Dubai: Retired Emiratis earning Dh11,000 can now apply for the Shaikh Zayed Housing Programme, which increased the salary cap for retired Emiratis from Dh10,000 to Dh11,000.

This means that retired Emiratis earning up to Dh11,000 are entitled to receive a housing fund, said Dr Abdullah Bin Mohammad Bel Haif Al Nuaimi, Minister of Public Works and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Programme, during a media briefing held yesterday.

“We wanted to increase the cap for retired Emiratis because we found that the average pension is around Dh10,000. We wanted to include Emiratis especially those who receive Dh10,100 or Dh10,500, which is why we increased the cap to Dh11,000.”

Since its establishment, the programme, which aims to provide funding for Emiratis to build houses, has funded 31,000 applicants at a total cost of Dh14.5 billion and Dh1.4 billion was allocated to the programme from the UAE’s federal budget.

Emiratis whose salaries are no more than Dh10,000 (cap increased to Dh11,000 for retired Emiratis only) can apply for the funding, while those whose salaries are above Dh15,000 can apply for a no-interest loan.

Emiratis who earn Dh3,000 a month or less receive the highest allowed amount of Dh800,000, while those who earn a monthly salary of Dh3,000 to Dh4,000 receive Dh700,000 in funding. Those who earn Dh4,000 to Dh5,000 will receive Dh600,000 and Emiratis who earn more than Dh6,000 receive a Dh500,000 fund.

Emiratis, who do not have land, can apply for a house in one of the programme’s housing complexes that are spread across the country, said Al Nuaimi.

New online service

The minister also launched a new online service on Monday called ‘Choose your home’ where Emiratis with approved housing applications can log online to view the housing options of the programme’s complexes and choose their desired house. They can also book it online and a panel will confirm their booking based on their eligibility.

Al Nuaimi said the programme is currently working on minimising the two-year time frame needed to complete the houses and give them to their owners.

“Reducing the time frame is among the challenges that we face. In the future we have to find ways to do so; we are still in talks on how to do this.”