Yes, but only up to half of the price. Under the UAE Central Bank's mortgage regulations, a bank may lend at most 50% of the value of a home bought off-plan, "regardless of purpose, value, or category of purchaser". The bank must also wait until your own share has been paid to the developer before it releases any of the loan, and in Abu Dhabi the loan money goes straight into the project's escrow account. So plan to fund at least half of an off-plan purchase yourself, plus fees.
The rules below apply across the UAE, and the Abu Dhabi part comes from the emirate's property law. Nothing here is financial or legal advice: a bank's own policy, your income and the developer's contract all decide what you can actually borrow.
Which rules apply?
Two sets of rules meet in an off-plan mortgage in Abu Dhabi:
- The UAE Central Bank's Regulations Regarding Mortgage Loans (Circular 31/2013, in force since Dec 28, 2013) bind every bank, finance company and other institution that lends against homes in the UAE. They set minimum standards: the same page says nothing stops a lender from being more conservative.
- Abu Dhabi's property law, Law No. 3 of 2015, sets how an off-plan unit can be mortgaged and registered in the emirate. Abu Dhabi amended it with Law No. 2 of 2025, mainly on escrow and off-plan sales (see King & Spalding's summary).
Islamic home finance follows the same limits: Article 6 says Shari'ah compliant mortgages must also meet these regulations.
How much can a bank lend on an off-plan home?
At most 50% of the property's value. Article 3 explains why: "the long term nature of the development process and the higher level of risk to completion". The cap is the same for a UAE national or an expatriate, for a first home or an investment, and for a cheap or an expensive unit.
Once a home is finished, the limits are higher. Here is how Article 3 sets them:
| Buyer and property | Off-plan | Completed home |
|---|---|---|
| Expatriate, first home, under AED 5 million | 50% | 80% |
| Expatriate, first home, over AED 5 million | 50% | 70% |
| Expatriate, second home or investment | 50% | 60% |
| UAE national, first home, up to AED 5 million | 50% | 85% |
| UAE national, first home, over AED 5 million | 50% | 75% |
| UAE national, second home or investment | 50% | 65% |
"Value" here is the appraised value: the definitions in Article 1 measure the loan against "the appraised value of the residential property", which can be lower than the price you agreed.
A simple example: on an off-plan apartment valued at AED 2,000,000, the most any bank may lend is AED 1,000,000. The other AED 1,000,000, and the registration and bank fees on top, come from you.
When does the bank actually pay?
After you do. Article 2 says that where a loan pays stage payments, the lender "must first use owner's equity portion of the construction price to pay the developer/contractor" before it provides any loan money. Its payments must follow construction milestones that are "physically confirmed" by the lender or by an independent professional.
In practice, that means the installments of an off-plan payment plan up to your 50% (or more) come from your own pocket, and the bank's money arrives later in construction. Ask the bank how its release schedule matches your developer's payment plan before you sign either.
What does Abu Dhabi's law add?
Three things, as Al Tamimi & Company described the 2015 law for lenders:
- Registration first. You may mortgage your contractual right to an off-plan unit to pay its price, provided the unit is registered in the Initial Real Estate Register.
- The loan goes into escrow. The lender must pay the loan amount directly into the project's escrow account, not to the developer.
- An unregistered mortgage is void. A mortgage not registered in the Real Estate Register or the Initial Real Estate Register has no effect.
The same summary notes that the developer must tell your lender if you default under the purchase contract, so the bank can step in before the developer cancels. What happens to a buyer who stops paying in Abu Dhabi is covered in our post Can foreigners buy property in Abu Dhabi?, along with the 2% registration fee.
How do banks test whether you can repay?
The Central Bank sets the ceilings; your income decides how close you get to them. Under Article 3:
- Debt burden: all your loan repayments together may not exceed 50% of your gross salary and regular income. The bank must stress test the loan at 2 to 4 percentage points above the current interest rate.
- Income multiple: an expatriate may borrow up to 7 years' annual income, a UAE national up to 8.
- Investment homes: the bank deducts at least two months' rent from the rental income it counts, to allow for empty months.
- Term: 25 years at most.
- Interest only: allowed only on investment loans, and for no more than 5 years from the first drawdown.
Can non-residents get one?
The regulations do not set a separate tier for people who live outside the UAE: they name UAE nationals and expatriates. Whether a bank lends to a non-resident at all, and on what terms, is its own policy, and banks may be stricter than the minimum, so ask two or three banks directly before you count on a loan.
What does registering the mortgage cost in Abu Dhabi?
Published figures differ, so we do not quote one. Confirm the current fee for registering a mortgage in the Initial Real Estate Register with ADREC (Abu Dhabi's real estate regulator) or your bank, and ask the bank for its full schedule of fees: Article 4 requires lenders to set out every fee and charge in a separate schedule attached to the loan contract, and to show you the total cost of the loan over its life.
Can you pay off the loan early?
Yes. Article 4 says there should be "no impediment" to refinancing with another lender, and caps what a bank can charge for early repayment at its actual cost of breaking a fixed rate and the fees allowed by the Central Bank's other rules.
What should you do before signing?
- Ask the bank in writing whether it lends on this specific off-plan project, how much, and when it releases the money.
- Line the bank's release schedule up against the developer's payment plan, and make sure you can pay your share before the bank's money arrives.
- Check the unit is registered in the Initial Real Estate Register and that payments go into the project's escrow account.
- Budget the 2% registration fee, the mortgage registration fee and the bank's fees on top of your share of the price.
You can browse off-plan homes across Abu Dhabi, including Saadiyat, Yas Island and Al Reem Island; our catalog listed 59 Abu Dhabi projects when it was last imported on Nov 1, 2026. The payment plan and purchase cost tools show what you pay and when, and our AI advisor answers questions about any project in the catalog.