Mortgage advisory for UAE property, arranged privately.

Equity release on UAE property, also called loan against property or LAP, is a cash loan secured against property you already own. The property stays in your name. The bank holds it as security. You receive a lump sum, then make monthly payments over a fixed term. Funds are commonly used for business expansion, working capital, or new investment.

Equity release on Dubai residential property typically reaches 60 to 80 percent of market value. Commercial property goes from 50 to 70 percent. Lease rental discounting reaches up to 6 times the annual rental income for residential apartments, villas, and entire buildings. The exact number depends on the bank, your business profile, and the property type.

Active UAE banks for equity release and loan against property currently include CBD, Mashreq, and Invest Bank. CBD and Mashreq are strongest on residential cases. Invest Bank covers commercial and residential. Momentum is not tied to any single bank's panel. Each file is routed through partner channels to whichever bank's policy best fits the case.

Equity release rates currently range from 4.24 to 8.5 percent per year depending on lender, tenor, and borrower profile. Standard tenors run up to 15 years on equity release, up to 25 years on residential mortgages. One-time costs include a processing fee, typically 1 to 1.5 percent on equity release, property valuation, and Land Department mortgage registration. Pure buyout without cash-out normally carries no processing fee at the new bank.

Mortgage approval in the UAE takes four to eight weeks for a clean file. Document collection takes about two weeks on your side, bank credit assessment and valuation two to four weeks, and offer letter, signing, and disbursal one week. Files take longer when bank statements are incomplete, valuation surprises emerge, or AECB credit history items need explanation. Catching these issues at intake instead of mid-process saves three to four weeks. The first hour we spend on a file is reviewing where these problems are likely to surface, before the bank ever sees the application. A Momentum-prepacked CBD file typically clears in five weeks; files sent without that prep run closer to eight.

A mortgage buyout in the UAE means moving your existing home loan from one bank to another, usually for a lower rate. The new bank settles your outstanding balance with the old bank, and you continue payments under the new lender. A buyout can be combined with cash-out (equity release) in the same transaction, releasing additional equity while you switch.

Refinance makes sense when the rate gap between your current mortgage and current market rates is meaningful, typically 1 percent or more, and the break-even period on switching costs (early settlement fee, processing, valuation, Land Department re-registration) sits within two to three years. For loans taken in 2022 to 2023 at peak rates, refinancing now often saves materially.

Yes. Two structures work. Buyout plus equity release switches your loan to a new lender at a lower rate and releases additional cash in the same move. Or top-up: your current bank extends the existing loan to release equity without changing lenders. Buyout plus equity is usually better when your current rate is meaningfully higher than market.

Lease rental discounting (LRD) is a cash loan against the rent your property earns, residential or commercial. The lender advances funds based on the future rental income stream rather than your personal or business income. Repayment is serviced from rent received, often directly into the lender's account. Loan size depends on annual rent and remaining lease tenure.

LRD works when the property is already tenanted, the lease is long, and rent comfortably covers loan repayments. A single strong tenant on a long lease is the cleanest case. The property's rental income carries the loan, not your business income. Equity release works better for owner-occupied or vacant properties, larger absolute amounts, or longer tenors than typical LRD structures allow.

Yes. Loan against property (LAP) and equity release are two names for the same product in the UAE. Both describe a cash loan secured against a property you already own, where the property serves as collateral while remaining in your name. UAE banks use the terms interchangeably; the underlying structure and approval logic are identical.

For business-owner equity release: passport and Emirates ID, trade licence covering at least two years of operation, Memorandum of Association and Shareholders Resolution, last 12 months of business and personal bank statements, audited financials for the last two years, property title deed, office tenancy contract, VAT certificate, and VAT statements for the last four quarters.

Common disqualifiers: trade licence under one year old, irregular cash flow in business statements, recent AECB late payments, declared income that does not match bank statement deposits, audit reports showing thin profits or stretched debt-to-equity ratios, and VAT filings showing lower turnover than declared income. Most can be addressed with documentation; a small minority are hard exits.

