UAE approves Dh1.68bn in housing aid for Emiratis

Cabinet grants more than 2,000 applications for new houses as part of efforts to improve lives of citizens

The Sheikh Zayed Housing Programme was established in 1999 to help Emiratis, particularly those on low incomes. Photo: Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure

The UAE has approved Dh1.68 billion in housing support for Emiratis as part of a long-term drive to bolster standards of living for its citizens.

The funding, which will be delivered under the Sheikh Zayed Housing Programme, was announced by the UAE Cabinet this week.

Authorities granted applications made by Emiratis for the construction of 2,160 houses in June.

The decisions have been made to coincide with the upcoming Eid Al Adha celebrations.

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, chaired the ministerial gathering on Monday.

The Sheikh Zayed Housing Programme was established in 1999 to help Emiratis, particularly those on low incomes.

Relief provided by the organisation includes funding applications for house construction, completion, purchase, maintenance and upgrades.

In June 2022, President Sheikh Mohamed ordered Dh2.3 billion of grant applications made to the Sheikh Zayed Housing Programme to be finalised.

Suhail Al Mazrouei, Minister of Energy and Infrastructure, said at the time that all pending applications for funding assistance would be processed in the next five years.

Raising government efficiency

Sheikh Mohammed unveiled plans to streamline services offered by the Sheikh Zayed Housing Programme to speed up the application process.

“We approved during the Cabinet meeting, 2,160 new housing decisions for citizens under the Sheikh Zayed Housing Programme valued at Dh1.68 billion,” Sheikh Mohammed said, in remarks shared by the UAE Government Media Office on Tuesday.

“We also approved a project to simplify and reduce procedures within the programme in collaboration with 24 government entities.

“This will streamline the process, reducing the number of required documents for housing loan approval from 10 to two.

“We thank the teams working tirelessly to eliminate bureaucracy, re-engineer all government procedures, simplify them and ease the lives of our citizens.”

Known as the Manzil bundle, the enhanced platform is central to a wider push to reduce government bureaucracy and boost efficiency across the Emirates.

On Tuesday, the UAE expanded a government initiative to cut processing times for residency visas and work permits from up to 30 days to only five.

The move would benefit more than 600,000 businesses employing more than seven million staff, the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation said.

In February, Sheikh Mohammed, also Vice President, set out wide-reaching plans to make government services more efficient.

He said government departments would work to eliminate 2,000 unnecessary procedures within a year as part of the strategy.

Departments will aim to halve the time taken to carry out services under the Zero Government Bureaucracy programme announced in November.

Bonuses of up to Dh1 million ($272,000) will be awarded to the best performing employees or work teams.