Mortgage eligibility
Two people on the same salary can get different answers from different banks. Here is what actually decides it, and how to find out where you stand before you apply.
Short answer
What you can borrow depends on your income, what you already owe, the property, and the individual bank.
The Central Bank sets outer limits that apply to everyone. Each bank then applies its own, usually tighter, rules inside them. There is no single number, but there is a way to find out where you stand.
The Central Bank caps mortgage lending in three separate ways. Where more than one applies to you, the most restrictive is the one that decides your real maximum.
| What is being tested | The limit |
|---|---|
| The property | How much of its value you can borrow: 80% for expats at or below AED 5 million and 70% above; 85% and 75% for UAE nationals. A second or investment property is 60% for expats and 65% for nationals. Anything off-plan is 50%, for everyone. |
| Your income | All your debt payments together, including the new mortgage, may not exceed 50% of gross salary and any regular income from a defined and specific source. |
| A multiple of your income | Total borrowing may not exceed seven years of annual income for expats, or eight years for UAE nationals. This one is rarely mentioned and catches people out on more expensive property. |
The longest a UAE mortgage can run is 25 years. How the property limit works and how the income limit works each go into more detail. And CredMe’s calculator works out all three from what you tell it, then shows which one is holding you back, so you can see why the number is what it is, not just what it is.
This is the most useful thing on the page, and it comes from the regulator rather than from us.
The mortgage regulations set minimum standards. Banks are encouraged to apply higher ones, and nothing stops them adopting more conservative limits. The regulations go further: when a bank works out whether you can afford to repay, it must not automatically apply the maximum ratio, and it has to look at your particular circumstances.
So 80% and 50% describe what may be lent, not what you will be offered. Three different things are at work and it helps to keep them apart: the regulations, which are the same for every bank; the bank’s own rules, applied to your file; and whether you can actually afford the payment. Meeting the regulatory limit does not oblige any bank to lend to you.
Every bank must have its own mortgage lending policy, approved by its board. That policy sets out how the bank checks your income, how it decides whether you can afford to repay, and the maximum it will lend against each type of property. Banks must also collect and check a full history of what you earn and what you owe.
So the same profile produces different offers by design. Anyone describing a single set of criteria that covers “UAE banks” is either describing one bank, or guessing.
Banks must test you at 2 to 4 percentage points above the current rate. If your rate is an introductory one, they test you at the rate that replaces it.
So your affordability is judged on a bigger payment than the one you would actually make. It is also why a low starting rate does not, on its own, let you borrow more.
Income. Repayment has to come from salary, or from business or rental income the bank can verify. End of Service Benefit may not be used as the source of repayment. Two situations catch people out: on an investment property, at least two months of rental income must be taken out of the calculation to allow for empty months; and if the mortgage runs past retirement, the bank has to be satisfied you could still afford what is left at 50% of your post-retirement income.
Debt. Everything you owe to banks and finance companies counts towards the same 50% limit, credit cards included. Banks have to collect and check a full record of it, so a facility you hold is part of the picture whether you use it or not.
Your CredReport ranks the things that would change your position by what each is worth in dirhams, so you can see which is worth acting on in your case rather than in general. And if the biggest thing you owe is a mortgage you already have, the useful question changes, not how much more you could borrow, but whether the mortgage you have is still the right one.
The regulations cover UAE nationals, GCC nationals and expatriates alike. What differs is how much of the property’s value you can borrow.
The property matters too. Ready homes, off-plan homes and second properties are financed on different terms. And valuation is the step people forget: a bank lends against its own valuation, not the price you agreed. If the valuation comes in lower, the difference is yours to cover in cash.
Identity and residency documents.
Proof of income that suits how you earn it: payslips if you are employed, company financials if you are not.
Usually the most recent few months.
Every loan, card and overdraft, at every bank.
The exact list is set by each bank and changes with your circumstances. There is no single national checklist.
It is a ceiling. Banks can be stricter, and they are told not to apply the maximum automatically.
The limit based on your annual income catches people out more often than they expect, especially on more expensive property.
A credit card or overdraft you never use still counts.
Fees, the length of the loan and the rate after any fixed period can outweigh it. And you are tested at a higher rate anyway.
An application asks the bank for a formal decision. Working out where you stand first costs nothing and leaves no trace.
Work out which of the three limits applies to you, and by how much. Check everything you owe, including what you are not using. Confirm which parts of your income can be counted, and remember End of Service Benefit is not one of them. Get a figure for the cash you need on the day, not just the deposit. Then approach a bank, or have someone do it with your position already understood.
When you do, the first thing most buyers ask a bank for is a pre-approval, and what a pre-approval tells you, and what it does not is worth reading before you rely on one.
You can put your own figures against every one of those now, without signing up, without a credit check, and without anything reaching a bank. How CredMe works sets out the whole process, and you can speak to a CredMe Mortgage Consultant first if you would rather start with a conversation.
One thing to be clear about: CredMe is not a bank or a lender. It does not approve or decline mortgages, does not influence a bank’s decision, and cannot promise any outcome. It works from published regulation and its own dated record of bank criteria to explain your likely position before you apply. What you get is an initial assessment, not a lending decision. A CredMe Mortgage Consultant can then go through it with you and refine it. The final decision always rests with the bank.
Written by CredMe Team
Based on CredMe's mortgage assessment methodology and verified regulatory sources
Last reviewed 16 August 2026
The regulatory statements on this page come from the sources below, each read on the date shown. Figures quoted are regulatory maximums, not offers.
Indicative guidance only. Not a formal offer of finance and not a lending decision. Regulatory limits are maximums; each bank applies its own criteria, and every figure depends on the bank’s full assessment. CredMe is not a bank and cannot approve or decline a mortgage. See our disclaimer and how we are paid.
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