Renovating in DAMAC Hills
DAMAC Hills is established enough that most properties are past developer warranty, but young enough that structure and services remain sound.
That produces the most predictable kind of renovation: finishes throughout, a new kitchen, upgraded bathrooms and proper joinery, with nothing unexpected behind the walls.
External works are the other common brief. Many plots were handed over with minimal landscaping, and a decade on, the gardens are where the biggest improvement remains available.
Property types you will find here
- Detached villas and townhouses across numerous clusters
- Three to six bedroom layouts
- Many properties with golf course or park frontage
- Standardised handover specification within each cluster
| Detail | |
|---|---|
| Developer / master community | DAMAC Properties |
| Approval authority | Dubai Municipality (with community NOC) |
| Community NOC | Required, obtained by Benstead as part of the works |
DAMAC requires an NOC for alterations, raised through the DAMAC Living App. See our guide to the DAMAC NOC for how the application works.
DAMAC Hills villas sit around the golf course in defined types, and the renovation work splits cleanly between internal upgrading and external living space. DAMAC treats pools, landscaping and pergolas as separate approval categories, which shapes how a project here has to be sequenced.
What We Typically Find in DAMAC Hills
The things worth knowing before you set a budget.
Course-facing elevations
Plots onto the fairway take more sun and more wind-driven sand. Glazing, external paint and condenser coils on that side age faster than the rest of the house.
Pool and landscape as separate approvals
DAMAC lists pool, landscape and pergola as distinct work types with their own documents. Raising them together at the start avoids a stop halfway through.
Services generally intact
The stock is recent enough that a strip-out is rarely justified. The budget is better spent on kitchens, bathrooms, joinery and the garden.
Standard kitchens
Handover kitchens here are functional and generic. Replacement is the most common single item, and the services behind them usually need only minor alteration.
Gardens handed over bare
Turf and a wall. Shade, hard landscaping and a pool are what the plot was designed to take, and doing them together with the internal work is considerably cheaper.
Ejari if you are a tenant
DAMAC's document list differs by work type and requires the Ejari where the applicant is a tenant rather than the owner.
Renovation Costs in DAMAC Hills
Indicative ranges for the property types found here.
| Property | Scope | Indicative range |
|---|---|---|
| Villa, 4 bed | Full strip-out, finishes throughout, kitchen and bathrooms | AED 600k – 1.0m |
| Villa, 5–6 bed | High-specification refit with structural alterations | AED 1.0m – 1.7m |
| With pool & landscaping | Full external works alongside internal | AED 1.3m – 2.2m |
| Single-area refit | Kitchen or bathrooms only | AED 45k – 200k |
These are starting points based on the property types in DAMAC Hills. The number that matters is the measured one — we survey the villa, produce a bill of quantities, and give you a fixed price against it.
Request a Free Site VisitApprovals and Programme in DAMAC Hills
What has to be in place before work starts, and how long it realistically takes.
The DAMAC Living App
DAMAC handles approvals through the DAMAC Living App rather than a web portal. The route is Raise a Request, then NOC, Fit out or Alteration. The app names seven work types specifically: swimming pool, landscape, gas connection, ladder, internal modification, artificial grass and pergola. You select the NOC type and who collects it — owner, contractor or tenant — with additional information required if a contractor is collecting.
Charges, documents and what is yours anyway
Documents are listed per work type, and a tenant needs the Ejari. Charges are reviewed and the terms accepted before payment through the gateway. Worth knowing: a satellite dish needs prior NOC, while repainting is treated as the owner's own responsibility. The internal modification guide and the pool and landscape route set out the detail.
The authority permit
Where the works touch structure, drainage or the approved layout, an authority building modification permit is required on top of the community NOC. Consultant drawings are prepared and submitted before anything is demolished. Work that stays inside the existing layout frequently needs no permit at all, which is worth establishing early because it removes several weeks from the programme.
Both sit with us. You are not the one chasing an approvals desk — we prepare the drawings, make the submissions and carry the correspondence. The DAMAC NOC guide sets out the route in full, and there is a plain explanation of when a permit is actually needed.
| Stage | Duration |
|---|---|
| Survey, drawings and measured bill of quantities | 2 – 3 weeks |
| Community NOC and authority permit, run in parallel | 3 – 6 weeks |
| Strip-out, structure and first fix | 4 – 7 weeks |
| Second fix, joinery and finishes | 5 – 8 weeks |
| Testing, snagging and handover | 1 – 2 weeks |
How We Price a DAMAC Hills Renovation
Benstead is run by a quantity surveyor. We do not price a villa by walking round it and naming a figure. We measure it, and you receive a bill of quantities — every element listed, quantified and rated, so you can see what each part costs and what it is you are agreeing to.
That matters for two practical reasons. You can set our price against another contractor’s line by line instead of guessing why one number is bigger. And when something changes mid-project — and on a renovation something usually does — there is an agreed rate for it already, rather than a negotiation while the house is in pieces.
For an indicative range in about a minute, use the Dubai renovation cost calculator. Before you sign anything, why renovation quotes vary and red flags in a renovation quote are worth ten minutes.
DAMAC Hills Renovation FAQs
Do I need a permit to renovate here?
Cosmetic work generally does not require a building permit. Altering structure, drainage or layout does — and your community will require an NOC and a registered contractor either way.
We prepare the drawings and manage both submissions as part of the works, rather than leaving you to chase them.
How long will the works take?
A single-room refurbishment typically takes four to six weeks on site. A full villa renovation sixteen to thirty weeks.
Add four to eight weeks beforehand for design, approvals and procurement. Extensions and pools extend it further, because each triggers its own approval cycle.
Can I do the pool and the garden at the same time as the house?
Yes, and it is the cheaper sequence, but they are separate approvals. DAMAC's app lists swimming pool, landscape and pergola as distinct work types with their own document lists, so they are applied for individually even when they are built as one project. Getting all of them raised together at the start avoids a stop halfway through.
Who issues the renovation NOC here?
DAMAC, through the DAMAC Living App — Raise a Request, then NOC, Fit out or Alteration. The app lists seven work types including internal modification, swimming pool, landscape and pergola, and you choose both the NOC type and who is collecting it. Charges are shown and paid through the app's gateway before issue.
Do I need a separate NOC for a pool or a pergola?
Yes. DAMAC treats swimming pool, landscape and pergola as distinct work types in its own app, each with its own document list. Grouping them into a single internal modification request is a common reason for a rejected application. Artificial grass and gas connection are likewise separate categories.
What We Deliver in DAMAC Hills
Full Villa Renovation
Strip-out to handover, with municipality and community approvals handled.
Kitchen Renovation
Bespoke and imported kitchens, islands and services relocation.
Bathroom Renovation
Tanked, water-tested and photographed before tiling.
Rewiring & MEP
The item most often missing from a cheap quotation. Surveyed first.
Pools & Landscaping
Shell, plant, surrounds and shade planned as one package.
Extensions
New floor area with structural design and authority approval.