Mohammed Bin Rashid Housing Establishment and Emirates NBD in partnership to fund UAE national housing

Press release

Published June 16th, 2011 - 06:58 GMT

Mohammed Al Marri, Assistant Executive Director for Financial Affairs, MRHE and Jamal Bin Ghalaita, Group Deputy Chief Executive Officer, Emirates NBD, shaking hands after the signing

Mohammed Bin Rashid Housing Establishment (MRHE) and Emirates NBD, the leading bank in the region, signed an agreement today, to support the funding of mortgage financing for UAE Nationals. The loan packages will be on offer only for residences where construction has been completed or under construction by individual owners.

The agreement is in line with the strategic objective of MRHE to further build and expand its partnerships with private sector organisations, banks and mortgage financiers to offer improved home loan solutions to UAE Nationals

The agreement was signed by Mohammed Hamid Al Marri, Assistant Executive Director for Financial Affairs, MRHE and Jamal Saeed Bin Ghalaita, Group Deputy Chief Executive Officer, Emirates NBD in the presence of senior officials from both organisations.

Speaking on the occasion, Mohammed al-Marri said that the objective of this agreement was to re-energise Public Private Partnerships between government organisations and various private sector institutions, with the objective of offering enhanced housing finance solutions for UAE Nationals through improved cooperation.

According to the terms of the agreement, Emirates NBD would pre-approve the loan applications of UAE Nationals applying for additional housing finance, only after the applicant had received approval from MRHE for the standard residential funding that all nationals are eligible to receive. The applicant will also have to provide the necessary documentation and guarantees required as per the bank’s policies for the final loan sanction.

All UAE Nationals are eligible to receive an interest-free housing loan from MRHE for a maximum of AED 750,000, to construct their own houses or buy a completed residential property. The repayment conditions can range from 5 years to 25 years depending on the income levels of the applicant.

Mohammed Al Marri continued that MRHE was keen on establishing such partnerships with relevant financial services providers that would positively impact the process of obtaining additional loans from banks, which the applicant could use either to begin construction or pay the first installment for the completed residential property.

Jamal Bin Ghalaita Group Deputy Chief Executive Officer, Emirates NBD, said: “As one of the major banks in the UAE, we strive continuously to strengthen partnerships between various sectors in the country to further drive development and economic and social integration. Our partnership with the Mohammed bin Rashid Housing Establishment is in line with the objective to offer UAE Nationals innovative financing solutions that meet their requirements and help them realise their dreams of building their own homes."

He added: "The Mohammed bin Rashid Housing Establishment is one of the leading national institutions in the state, which spares no effort in order to secure adequate housing for UAE Nationals. We are pleased to sign this agreement and look forward to further efforts to strengthen cooperation and integration between our two institutions in the future.

Jassim bin Speight, Director of Finance, Ramzi Mohammed, Head of Contracts and Procurement, Ms. Sara Darwish, Acting Head of Collection and Miss Sarah Hay, Acting Chief, Accounts Section represented MRHE at the signing ceremony, while Shekhar Krishnamurthy, Head of Retail Assets and Liabilities and Talal Al Mazrooi, Head of Direct Sales were present from Emirates NBD.

Background Information

Mohammed Bin Rashid Housing Establishment

It is a public governmental establishments of corporate personality, aiming at providing the appropriate housing to the nationals of the emirate of Dubai, by providing all the services related to housing the nationals under one umbrella through the various alternatives, such as granting residential plots, governmental houses, ready houses, maintaining and extending the current houses, giving housing loans as per the policies and standards adopt by the Establishment.

The Establishments contributes in stimulating the national economy by executing investment projects and activating the strategic partnerships with the private and public sectors.

Company Profile

Emirates NBD

Emirates NBD, the leading banking group in the region, was formed on 19 June 1963, when H.H. Late Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum signed the Charter of Incorporation of the National Bank of Dubai (NBD) which became the first National Bank established in Dubai and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). With the blessings of H.H. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, NBD merged with Emirates Bank International (EBI) on 06 March 2007, to form Emirates NBD, the largest banking group in the region by assets. On 16 October 2007, the shares of Emirates NBD were officially listed on the Dubai Financial Market (DFM). The merger between EBI and NBD to create Emirates NBD, became a regional consolidation blueprint for the banking and finance sector as it combined the second and fourth largest banks in the UAE to form a banking champion capable of delivering enhanced value across corporate, retail, private, Islamic and investment banking throughout the region.