Tamweel offers up to Dh5m loans to overseas home buyers

Tamweel, the Dubai-based Islamic mortgage lender, has entered the non-resident home loan market with the launch of two new financing products.

The move, which makes Tamweel the first UAE lender to tap into overseas property investors, comes a month after the Government announced a new three-year visa scheme to overseas buyers of homes worth more than Dh1 million in the UAE.

Previously, non-resident home buyers of properties in the Emirates received six-month visas.

Under Tamweel’s non-residence programme, overseas property buyers will be able to borrow up to Dh5m for completed residential properties in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, with a repayment tenure of up to 25 years.

“The recent announcement by the Federal Cabinet will bring about increased certainty to foreign policy investors, which will in turn provide a boost to the UAE real estate sector,” says Varun Sood, the acting chief executive of Tamweel.

“In launching this product now, Tamweel is well positioned to meet the anticipated uplift in demand from overseas investors.”

Tamweel has also launched a home refinance programme, which allows owners of fully paid properties to unlock up to 50 per cent of the value of their homes.

“There is a clear demand from owners of fully paid properties to unlock some of the value in their homes to fund home renovations or their children’s education,” Mr Sood says. “The launch of Tamweel’s home refinance programme meets this demand.”

Home refinancing is a relatively new concept in the UAE, despite its popularity in more mature markets such as the UK, Australia and the US.

It’s not too late to book your summer holiday.

RAKBank, the Abu Dhabi-listed lender, is offering its credit-card and debit-card holders a discounted holiday package to Disneyland Paris over the summer.

The bank’s customers will be offered a 20 per cent discount on the package if they book through Al Tayer Holidays and pay for it with their RAKBank credit or debit card.

Cardholders will also receive two free tickets for children under 12 in any class when they purchase two adult air tickets with Etihad Airways.

Children under the age of seven can also stay for free in their parent’s hotel room. Hotel options include Disneyland Hotel, New York Hotel, Newport Bay Club, Sequoia Lodge, Hotel Cheyenne and Hotel Santa Fe.

“RAKBank is confident that the discounted holiday packages to Disneyland Paris will offer customers and their families an exciting travel option for the summer,” says Ian Hodges, the bank’s head of personal banking.