Saeed Ahmed (Abu Dhabi)
Since its establishment 25 years ago, the Sheikh Zayed Housing Programme has placed the welfare of citizens and enhancing the quality of life for Emirati families at the top of its priorities, by providing affordable and sustainable housing solutions that seek to support family stability and enhance social happiness. Over the past years, the programme has achieved many distinguished accomplishments, thanks to the forward-looking vision of the wise leadership, which comes within the framework of the constant keenness to provide a decent life, raise the quality of life for citizens and achieve their happiness, and it is part of the state’s ongoing efforts to support citizens.
The support of the wise leadership, the tireless efforts to anticipate the future of government housing in the country, and the search for solutions and future housing needs, in cooperation with the relevant authorities in the government sector (federal and local) and the private sector, have contributed to the percentage of citizens owning homes reaching more than 91%, which is one of the highest rates in the world.
The efforts of the wise leadership in the field of housing translate into continuous achievements, including recently, the approval by the Cabinet, headed by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, may God protect him, of a new housing approval package for UAE citizens, worth one billion, 682 million and 59 thousand dirhams, and including 2,160 decisions for beneficiaries of housing assistance for the month of June 2024 within the Sheikh Zayed Housing Programme.
The Cabinet also approved the launch of the “My Home” package for beneficiaries of the Sheikh Zayed Housing Programme services, which provides 18 housing services to citizens, in cooperation with 24 federal and local government entities, to contribute to reducing the customer’s journey and the required documents he needs, by dealing with one entity instead of 11 entities as was the case previously, and reducing documents from 10 to two, and procedures from 14 to 3 procedures, while the package contributes to reducing the fields to complete services from 32 to 5 fields.
Thanks to the work plans, qualitative partnerships, policies and legislation, the program was able to reduce the time it takes for a citizen to obtain a housing support decision (loan or grant) from 4.42 years in 2017 to 1.07 years in 2023, while the number of housing loan/financing decisions issued by the program during the past year amounted to 4,334 decisions, compared to 835 decisions during 2021. At the same time, the percentage of reduction in financing housing support decisions by the government amounted to more than 400%, with an increase in the percentage of meeting the housing need to 62%, as the percentage was 34% in 2021, and reached 96% last year.
The total value of decisions issued during the past year amounted to 3 billion and 338 million dirhams, including 3015 housing finance decisions within the housing policy, with a value of 2 billion and 380 million and 551 thousand dirhams, while the number of housing grants amounted to 1025 grants, with a value of 682 million and 300 thousand dirhams, while the total decisions within residential neighborhoods amounted to 294 decisions, with a value of 278 million dirhams, in addition to the total value of effective loan decisions, which amounted to approximately 17 billion and 502 million dirhams, at a rate of 90.6%, while the percentage of closed loan files amounted to 9.4%.
The total number of decisions issued since the announcement of the housing policy in mid-2022 is about 6,235 housing finance loans in cooperation with banks and financial institutions, with a value of approximately 4 billion and 953 million dirhams, with a commitment rate of 95.92%, while the rate of meeting the housing need reached 90%, and the rate of reduction in the number of accumulated applications was 58%, and it decreased from 13,666 applications in 2020 to 5,830 applications last year.
The Sheikh Zayed Housing Programme, under the new decisions recently approved by the Cabinet, will reduce the backlog of applications, leading to the issuance of housing assistance decisions without waiting, which will increase the happiness rates of customers and give them sufficient time to plan their future homes.
The programme works to translate the leadership’s directives to develop its programmes and services, through which it seeks to enhance the levels of well-being and happiness of UAE citizens, and to secure suitable housing for every family. It also relies on objective criteria to ensure justice and transparency in evaluating applications and distributing grants, as the actual need and living conditions of applicants are considered to ensure that support reaches those who deserve it.
My Home Package
The “My Home” package is an integrated package dedicated to providing housing services, ensuring speed of completion and simplifying procedures for citizens, and enhancing the quality of digital government services, by reducing the number of services and requests that the customer needs to obtain housing services, reducing the number of required documents, and the duration of submitting the application.
It includes providing 18 housing services, through cooperation with 24 government entities (federal and local), and comes as a continuation of the UAE government’s efforts to achieve family stability by providing suitable housing for citizens, which is a matter that is closely monitored by the wise leadership, which always realizes the necessity of providing housing support, in a way that meets the aspirations of the Emirati family and a decent and safe life for citizens.
#Zayed #Housing #Affordable #housing #solutions #family #stability #priority