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Can I get a mortgage on an Abu Dhabi off-plan home now?

Can you actually get a mortgage on an Abu Dhabi off-plan home before handover now?

Yes. Abu Dhabi buyers can now get a mortgage on an eligible off-plan home while it is still being built, and the first transaction has already been completed.

This is a genuine change in how off-plan financing works in Abu Dhabi. Emirates News Agency confirmed that Aldar and Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank completed the first mortgage under the new Abu Dhabi Real Estate Centre framework. The financing bank was formally recorded against the property before handover.

Under that route, once the buyer has paid 50% of the purchase price, the bank can finance the remaining construction instalments and the final payment due at handover.

That removes one of the biggest uncertainties buyers used to face. Someone buying a property three years before completion often had to spend those three years hoping they would still qualify for a mortgage when the keys were ready. Their salary, debts, employment situation and lending conditions could all change in the meantime. The new system lets qualifying buyers bring the mortgage into the transaction earlier.

The important limit is availability. This works today on eligible projects with participating banks. Abu Dhabi has moved from “off-plan mortgages may eventually become possible” to an operating system, but buyers still need to check their specific project.

Question	Traditional off-plan route	New Abu Dhabi route	What changes
When can financing be arranged?	Mainly around handover	During construction	Financing can be secured earlier
Can the bank be registered before completion?	Rare in normal retail practice	Yes	The lender gains registered security
Who covers later instalments?	Buyer usually keeps paying	Bank can fund eligible remaining payments	Buyer preserves more cash
Has anyone actually used it?	—	Yes	The first Aldar–ADCB transaction has closed

Why is Abu Dhabi suddenly making off-plan mortgages easier?

Abu Dhabi is making off-plan mortgages easier because off-plan homes now dominate its residential sales market.

ADREC's latest half-year market report puts residential sales at AED70.4 billion. Off-plan properties represented 89% of that value and 82% of transactions.

That means roughly AED62.7 billion of residential property was sold before completion in only six months.

The mismatch had become hard to ignore. Buyers were increasingly purchasing homes several years before delivery, while the easiest point to arrange traditional mortgage finance remained much closer to completion.

The concentration goes even further. According to ADREC, ten developers generated 90% of primary off-plan sales, worth AED51 billion, while only ten projects accounted for AED30 billion of all residential sales. That makes developer-bank partnerships relatively practical: lenders can reach a huge part of the market by approving a limited number of large developers and projects.

The wider mortgage market is already sizeable too. ADREC recorded AED26.7 billion of mortgage transactions in the first half of 2026, up by more than one-third from a year earlier.

Construction-stage financing is arriving at a point when both off-plan sales and mortgage activity are already operating at tens of billions of dirhams.

Abu Dhabi residential market	Latest H1 2026 data	What it shows
Residential sales	AED70.4bn	Large underlying market
Off-plan share of sales value	89%	Most money is going into unfinished homes
Off-plan share of transactions	82%	Dominance extends beyond a few expensive deals
Top 10 developers' primary off-plan sales	AED51bn	Market is highly concentrated
Mortgage transactions	AED26.7bn	Mortgage infrastructure already has significant scale

Do you really need to pay 50% before getting an Abu Dhabi off-plan mortgage?

For the first live Aldar–ADCB route, yes. The buyer must reach 50% of the Abu Dhabi off-plan property's purchase price before the mortgage funds the remaining payments.

That figure comes directly from the structure announced by ADREC and used in the first completed transaction. It also lines up with the UAE Central Bank's mortgage rules.

The Central Bank's currently published Rulebook caps the loan-to-value ratio for property bought off-plan at 50%, regardless of the buyer category, property value or whether the home is being bought to live in or as an investment.

Take a AED2 million apartment. Under this standard structure, the relevant buyer contribution is around AED1 million before financing can cover the other half.

So the reform has a pretty specific audience. It is especially useful for someone who can fund a substantial part of an off-plan purchase but would rather finance the rest instead of tying up another AED500,000, AED1 million or more during construction.

For a buyer hoping to reserve a property with 10% or 20% cash and borrow nearly everything else immediately, the standard ADREC route does not currently provide that type of leverage.

Does the building itself have to be 50% finished before the mortgage starts?

