First Gulf Bank & Finance Department sign agreement on housing finance for UAE Nationals

As per this agreement FGB will be responsible for financing housing loans for UAE Nationals on behalf of the Abu Dhabi government.

In 2006, Department of Finance, Government of Abu Dhabi invited banks to bid for the management of the Private Housing Loans scheme. FGB's bid was innovative, had a no cost offering, which benefits the recipient of the loan as well as the government.

Based on the bid, Department of Finance, selected FGB to manage the prestigious Private Housing Loans scheme for UAE Nationals, on behalf of the Abu Dhabi Government.

The Private Housing Loans scheme launched through Law no. 3 of 1990, aims at allowing interest free, long term loans to UAE nationals for construction, extension or renovation of their homes. This highly popular scheme received 25,609 applications by the end of 2005. The success of the scheme is highlighted by the approval of 16,237 applications totaling a value of AED 17.1 Bn .

Abdulhamid Saeed, Managing Director of FGB stated "We are keen to assist the government of Abu Dhabi in creating an infrastructure to meet the social objective of providing low cost housing to Nationals. FGB is honored signing the agreement and ready to fulfill its obligations towards the Nationals, as well as the Abu Dhabi government, through dedicated branches and specialized credit and engineering staff, at no additional cost to Nationals." Saeed also thanked the Abu Dhabi government for choosing FGB for this important task.

On completion of the hand-over process, FGB will first focus on the disbursement of AED 5 Billion granted by the government to finance houses for Nationals to a maximum of AED 1.2 Million, on interest free monthly repayment, over 30 years.

Under the arrangement, Dept. of Finance will continue to receive the applications for the UAE Nationals Private Housing Loan at its Abu Dhabi offices. List of successful applicants will be forwarded to FGB as and when they are approved by the authorities. Applicants should call FGB on 02- 6816666 or visit the dedicated branch area in Khalidiya in Abu Dhabi or the Khalifa Street branch in Al Ain to check on their approval status. Specially designated and trained staff will guide the customers through the process of design , tendering and construction of their homes and will represent them till one year after hand-over of the villa.

FGB will progressively take over loan disbursement and construction management of 5,830 houses that are at various stages of construction or design. FGB is also being entrusted to collect the monthly repayments for 7,310 houses that have either been handed over or to be handed over.