Central Bank ceiling for an expatriate's first home below AED 5 million; the rule says nothing about where you live.
Official ruleWhat a buyer living outside the UAE is usually offered in practice.
Bank practiceCommon for a second property or an off-plan unit. The distance to 80 is bank policy, not law.
Bank practiceAll figures are documented on this page; the sources are listed at the end of the page.
What the percentage is measured against
Loan to value is the loan divided by the value of the property. The trap is the word value. Official rule The Central Bank requires the ratio to be calculated on the value established by the lender, and the assessment may not be based on future price appreciation.1 In practice the bank instructs its own valuer, who inspects the unit, and the ratio is applied to the lower of the purchase price and that valuation.
Example You agree AED 2,000,000. The valuer returns AED 1,900,000. At 65 per cent you do not get AED 1,300,000, you get AED 1,235,000. The missing AED 65,000 is not a negotiation, it comes out of your own funds on top of the deposit you already planned.
This is the single most common reason a financing plan moves at the last minute, and it is why we ask what a client would do at a valuation five per cent below the price before anyone signs anything.
The legal ceilings, in full
Official rule Article 3 of the Central Bank mortgage regulations sets the maximum loan to value. It distinguishes between UAE nationals and expatriates, between a first owner-occupied home and any further property, and between completed and off-plan units. It does not mention residence anywhere.2
| Case | UAE national | Expatriate |
|---|---|---|
| First home, value up to AED 5 million | 85 per cent | 80 per cent |
| First home, value above AED 5 million | 75 per cent | 70 per cent |
| Second and any further property | 65 per cent | 60 per cent |
| Off-plan, any purpose | 50 per cent | |
Three further limits sit alongside the ratio and bind just as hard. Official rule The loan may not run longer than 25 years. Total borrowing may not exceed seven years of annual income for an expatriate and eight for a UAE national. All loan instalments together may not exceed 50 per cent of gross salary and regular income, the debt burden ratio.2
The maximum age at the final instalment is the one number people expect to find in the regulation and do not. Official rule The text leaves it to each lender to set in line with its own risk policy.2 Bank practice The figures you will hear quoted, 65 for employees and 70 for the self-employed, are house rules, not law.
What a non-resident is actually offered
Here is the point of this page. Read the regulation and an expatriate buying a first apartment for AED 1.5 million appears to be entitled to 80 per cent. Ask a bank from abroad and the answer will usually be 65. Both are correct, because they answer different questions.
Official rule 80 per cent is the highest a bank is permitted to lend in that case. Bank practice 65 per cent is what a bank is willing to lend to someone it cannot easily pursue, whose income arrives in another currency, whose credit history sits in another jurisdiction and who will not walk into a branch.
Nothing obliges a bank to lend at the ceiling. The regulation is a cap, not an entitlement, and the difference between the cap and the offer is the bank pricing a risk it is allowed to price.
Nexus Bridge experience Because the gap is policy rather than law, it moves. It moves with the profile, with the property, with the currency the income arrives in, and it moves between banks in the same week. That is the part worth working on. Arguing about the legal ceiling is not.
Typical profiles
Bank practice The left column is the law and does not move. The right column is what we see quoted and it moves constantly, so treat it as a starting point for the conversation rather than a promise.
| Profile | Rule allows | Commonly quoted | What decides it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Expatriate living in the UAE, first home, completed, below AED 5m | 80 per cent | At or near the ceiling | Salary in dirhams, a local credit record, a branch you can be called into |
| Non-resident, first purchase, completed, below AED 5m | 80 per cent | Around 65 per cent | Foreign income, foreign credit file, no local footprint |
| Non-resident, first purchase, above AED 5m | 70 per cent | Below the ceiling again | The legal cap drops first, the policy discount then applies to the lower cap |
| Non-resident, second or further property | 60 per cent | 50 to 60 per cent | The second-property rule bites before any policy discount |
| Any buyer, off-plan | 50 per cent | 50 per cent | Cap and practice coincide, there is nothing to negotiate |
| Non-resident, self-employed | As above | Usually one step lower | Two to three years of accounts and tax returns, income averaged conservatively |
Three worked examples
Same currency, same interest assumption, same fee model. Only the ratio changes. Interest is taken at 4.5 per cent over 20 years, the one-off costs follow the published fee schedules of the Dubai Land Department.3
| A: the legal ceiling | B: the usual offer | C: a second property | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Purchase price | AED 1,500,000 | AED 1,500,000 | AED 3,000,000 |
| Ratio applied | 80 per cent | 65 per cent | 60 per cent |
| Loan | AED 1,200,000 | AED 975,000 | AED 1,800,000 |
| Down payment | AED 300,000 | AED 525,000 | AED 1,200,000 |
| One-off costs | ≈ AED 117,800 | ≈ AED 115,000 | ≈ AED 216,800 |
| Cash required | ≈ AED 417,800 | ≈ AED 640,000 | ≈ AED 1,416,800 |
| Monthly instalment | AED 7,592 | AED 6,168 | AED 11,388 |
Compare A and B, because that is the same flat. Fifteen points of ratio move the cash you must have in an account from about AED 418,000 to about AED 640,000. That is AED 222,000, and it is the number that decides whether a purchase happens this year or next. The instalment falls, which reads like a benefit and is not: you are simply paying for less borrowed money.