No. The 50% trigger in Abu Dhabi's first live off-plan mortgage framework refers to how much of the purchase price the buyer has paid.

That distinction is easy to miss because developers usually link instalments to dates or construction milestones.

Imagine a buyer reaches the required payment level while the building itself is only 35% or 40% complete. The published Aldar–ADCB framework focuses on the buyer's financial contribution rather than requiring the physical building to reach the same percentage.

The bank can then fund eligible remaining instalments as they fall due and the final amount at handover.

A buyer therefore needs to look closely at the developer's payment schedule. Two projects selling at the same price can produce very different financing timelines if one asks for heavy payments early and the other pushes most of the price toward completion.

Will a bank automatically lend you the other half once you have paid 50%?

No. Paying the required amount on an Abu Dhabi off-plan home opens the mortgage route. The bank still decides whether you qualify for the loan.

The Central Bank sets maximum lending limits. Banks then apply their own underwriting inside those limits.

Income matters. Existing personal loans and credit-card balances matter. Employment, age, credit history and the lender's valuation of the property can matter too.

The Central Bank's current rules cap the debt-burden ratio at 50% of gross monthly income for ordinary borrowers. They also limit total mortgage financing to seven times annual income for expatriates and eight times annual income for UAE nationals. Mortgage terms can run for up to 25 years.

Suppose someone buys a AED3 million apartment. The regulatory off-plan ceiling might allow AED1.5 million of financing. If the bank calculates that the buyer's income and existing debts safely support only AED1.1 million, then AED1.1 million becomes the relevant number.

This is why buyers should seek an actual affordability assessment rather than calculate their future mortgage simply by multiplying the property price by the maximum LTV.

Borrowing constraint	Expatriate	UAE national	Why it matters
Standard off-plan maximum LTV	50%	50%	Caps the loan against the property
Standard debt-burden limit	50%	50% in the general mortgage rules	Income can reduce borrowing capacity further
Maximum financing versus income	7× annual income	8× annual income	High property value does not create unlimited borrowing
Maximum mortgage term	25 years	25 years	Sets the outer repayment period

Can you get an off-plan mortgage on any Aldar project now?

No. Abu Dhabi's new off-plan mortgage system applies to eligible projects, so an Aldar logo on the brochure does not automatically make every unit financeable during construction.

This is one area where buyers need to be precise.

A bank assesses the project as well as the borrower. Projects sit at different construction stages, use different payment plans and can have different financing arrangements with lenders.

Abu Dhabi's regulatory structure gives banks a much stronger base to work from. Off-plan sales must be recorded through the Initial Real Estate Register, and project funds flow through regulated escrow arrangements. ADREC's rules also allow registered off-plan rights to be mortgaged.

A buyer should still ask for confirmation covering the exact development and ideally the exact unit.

“Does ADCB finance Aldar?” is now too broad a question. “Will ADCB finance my unit in this project before handover?” gets much closer to the information that actually matters.

Which Abu Dhabi banks are offering off-plan mortgage options now?

ADCB currently has the clearest proof of a live Abu Dhabi off-plan mortgage because it completed the first transaction with Aldar, while several other major banks are already connected to developer financing channels.

Aldar's Home Finance platform gives customers access to a group of conventional and Islamic lenders that includes ADCB, First Abu Dhabi Bank, Emirates NBD, Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank, Dubai Islamic Bank and Emirates Islamic.

There is an important difference between being available through a developer's financing platform and having completed the same construction-stage mortgage structure on every project. ADCB has the strongest evidence on the latter because a transaction has actually closed.

ADIB is also especially relevant now. Its separate agreement with Modon introduces financing during construction for future Modon developments, with terms that go considerably further than the standard 50% structure.

The lender pool is widening. Project-specific confirmation is still essential.

Bank	Current Abu Dhabi evidence	Financing type	What we know today
ADCB	First Aldar transaction completed	Conventional	Live construction-stage mortgage proven
ADIB	Aldar finance channel and Modon partnership	Islamic	Active off-plan financing strategy
FAB	Aldar Home Finance channel	Conventional	Available financing partner
Emirates NBD	Aldar Home Finance channel	Conventional	Available financing partner
Dubai Islamic Bank	Aldar Home Finance channel	Islamic	Available financing partner
Emirates Islamic	Aldar Home Finance channel	Islamic	Available financing partner

What does the bank actually mortgage if your Abu Dhabi apartment is still being built?

