The Sheikh Zayed Housing Programme (SZHP) is considering a decision to increase the minimum limit for housing loans administered as part of the programme, a senior official at the Programme said today according the official news agency WAM.
“The Programme is studying different scenarios on this proposal. Any decision to increase of the minimum loan amount is subject to fulfillment of certain requirements such as marinating a balance between the loan size and the number of beneficiaries,” Mohammed Abdul Aziz Jassem, SZHP’s acting director general said.
In a statement made to rebut media claims that an increase to the housing loans minimum limit had been approved, Jassem said such decisions were usually taken by higher authorities, “based on thorough analyses that take into consideration market developments and the number of applicants, just to name a few.” He revealed that 4,492 persons benefitted from the Programme’s loans and grants in 2008.
“During the same year, more than 20,000 housing loans and grants applications were approved. We are expecting these numbers to increase in 2009,” he added.
Earlier this week, some media reports cited a new draft law for the SZHP which, they claimed, provides for hiking the minimum loan amount from its current AED 500,000 to AED 850,000.