The cost layer in B breaks down as AED 60,000 transfer fee to the Dubai Land Department, AED 31,500 agency commission including value added tax, AED 8,400 for the two trustee appointments, AED 2,708 mortgage registration, which is 0.25 per cent of the loan plus a fixed AED 270, then a valuation of roughly AED 2,600 and a bank arrangement fee of about one per cent.3 Official rule None of it can be added to the loan. The down payment must come from your own funds and not from other borrowing.1
How to read "up to 65 per cent"
Every published figure in this market is a maximum with conditions attached, and the conditions are where offers are lost. "Up to 65 per cent" means 65 is available if nothing else binds first. Four things routinely bind first.
The valuation. The ratio applies to the lower of price and valuation, so a soft valuation quietly lowers the loan without anyone changing the percentage.
The debt burden ratio. Official rule Every instalment you owe anywhere, credit cards included, must fit inside 50 per cent of gross regular income.2 A car loan at home can cost you more borrowing capacity in Dubai than the ratio ever will.
The income multiple. Official rule Seven years of annual income for an expatriate.2 On modest incomes this bites long before the ratio does.
Age at the last instalment. Bank practice The regulation leaves this to the lender.2 A buyer of 55 who wants 25 years will meet a house rule, not a law, and house rules differ between banks in a way laws do not.
Nexus Bridge experience In our files the ratio is rarely the binding constraint. It is usually the valuation or the debt burden ratio. People arrive worried about the percentage and leave having solved something else.
What actually moves your number
Some things are fixed and some are not. It is worth knowing which is which before spending effort.
| Lever | Effect on the ratio | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Buying a completed unit instead of off-plan | Lifts the cap from 50 per cent to 80 | Decisive, and it is a rule |
| Whether this is your first property in the UAE | 60 against 80 per cent | Decisive, and it is a rule |
| Staying below AED 5 million | 80 against 70 per cent | Decisive, and it is a rule |
| The currency your income arrives in | Changes the income the bank will count | Bank policy, negotiable |
| Clearing consumer debt before applying | Frees room inside the 50 per cent | In your hands |
| A second valuation or a different bank | Can restore a soft valuation | Bank policy, worth trying |
| Applying to several banks in parallel | Five to fifteen points between offers | Bank policy, the main lever |
Nexus Bridge experience The spread between the first bank a buyer approaches and the best of four is regularly wider than anything else on this page. That is the argument for running the process in parallel rather than one bank at a time, and it is why the order of the conversations matters.
If your income is not in dirhams, the number the bank counts is not the number on your payslip. That is a separate subject and we have set it out on Dubai mortgage with foreign income. If you want the arithmetic for your own figures, the non-resident mortgage calculator applies the same caps.
Questions we are asked
Is the 80 per cent limit available to non-residents?
What is the maximum LTV for a second property in Dubai?
Why is off-plan capped at 50 per cent?
Is the ratio applied to the price or to the valuation?
Can I add the purchase costs to the mortgage?
What is the maximum age at the final instalment?
Does my nationality change the ratio?
Sources
- UAE Central Bank Rulebook, Regulations Regarding Mortgage Loans (risk management, verification of income, stress testing, own funds for the down payment), https://rulebook.centralbank.ae/en/rulebook/regulations-regarding-mortgage-loans (accessed 15 September 2026).
- UAE Central Bank Rulebook, Article 3, Important Ratios (loan-to-value maximums, 25 year tenor, income multiples, 50 per cent debt burden ratio, maximum age left to the lender), https://rulebook.centralbank.ae/en/rulebook/article-3-important-ratios (accessed 15 September 2026).
- Dubai Land Department, Request for Mortgage Registration (0.25 per cent of the mortgage value, AED 250 title deed, AED 10 knowledge fee, AED 10 innovation fee, trustee service fee AED 4,000 plus value added tax), https://dubailand.gov.ae/en/eservices/request-for-mortgage-registration/ (accessed 15 September 2026).
- Dubai Land Department, Property Sale Registration (transfer fee and process), https://dubailand.gov.ae/en/eservices/property-sale-registration/ (accessed 5 September 2026).