The bank mortgages the buyer's registered contractual right to the Abu Dhabi off-plan property before the final title exists.

Abu Dhabi already had the legal machinery required for this. Its real-estate legislation states that off-plan dispositions are recorded in the Initial Real Estate Register and that registered off-plan units can be placed under mortgage.

The law goes further. A buyer can mortgage the contractual right attached to an off-plan unit to settle the purchase price, provided the unit is registered and the lender pays the financing directly into the project's escrow account.

The recent ADREC framework turns those legal provisions into a more practical retail mortgage process. In the first completed deal, the financing institution could be formally shown on the mortgage registration certificate before handover.

That registration is the key piece for the bank. The lender has a recorded claim tied to a specific off-plan property rather than waiting years for the completed title deed to appear.

Does the bank send the off-plan mortgage money to you?

No. Under the Abu Dhabi construction-stage mortgage structure, the financing is tied to the property payments and can be sent toward the remaining developer instalments.

That fits the way Abu Dhabi regulates off-plan projects.

The emirate requires project escrow accounts, and its real-estate legislation says financing secured against an off-plan contractual right can be paid directly into the project's escrow account.

For the buyer, the benefit is straightforward. Once financing begins, the bank can take over eligible amounts that would otherwise have to come from the buyer's own cash during construction.

A buyer cannot treat the mortgage as a general cash loan secured against a future apartment. The money remains connected to paying for that apartment.

What makes Modon's 75% ADIB off-plan financing different?

Modon's deal with ADIB goes much further than Abu Dhabi's first standard off-plan mortgage structure because eligible buyers can access financing of up to 75% on future Modon projects.

ADIB's announcement says customers will be able to use a structured payment plan with 15% paid during construction and another 5% to 10% at handover. ADIB can finance up to 75% of the property's value, subject to eligibility.

For a AED2 million property, 75% financing corresponds to as much as AED1.5 million. That is a very different affordability proposition from requiring the buyer to fund around AED1 million before a standard 50% mortgage takes over.

The product also deserves some caution in how we describe it. The Central Bank's currently published general mortgage rule continues to show a maximum 50% LTV for off-plan property. ADIB and Modon describe their offering as a specially structured financing solution for future Modon developments.

The public documents do not establish a general increase in Abu Dhabi's off-plan mortgage limit to 75%.

For now, the cleanest reading is that Abu Dhabi has a standard framework built around the existing off-plan LTV rules alongside a more aggressive developer-specific financing structure emerging at Modon.

Feature	Aldar / ADCB framework	Modon / ADIB structure
Current status	First mortgage completed	Announced for future Modon developments
Buyer contribution described	50% before standard mortgage funding	15% during construction plus 5%-10% at handover
Financing described	Remaining 50%	Up to 75%
Availability	Eligible projects	Future eligible Modon projects
What it changes most	Timing and liquidity	Upfront affordability

Can a foreigner get a mortgage on an Abu Dhabi off-plan home?

Yes, foreign buyers can potentially finance Abu Dhabi property, although residency status, nationality, income and the exact project can change what a bank will offer.

Foreign demand already represents a large part of Abu Dhabi's residential market. ADREC's latest half-year report says resident expatriates and non-resident foreign buyers together generated 70% of residential sales value.

That makes foreign-buyer financing commercially important for banks and developers.

The clearest published mortgage products for non-residents still come with tighter requirements. ADIB, for example, currently advertises non-resident home finance and requires salaried applicants to earn at least AED15,000 per month. For self-employed applicants, it publishes a minimum annual business turnover of AED3 million. Its eligibility page also imposes age requirements and asks for financial documentation.

What remains project-specific is whether a particular construction-stage product is offered to a non-resident on the same terms as it is to a UAE resident.

A foreign buyer therefore has three checks to make before relying on mortgage finance: the property must sit in an area where the buyer can own it, the project must qualify for the relevant financing route, and the bank must approve the buyer's personal profile.

If you already bought an Abu Dhabi off-plan home, can you use the new mortgage system?

