Abu Dhabi announces rental support package for married Emirati couples

Three housing initiatives will be offered as part of wider drive to encourage citizens to embrace traditional family values

Artists sing folk songs as 100 Emirati grooms prepare for their weddings. Abu Dhabi's latest initiatives seek to alleviate the financial burden associated with raising a family. Pawan Singh / The NationalShow less

Rental assistance, loan deductions and loan repayment extensions will be offered to Emirati married couples in Abu Dhabi as part of a wider drive to promote family stability.

Announced by the Abu Dhabi Housing Authority after approval from Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, the three initiatives will bolster the Emirati Family Growth Support Programme.

It is the latest move to support the emirate’s strategy to encourage young Emiratis to start families, and one of several efforts aimed at promoting marriage.

The Rental Assistance for Newlyweds initiative offers financial support of up to Dh75,000 annually for two years, renewable for a maximum of four years, to support renting a house.

It is aimed at Emiratis from Abu Dhabi who receive a monthly salary of no more than Dh50,000 and do not already own a property.

The Partial Loan Deduction initiative will offer repayment deductions to Emiratis who have had a housing loan request approved by the AHDA, according to the number of children in the family.

Deductions include Dh30,000 for a fourth child, Dh30,000 for a fifth and Dh40,000 for a sixth, without altering the original repayment period of the loan. Eligible applicants must have a monthly income ranging from Dh21,000 to Dh50,000.

The Extending Housing Loan Repayment Period initiative will allow Emiratis to extend their repayment period by up to nine years, thereby reducing their monthly outgoings.

For families with a newborn fourth, fifth, or sixth child, the repayment period can be extended by an additional three years for each additional child. Eligible applicants must have a monthly income exceeding Dh50,000.

A programme encouraging Emiratis to marry was announced last month. Similar initiatives are in place in Dubai.

At the start of the year, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, launched a Dh208 billion ($56.63 billion) strategy to double the number of Emirati families in the emirate within a decade.

The move is aimed at “providing housing, improving living standards, identity, values, social cohesion, health care, and developing future skills in our upcoming generations”, Sheikh Mohammed said at the time.

Dr Elizabeth Monier, an assistant professor in modern Arabic studies at the University of Cambridge, told The National that the strategy emphasised efforts to “increase the number of families, not just on the population”.

“The family is the basic unit of society upon which the cohesion of the state as a whole rests,” she said. “By prioritising the family unit, there is a clear emphasis on cohesion.”