Sorouh unveils new personal financing schemes

Sorouh has created a Customer Finance Unit that will specialise in helping prospective investors with accessing the financing needed to buy into projects.

'In the current challenges facing the market, it is clear that the focus for successful real estate developers needs to shift in 2009, from sales-led to service-led strategies,' said Sorouh's chief sales and marketing officer, Simon Cunningham.

'We have been initiating new financing options for each of our developments, giving investors options to manage the financing payments for their future homes, and this will continue in 2009.'

Financing initiatives are to be put in place for units on the Sun - which will be topped out next month - and Sky towers, The Gate district on Reem Island and the alghadeer development, where the company's show villas are almost complete.

At the end of 2008 Sorouh joined with Aldar, the Tourism Development and Investment Company, ADCB and Mubadala Development to create a specialist home finance house for the UAE capital in view of tightened access to liquidity.

Finance commitment

'We have already made significant commitment to customer finance through our role in the formation of Abu Dhabi Finance...offering finance on properties in our developments,' said Cunningham.

'In the coming weeks we will be announcing further new finance options.' These are thought to include an initiative that is similar to Emaar's 'rent-to-own' scheme in Dubai, whereby investors have the option of renting for the first year and then using the paid capital as part of their payment on a property.

The schemes are the continuation of Sorouh's aim to realign its strategy to adapt to current market conditions, with the focus on end-user friendly initiatives such as helping with access to financing, and increased attention on the rental market.

'Going forward we will be very much focused on development and on the end user rather than speculators,' Gurjit Singh, Sorouh's chief development officer told AME Info at the end of 2008.

'Whereas in the past we have allocated a fair amount of our developments to the residential sector, we have also now focused a fair amount of our portfolio on recurrent income property. If you were to put the credit crisis on the table for consideration, I think developers will have to be smarter in coming to the market.'

Sorouh's plans include expanding the company's international presence. Al Maabar - a joint venture between Sorouh, Aldar, Reem Investments, Reem International, Mubadala Development and Al Qudra - has announced that it will invest $10bn in a Jordanian property development. The mixed-use Marsa Zayed development will cover an area of 3.2m square kilometres in Aqaba, and will be the largest property development in Jordan's history.

See also:
Investor interest in Abu Dhabi real estate begins to slow
Aldar confirms affordable housing plans