Abu Dhabi: Abu Dhabi will have a housing authority with the mandate to implement and develop housing programmes and set up a comprehensive database for Emirati citizens applying for housing loans, land plots and low-cost houses.

President His Highness Shaikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan has issued in his capacity as the Ruler of Abu Dhabi a law establishing the Abu Dhabi Housing Authority as a corporate body enjoying financial and administrative independence. The authority, which enjoys full legal capacity to achieve its goals, will be affiliated to the Abu Dhabi Executive Council.

General Shaikh Mohammad Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Abu Dhabi Crown Prince and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, issued a resolution forming the board of directors of the Abu Dhabi Housing Authority.

Shaikh Mohammad said that providing houses and a dignified life to Emirati citizens was never a gradual process but a sustainable strategy that aims to ensure that UAE citizens enjoy living standards in commensurate with the leading position the UAE reached.

“We put huge potential and investments in housing to lay the appropriate environment for the development of our society and ensure that its citizens enjoy good living conditions and quality houses that cope with the cultural and architectural progress in the country,” Shaikh Mohammad said.

The newly established entity will be responsible for developing housing programmes, preparing rules and regulations for each programme, creating a database of Emirati citizens and linking it to competent authorities.

It will also receive applications submitted by Emirati citizens who apply for housing loans, land plots and low-cost houses and make the appropriate decisions regarding them after studying these applications. The housing authority is responsible for keeping the confidentiality of information.

As per the law, employees of the Private Housing Loans Authority in Abu Dhabi will be transferred to the Abu Dhabi Housing Authority, in coordination with the Department of Finance.

The board of the newly established authority will be chaired by Shaikh Hazza Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, National Security Adviser and Deputy Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Executive Council, while Jabr Mohammad Ganem Al Suwaidi, Director General of the Abu Dhabi Crown Prince’s Court, will serve as deputy chairman.

Board members include Saeed Mohammad Saeed Al Meqbali, Undersecretary at the Ministry of Presidential Affairs for local affairs, Khalifa Mohammad Hamad Al Mazroui, Director General of Abu Dhabi Municipality, D. Mattar Mohammad Saif Al Nuaimi, Director General of Al Ain Municipality, Falah Mohammad Falah Al Ahbabi, Director General of Abu Dhabi’s Urban Planning Council, Mohammad Haji Abdullah Al Khouri, Director General Khalifa Bin Zayed Humanitarian Foundation, and Sultan Khalfan Mattar Al Rumaithi from the Court of the Ruler’s Representative in the Western Region.

The board will have a renewable tenure of two years.