LTV, or loan to value, is the size of your mortgage as a percentage of the property’s value. Borrow AED 1.6 million against a home valued at AED 2 million and your LTV is 80%.
In the UAE, the maximum LTV is not a bank’s commercial choice. It is set by the Central Bank in its Regulations Regarding Mortgage Loans, and it applies to every bank, finance company and Islamic lender in the country, in every emirate. No lender can offer more than the ceiling on a standard mortgage, which is why the same limits come up whichever bank you ask.
Three details in the regulation matter more than they first appear:
Second homes (60% and 65%) and off-plan (50%) did not change. On a AED 2 million first home, the 2020 change means an expat can borrow AED 1.6 million instead of AED 1.5 million — AED 100,000 less to find in cash. If a calculator or guide is still using 75%, it is more than six years out of date.
Note the third row: a valuation above the price does not raise the loan. Banks use the lower figure in both directions, so you cannot borrow against a “bargain”.
If you know the loan you want and need to check it is allowed, divide it by the value. A AED 1.7 million loan on a AED 2 million home is 85% LTV — fine for a national’s first home, over the limit for an expat by AED 100,000.
This is why LTV matters long after you have bought:
Refinancing to another bank is a new mortgage, so the new lender tests your LTV again against a fresh valuation. If prices have risen, you can switch easily. If they have fallen, as Dubai apartment values did by 5.3% in the year to August 2026 according to ValuStrat, your LTV may still be above 80% years after you bought, and a new bank can only lend up to the limit. To switch, you would have to pay down the difference in cash.
Your LTV decides how much equity you can release. A first home worth AED 2.5 million with AED 1 million left on the mortgage could, under the 80% ceiling, support a loan of up to AED 2 million — up to AED 1 million released before costs. The same property held as an investment is capped at 60%, so AED 1.5 million and AED 500,000 released. Many banks set their own lower limits for cash-out, so treat the regulatory figure as the most you could get. How a switch works is covered in the mortgage buyout and balance transfer guide.
The current LTV limits
These are the limits in Article 3 of the regulation, as amended in April 2020:| Borrower | Property | Value of the property | Maximum LTV | Minimum down payment |
| UAE national | First home | AED 5 million or less | 85% | 15% |
| UAE national | First home | Above AED 5 million | 75% | 25% |
| UAE national | Second or investment home | Any value | 65% | 35% |
| Expatriate | First home | AED 5 million or less | 80% | 20% |
| Expatriate | First home | Above AED 5 million | 70% | 30% |
| Expatriate | Second or investment home | Any value | 60% | 40% |
| Anyone | Off-plan property | Any value | 50% | 50% |
- “First home” means one property per borrower. Article 3 states: “Each borrower can only claim one property under this category.” Any further purchase falls into the second-home row, even if you intend to live in it.
- The higher band applies to the whole value. A home valued above AED 5 million is limited to 70% (or 75%) of its entire value, not just the part above the threshold. That creates a sharp jump in the deposit, worked through in how much down payment you need in Dubai.
- Off-plan is 50% for everyone, “regardless of purpose, value, or category of purchaser”, in the regulation’s words.
