February 26, 2008
Dubai
The Mohammed bin Rashid Housing Establishment (MBRHE) announces 300 new housing loans worth 225 million dirhams for the month of February, which is in line with the directions of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, to double the number of housing loans on a monthly basis from 150 to 300.

Moreover, MBRHE will announce on Thursday 28th of February the 150 names of the second batch of beneficiaries of housing plots. MBRHE decided to announce the names on a weekly basis and in batches to streamline the organization of the allocations. These will be presented to those who have the means of building their own houses either from their own pockets or by acquiring loans from the MBRHE, the Sheikh Zayed Housing Programme or other sources.

Commenting on the issue, MBRHE’s Board Member and Executive Director, Engineer Rashid Mohammed Al-Mutawwa, said: "The kind gesture of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, to give plots of land to UAE nationals is in line with his deep commitment to taking care of the citizens of this country."

Al-Mutawwa praised Sheikh Mohammed for his numerous kind gestures, and his close observations and meeting the demands of his people to ensure their comfort, in view of the fact that housing is an important part of the general strategy of the Dubai Government.

He said every person whose name appears on the list of beneficiaries must have the means of building their house either by having sufficient personal funds or by acquiring loan. He added that every beneficiary would be given a deadline of one year within which he is to have acquired a building permit and two years for him to complete the building’s construction.

He advised every person who is not ready now to enter into such a project not to apply for or receive the land, even if his name appears on the list. He has the rights, and these are protected, to receive the land once he is ready for the project.

"This is better for such a person in order not to lose the land due to his inability to acquire the building permit or commence building of the house before the one year deadline," he further explained. He added that the system is aimed to allow those who are ready now first while those who are not ready should wait until they are.

He said that from Sunday 2nd of March all those who find their names on the list of beneficiaries should contact the customer service centres of the Al-Tawwar and Umm Suqeim branches of Dubai Municipality to register their names. MBRHE will later contact the Municipality to order the release of the land, which the beneficiary can finally receive from the Municipality's Land and Area division a fortnight later after completing the hand-over procedures.

"Any person whose name appears on the list of beneficiaries of the facility will have to fill the land acquisition form (Form no. 1) and sign a commitment form (Form no. 2) and attach a loan acquisition letter from his bank or other financial sources, or a statement of his account proving that he has a minimum amount of AED500,000 over the past three months," he said, adding that the MBRHE has prepared a guidebook for all procedures to be followed in order to acquire the land.