Potentially, yes. Existing buyers may be able to finance an eligible Abu Dhabi off-plan property even if they signed the original sales contract before the latest mortgage framework appeared.

The underlying Abu Dhabi legislation already allows contractual rights in registered off-plan units to be mortgaged. The newer part is the practical banking framework now being used around those rights.

That makes the reform particularly interesting for someone who bought two or three years before handover and still has a large balance to pay.

Eligibility will depend on the developer and project, how much of the purchase price has already been paid, whether a participating bank accepts the property, and whether the buyer qualifies for the loan.

Existing buyers should therefore ask their developer's mortgage team or participating banks about their specific unit rather than assume that a financing arrangement announced for new sales applies retrospectively to every old SPA.

Does early mortgage approval really remove the risk of getting rejected at handover?

Early Abu Dhabi off-plan financing can remove a large part of the handover mortgage uncertainty, although buyers still need to keep their finances in good shape during construction.

There are several levels of certainty here.

A simple mortgage calculator offers almost none. A bank pre-approval is more useful because the lender has looked at the borrower. A renewable pre-approval can cover a longer construction period. An actual mortgage registered against the off-plan property goes further again because financing has entered the transaction before handover.

We can see the banking industry moving in that direction elsewhere in the UAE too. ADCB recently launched an Emaar arrangement under which qualifying buyers can obtain off-plan financing pre-approval of up to 50% of the property's value, initially valid for 12 months and renewable annually until handover.

Abu Dhabi's new ADREC framework takes the idea further where financing is actually registered and used during construction.

Borrowers still need to avoid major changes that could create problems with the bank. Large new debts, missed payments or a sharp deterioration in income can affect a lending relationship over a multi-year period.

Still, getting the bank involved while the property is under construction is far more useful than discovering at handover that the mortgage you expected is unavailable.

Are Abu Dhabi mortgages cheap right now?

No. Abu Dhabi off-plan mortgage access has improved sharply, while borrowing itself remains fairly expensive today.

The latest published EIBOR data from the UAE Central Bank puts the three-month rate around 4.13%, the six-month rate around 4.20% and the one-year rate around 4.81%.

Those are benchmark rates rather than the final mortgage rate a buyer pays. Variable mortgages commonly add a bank margin on top, while fixed-rate products can offer a different initial price.

This gets expensive quickly on a large loan.

For illustration, a AED1 million, 25-year mortgage at 4% costs roughly AED5,280 per month before fees and insurance. At 5%, the monthly payment rises to about AED5,846. At 6%, it reaches roughly AED6,443. Moving from 4% to 6% adds around AED1,160 every month, or almost AED14,000 a year.

So easier access to off-plan financing does not automatically make an off-plan purchase cheap to finance. Rate structure, fixed-period length, subsequent EIBOR pricing, bank margin, processing costs and early-settlement conditions can materially change the economics.

Illustrative AED1m mortgage over 25 years	Approx. monthly payment	Approx. annual payments	Difference versus 4%
4% interest	AED5,280	AED63,360	—
5% interest	AED5,846	AED70,152	+AED6,792/year
6% interest	AED6,443	AED77,316	+AED13,956/year

Will these new mortgages actually make Abu Dhabi off-plan homes easier to buy?

Yes, especially for buyers who already have meaningful cash available, and the newer 75% financing model could broaden access much further if it becomes common.

The standard framework mainly solves a liquidity problem. A buyer who can fund the early part of the purchase no longer necessarily has to keep paying the entire balance from cash until completion.

That can be a big deal on expensive Abu Dhabi projects. On a AED4 million property, financing the later part of the purchase can keep millions of dirhams from being locked into construction-stage payments.

The effect on first-time affordability is more limited under the standard structure because the buyer still needs a large initial contribution.

Modon's ADIB arrangement changes that equation much more aggressively. A buyer making roughly 20% to 25% of the payments personally while a lender finances as much as 75% starts to resemble the leverage people associate with a normal completed-property mortgage.

We have only one major Abu Dhabi developer publicly pushing that model this far today. If Aldar, Bloom, Reportage or other large developers eventually secure similar structures, the impact on who can afford to enter the off-plan market would become much larger.

Are off-plan mortgages becoming normal across Abu Dhabi now?

