Down-payment ceilings are set not by your bank but by the Central Bank of the UAE: circular 31/2013 as amended in 2020. An expatriate buying a first home gets up to 80% of value, a second or investment property 60%, and anything off-plan 50% with no exceptions at all. And the thing worth knowing in advance: the word "non-resident" does not appear in the regulation, which makes tougher non-resident terms a bank's policy rather than the regulator's ceiling.
Verified against official sources as of 2026-09-14. Every figure below comes from the CBUAE Rulebook: circular C 31/2013, effective from 28/12/2013, status "In-Force", as amended by board resolution RES 31/2/2020, effective from 8/4/2020. Links at the end.
Buyers usually ask "what down payment will the bank want?" — and get the answer from a bank. But the bank does not set the ceiling. The Central Bank of the UAE does, in Article 3 of the mortgage loan regulations, and that text is open to read.
Below is what it says — and one important thing it does not say.
The LTV ceilings, straight from the primary source
LTV (loan to value) is the loan amount against the value of the property. The down payment is whatever is left up to 100%.
| Borrower category and case | Maximum LTV | Minimum down payment | source |
|---|---|---|---|
| UAE national, first home, value up to AED 5 million inclusive | 85% | 15% | verify |
| UAE national, first home, value above AED 5 million | 75% | 25% | verify |
| UAE national, second/subsequent or investment property | 65% | 35% | verify |
| Expatriate, first home, value up to AED 5 million | 80% | 20% | verify |
| Expatriate, first home, value above AED 5 million | 70% | 30% | verify |
| Expatriate, second/subsequent or investment property | 60% | 40% | verify |
| Purchased off plan — ANY category | 50% | 50% | verify |
Two lines in this table get misread more than any others.
First. "First home" does not mean "the first property you ever bought". It is a category you can claim only once: the regulation says plainly that "each borrower can only claim one property under this category".
Second. The 50% off-plan ceiling is the harshest line in the regulation, and it admits no exceptions: the text reads "regardless of purpose, value, or category of purchaser". The reason is given in the same paragraph — the long-term nature of the development process and the higher risk to completion. In practice this makes the choice between off-plan and secondary a question not only of price but of how much cash you need at the door.
What the regulation does NOT contain: the word "non-resident"
This is the single most useful thing to take from the primary source.
Article 3 has exactly two categories: "UAE Nationals" and "Expatriates". A resident / non-resident split appears nowhere in the text. So when a bank offers a non-resident markedly tighter terms, that is:
- not a Central Bank ceiling, but the bank's own credit policy and risk appetite;
- and therefore something to compare between banks, rather than a fact of nature not worth arguing about.
We are not claiming banks must lend a non-resident as much as a resident — that is their call. We are claiming exactly what the regulation says: the regulator's ceiling for an expatriate is one and the same, and everything below it is a decision by a particular bank.
The other limits — asked about less often, hit more often
| Parameter | Value per the regulation | source |
|---|---|---|
| Maximum loan tenor | 25 years | verify |
| Maximum financing — UAE national | up to 8 years' annual income | verify |
| Maximum financing — expatriate | up to 7 years' annual income | verify |
| Debt burden ratio (DBR) cap | 50% | verify |
| Age at last repayment | determined by the lender under its own risk policy | verify |
| Repayment frequency | not less than quarterly | verify |
Note the 7-years-of-income cap for expatriates: it is a second, independent boundary. It can bind harder than LTV — income may cap the amount before the property's value does.
Four rules in the regulation that change the maths
These are the places where "the calculator pre-approved me" parts company with reality.
- A stress test is mandatory. Lenders are required to stress test the loan at 2 to 4 percentage points above the current rate. Where an introductory rate applies, the test must use the rate that will apply after the introductory period ends.
- Vacancy is deducted from rental income. For an investment property, the lender must deduct at least two months' rental income from the DBR calculation, precisely to account for non-rental periods.
- End-of-service benefit cannot be the source of repayment. The wording is direct: its use is not allowed. Repayment must come from salary or verifiable business or rental income.
- The bar stays up after retirement. Where the repayment schedule extends beyond the expected retirement age, the lender must ensure the outstanding balance can still be serviced at a DBR of 50% of post-retirement income.
Separately on deferred principal: mortgage loans with deferred principal repayment apply only to investment loans, and non-repayment of principal may not run longer than 5 years from first drawdown. On collateral: a first class mortgage in the lender's name must be taken on all financed properties.
An honest detail we are obliged to flag
Two official pages of the rulebook word the threshold differently. Resolution RES 31/2/2020, which replaced the relevant paragraphs, reads for expatriates "less or equal to AED 5 million". The text of Article 3 as published on the rulebook page reads, in the expatriate paragraph, "less than AED 5 million".
For the overwhelming majority of transactions this makes no difference. But at exactly AED 5,000,000 the two official pages do not read the same way, and we say so out loud rather than picking whichever wording suits us. If your deal lands exactly on the threshold, that is a question for the bank and the regulator, not for a journal article.
What this means for your cash at the door
LTV is calculated on the value of the property, not on what you agreed with the seller. The bank runs the valuation, and if it comes in below the agreed price, the gap is closed with your money.
Beyond the down payment there are transfer costs; their composition and logic we covered in how to read DLD transactions. We do not quote those rates here: they are set by the Land Department, not the Central Bank, and mixing two sources into one table is exactly how numbers without provenance end up in a buyer's budget.
What we are NOT claiming here
- We do not quote mortgage interest rates. The regulation does not set them — that is market and bank policy.
- We do not give separate non-resident terms — because the regulation has no such category. Anything tighter than the stated ceilings is a given bank's policy, and it should be compared.
- We do not state a maximum borrower age. The regulation explicitly leaves it to the lender.
- We do not put Land Department fees in the same table as Central Bank rules: different sources, different amendment dates.
- We do not resolve the "less than" versus "less or equal" divergence at the AED 5 million threshold — we show it.
- This is not financial or legal advice. The article restates the open text of the CBUAE Rulebook.
- Rules change by resolution of the regulator's board — check the primary source before transacting.
Sources
- CBUAE Rulebook — Regulations Regarding Mortgage Loans, Article (3): Important Ratios — circular C 31/2013, effective from 28/12/2013, status In-Force: LTV ceilings by category (85/75/65 for nationals, 80/70/60 for expatriates, 50% off-plan "regardless of purpose, value, or category of purchaser"), 25-year tenor, 8 and 7 years' annual income, 50% DBR, stress test at 2–4 percentage points, deduction of at least two months' rent, End of Service Benefit not allowed, repayments not less than quarterly, deferred principal capped at 5 years and investment loans only, first class mortgage as collateral.
- CBUAE Rulebook — Amendments to Circular No. 31/2013 (RES 31/2/2020) — board resolution 31/2/2020, effective from 8/4/2020: LTV for first-time buyers raised by 5 percentage points "in order to enhance the affordability of home purchases"; the replaced paragraphs A.a, A.b, B.a and B.b of Article 3 are reproduced in full.
