Occupancy certificate before you move in, and utility connections.

Your rights under the Real Estate Development and Management Act 2010

Breaches are offences. Handing over something different from what was promised, using poor materials or building outside the approved plan can bring up to three years’ imprisonment or a fine of up to Tk 20 lakh. Disputes can also go to arbitration under section 36. Keep every receipt, letter and brochure.

How flat registration works

A flat is registered by a sale deed at the sub-registry where the land is. The deed transfers two things: the flat itself, described by floor, number and area, and an undivided proportionate share of the land under the building. Both must be in the schedule.

For a new flat, the deed is usually signed by the developer, both for itself and as attorney of the landowner, under the registered power of attorney. Check that the power covers your flat and the land share.

Documents usually needed: the land title papers and khatian, the joint venture agreement and power of attorney, the approved plan, the allotment letter and payment receipts, NIDs and photos, proof of tax return submission (PSR), and the pay orders for the charges.

After registration: apply for mutation (namjari) of your land share in your name, and update the holding with the city corporation for holding tax. See how namjari works.

Flat registration cost in Dhaka

So in Dhaka city, stamp duty, fee and local tax come to about 4.5% of the deed value. Source tax and VAT are added on top, and in prime areas they are significant. The deed value cannot be lower than the government minimum value for the area.

In law the source tax falls on the seller or developer, but allotment agreements often pass registration costs to the buyer. Read that clause before you sign, and ask the developer for a written cost estimate checked against dolil.gov.bd.

Two 2026 points for flat buyers and landowners. From 1 July 2026 the Finance Act 2026 requires proof of return submission for namjari and for partition of flats and land in city corporation, pourashava and cantonment areas, not only at registration. It also introduced a new method of computing the income of developers and of landowners who take flats under a joint development agreement; a landowner receiving developer-built flats should take tax advice before signing or registering.

Buying a resale (second-hand) flat

• See the seller’s registered deed and the deeds back to the developer and landowner.
• Check the seller’s mutation of the land share and that khajna and holding tax are paid.
• Ask for a clearance from the flat owners’ association for service charges.
• If the seller took a home loan, get the bank’s release letter and the original title papers before or at registration.
• Check the original approved plan. A flat on an unapproved extra floor is a serious risk.
• On a RAJUK or other government leasehold plot, check the current transfer rules. A November 2025 government notification removed the need for prior permission for many residential plots and flats, but a transfer fee and later submission of papers to the authority still apply.

Register the bainanama within 60 days if you pay an advance. See agreements on stamp paper.

Buying a flat from abroad

Many flats in Dhaka are bought by Bangladeshis living abroad. You can sign the allotment agreement from abroad and pay through a bank, but registration needs the buyer or an attorney at the sub-registry.

• Give a power of attorney to a trusted person, signed before the Bangladesh mission and then validated in Bangladesh as the Power of Attorney Act 2012 requires. See power of attorney from abroad.
• Keep all payments in your own name through banking channels, and keep the receipts.
• Do not let the attorney receive the flat in their own name.
• Ask a lawyer to check the land and the developer before you send money.