Abu Dhabi is building a real off-plan mortgage market now, although buyers should still expect availability to vary sharply from one project to another.

The evidence has moved quickly.

ADREC has created a framework that allows financing institutions to be recorded against eligible off-plan units. Aldar and ADCB have already completed the first transaction. Modon and ADIB are preparing a separate structure offering financing throughout construction. Several large banks already sit inside developer-led home-finance channels.

The legal foundations are also broader than any single partnership. Abu Dhabi's Initial Real Estate Register can record mortgages over contractual rights to off-plan units, giving other banks and developers a route to build similar products.

We still need to see repeated transactions across more developers before construction-stage mortgages become routine in the way mortgages on completed apartments already are.

The direction is much clearer today than it was even recently. Developer financing is moving earlier into the purchase journey, and banks are becoming part of the off-plan sales process before the building is finished.

What should you check before buying an Abu Dhabi off-plan home with a mortgage?

Before signing an Abu Dhabi off-plan SPA, buyers who need financing should confirm the mortgage terms for that exact project rather than rely on a general promise that “off-plan finance is available.”

Start with the property. Ask which banks currently finance the project during construction and at what point financing can begin. Then confirm which instalments the bank will cover and whether the arrangement continues all the way through handover.

Next comes the borrower. A maximum financing percentage tells you very little until a bank has checked your income, debts, residency status and credit profile.

The type of approval matters too. A verbal indication from an agent, an indicative mortgage calculation, a formal pre-approval and a registered construction-stage mortgage offer four very different levels of certainty.

Finally, verify the off-plan registration and escrow structure. Abu Dhabi law ties mortgage rights to registered off-plan interests, and lender payments can flow directly to the approved project escrow account.

What to check	What you actually want to know	Weak evidence	Stronger evidence
Project eligibility	Does a bank finance this exact development?	“Mortgages available” in marketing	Named lender confirms the project
Financing start	When can the bank begin paying?	Generic LTV percentage	Written drawdown schedule
Personal affordability	How much will the bank lend you?	Online calculator	Bank assessment or approval
Approval duration	Will financing still be available later?	One informal quote	Renewable or construction-stage approval
Payment destination	How will funds reach the developer?	Agent explanation	Bank and escrow documentation
Registration	Is the mortgage formally secured?	Sales brochure	ADREC registration process confirmed

So, can you get a mortgage on an Abu Dhabi off-plan home now?

Yes. Getting a mortgage on an Abu Dhabi off-plan home before handover is now a real option, and we have already moved beyond announcements to a completed transaction.

Aldar and ADCB have completed Abu Dhabi's first mortgage under ADREC's new framework. The standard route lets an eligible buyer bring bank financing into the purchase during construction after reaching the required buyer contribution, with the lender covering eligible remaining instalments and the handover payment.

That is already a meaningful change in a market where 89% of residential sales value now comes from off-plan property.

There is also an early sign that Abu Dhabi financing could become much more aggressive. Modon and ADIB have announced a structure offering eligible buyers up to 75% financing on future developments, with much smaller buyer payments during construction. We would treat that as a specific developer-bank product for now because the Central Bank's general published off-plan LTV ceiling remains at 50%.

So the answer today is a firm yes, with one important condition: mortgage availability has to be checked at project level. Abu Dhabi now has genuine construction-stage financing, but buyers cannot yet assume that every new launch, every bank and every borrower qualifies in the same way.

Fact-checked and reviewed by our local expert

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Osama Shawky 🇦🇪

CEO, estaie

Osama Shawky is the CEO of estaie, a platform specializing in flexible long-term stays. Through his work with property operators and investors, he has developed a strong understanding of Abu Dhabi’s real estate market, especially the demand driven by expatriates and business professionals. Using data and AI-driven pricing strategies, he helps maximize occupancy and returns in the capital’s evolving property landscape.

Who is the author of this content?

SANDS OF WEALTH

A team specialized in real estate investing in MENA countries (Morocco, UAE, Oman, etc.)

We are a team of financial experts, legal professionals, developers, and local real estate specialists dedicated to helping people like you avoid mistakes when investing in real estate in a foreign place, particularly in Abu Dhabi. If you’d like to learn more about us, you can check our presentation page.