Yes. Self-employed business owners are the primary client base for UAE equity release. Banks assess the trade licence (typically two years of operation minimum, though one year can be considered at lower LTV), 12 months of business bank statements, and VAT filings. Audited financials are usually required above AED 10M; smaller loans from AED 2M to 10M may be exempt with some banks.

Yes. Non-residents can obtain UAE mortgages and equity release, though loan-to-value limits are tighter, typically 50 to 60 percent of property value versus up to 80 percent for residents. Documentation requirements are heavier, including international bank statements and source-of-funds proof. Some UAE banks accept non-resident files, others do not. Routing matters more than for resident cases.

Minimum income thresholds vary by bank, typically starting at AED 10,000 per month for salaried applicants and AED 15,000 to 30,000 net business income for self-employed applicants. The threshold matters less than debt-burden ratio. Total monthly liabilities, including the new equity release EMI, must stay within the bank's affordability ceiling, usually 50 percent of net income.

Momentum works on files from AED 1M, residential or commercial, purchase or equity release. Smaller clean residential files from AED 700,000 are welcome where a bank's policy fits straight through. There is no upper limit; the largest single mandate arranged is AED 22M. The first conversation tells us whether your file fits.

Banks pay a commission on successful disbursal. That is the standard structure for UAE mortgage advisory, and on most files it covers the work entirely. On complex or multi-bank files, an advisory fee may be agreed in writing before we begin. Either way, our fee never affects your rate or what the bank charges you.

The early settlement fee on a UAE residential mortgage is capped at 1 percent of the outstanding loan or AED 10,000, whichever is lower, under UAE Central Bank regulation. This applies on buyout, partial prepayment, or full closure. Mortgages structured as business lending against property fall outside this cap; ESF can range from 1 to 3 percent and varies across banks.

Routing depends on three factors: the bank whose current credit policy fits your profile, the bank whose appetite for your property type is active this quarter, and the bank whose pricing matches your loan-to-value and tenor. Each file is routed through partner channels to whichever bank's policy best fits the case, not which has the lowest advertised rate.

UAE mortgage rates currently range from roughly 3.75 to 8.5 percent per year depending on lender, tenor, loan-to-value, property type, and borrower profile. Off-plan and retail buyout rates sit at the lower end; equity release on commercial property at the higher end. Rates are typically structured as EIBOR-linked variable, or fixed for one to three years reverting to variable.

Yes. Your initial conversation is confidential before any documents change hands. Once you proceed, your file is shared only with the bank we route to and any partner channel involved in submission, under standard non-disclosure terms. Your details do not circulate among brokers or competing lenders. Discretion is structural to how complex files reach approval.

Often yes. A leverage or trade facility secured on investments is reported to AECB as an overdraft, and most banks then count the full limit against your debt burden ratio. The fix is a liability certificate and portfolio statement from the lending bank showing the facility is asset-backed. Some rental-backed products ignore personal liabilities altogether.

Most banks count 70 to 90 percent of contracted rent after voids and maintenance, and a purchase sized on rent alone usually gets 70 to 75 percent. Loans backed purely by rent come to roughly six to seven times annual rent; Invest Bank sizes at about 5.8 times net rent. Ejari is the reference everywhere.

Only what is credited to your bank account counts. Company accommodation counts as zero, and an allowance that appears on a salary certificate but never lands in your account is excluded by every bank. Pilots, hotel staff and executives on accommodation packages should size the loan on cash salary and cash allowances alone.

Not before a title deed. Off-plan, the bank pays the developer directly for upcoming instalments, capped around 50 percent, and you must have paid 30 to 50 percent already with nothing overdue. At handover, the balance is financed as a ready property on valuation. Never pay a handover instalment before a lender is engaged.

Usually not. Most banks set the salaried minimum, typically AED 10,000 to 15,000 a month, on fixed salary alone. Commission, bonus and overtime do not get you over that floor, and some banks halve variable pay such as airline flying allowances even after it. If your fixed pay is below the floor, the file does not open.

A single missing month with no explanation usually stops the file. A letter from the employer confirming arrears can reopen it with some banks, and one bank finances approved employers from the first month of service. A salary certificate without a reference number is treated as missing. Fix the statement before the bank sees it.