Why you may have seen 75% for expats
Older articles — and many still online — say expats can borrow 75% and nationals 80%. Those were the original 2013 limits. On 8 April 2020, Central Bank Board of Directors Resolution No. 31/2/2020 raised the limits for first-time buyers by five percentage points to “enhance the affordability of home purchases”:| First home | 2013 to April 2020 | Since 8 April 2020 |
| Expat, AED 5 million or less | 75% | 80% |
| Expat, above AED 5 million | 65% | 70% |
| National, AED 5 million or less | 80% | 85% |
| National, above AED 5 million | 70% | 75% |
What “value” means
The regulation defines LTV as “the ratio of the amount of the loan outstanding to the appraised value of the residential property”. Appraised value is the figure from an independent valuation, which Article 2 requires “prior to any irrevocable commitment to lend”. It also says valuations “should not reflect expected future house price appreciation” — the valuer prices the home as it is today, not what it might be worth after the next launch in the area. In practice, banks apply the LTV to the lower of the purchase price and the valuation. If you agree to pay AED 2 million and the bank values the home at AED 1.9 million, an expat’s 80% limit gives a maximum loan of AED 1,520,000 — 76% of what you are actually paying. The rest comes from you. How valuations are done, and how to challenge one, is covered in property valuation for a Dubai mortgage.How to calculate LTV
The formula is simple: LTV = loan amount ÷ property value × 100 Turned around, it gives the two numbers a buyer actually needs:- Maximum loan = property value × maximum LTV
- Minimum cash for the property = price − maximum loan
| Buyer | Price | Valuation | Value used | Maximum LTV | Maximum loan | Cash towards the price |
| National, first home | AED 3,000,000 | AED 3,000,000 | AED 3,000,000 | 85% | AED 2,550,000 | AED 450,000 |
| Expat, first home | AED 2,000,000 | AED 1,900,000 | AED 1,900,000 | 80% | AED 1,520,000 | AED 480,000 |
| Expat, investment | AED 1,500,000 | AED 1,550,000 | AED 1,500,000 | 60% | AED 900,000 | AED 600,000 |
What LTV means in practice
“65% LTV” means the bank lends 65% of the value and you put in 35%. On a AED 2 million property, a 65% LTV is a AED 1.3 million loan and a AED 700,000 deposit — the limit for a UAE national buying a second home. The LTV ceiling covers the loan only, not the costs of buying. Since 1 February 2025, banks no longer add the DLD fee, agency commission or other purchase costs to the mortgage, because doing so pushed the real loan above the limit. So an 80% LTV purchase needs around 27% of the price in cash, not 20%. The background is in the DLD fee financing ban. Lower LTV can mean a better deal. The regulation sets a maximum, not a price list. Some lenders price by LTV band and offer slightly better rates or fees below 75% or 70%. If you have cash beyond the minimum deposit, ask for quotes at two or three LTV levels rather than only at the maximum. How LTV bands sit alongside the other inputs to your rate is covered in what sets your home loan interest rate.LTV changes after you buy
Your LTV is not fixed on completion day. It falls as you repay the loan, and it moves with the value of your home. Take a AED 1.6 million mortgage on a AED 2 million home — 80% LTV at the start — at 3.99% for three years and around 5.87% after:| Years in | Loan outstanding | LTV if prices fall 3%/yr | LTV if prices are flat | LTV if prices rise 3%/yr |
| 0 | AED 1,600,000 | 80.0% | 80.0% | 80.0% |
| 1 | AED 1,561,910 | 80.5% | 78.1% | 75.8% |
| 3 | AED 1,481,023 | 81.1% | 74.1% | 67.8% |
| 5 | AED 1,410,964 | 82.2% | 70.5% | 60.9% |
| 10 | AED 1,195,331 | 81.0% | 59.8% | 44.5% |
Non-residents
The Central Bank’s table does not have a separate category for people who live outside the UAE. Non-resident lending is decided by each bank’s own policy, within the expat limits above. In practice, the few banks that lend to non-residents usually go to 50% to 65% — a 35% to 50% deposit — with higher minimum incomes and more documents. Our non-resident finance team works with the lenders that offer it.Investment and off-plan purchases
Investment homes have a 60% limit for expats and 65% for nationals, and the regulation adds two further conditions. When working out affordability on a rental property, banks must deduct at least two months’ rent to allow for vacancies. And investment loans are the only mortgages allowed an interest-only period, limited to a maximum of five years from the first drawdown. Off-plan purchases are limited to 50% whatever the buyer’s nationality or the price. Banks also add their own conditions, commonly that construction is well advanced — 40% or more complete is a frequent requirement — and that the developer and project are on their approved list. The loan is released in stages as the build progresses.UAE nationals and housing programmes
Article 5 of the regulation allows more generous terms for UAE nationals using government housing programmes. Where a loan to build or buy an owner-occupied home under a local housing programme is guaranteed by the government, the maximum debt burden ratio rises to 60% and the LTV may be 85% on homes valued at AED 5 million or less. That also answers a question we are often asked: which bank gives the highest LTV to UAE nationals? None can go above the Central Bank’s 85% for a first home up to AED 5 million. The differences between banks are in rates, fees and how they apply valuations, not in the ceiling.LTV is only one of the limits
Even if the LTV allows a loan, two other rules in Article 3 can make it smaller:- Debt burden ratio: all your monthly debt payments, including the new mortgage tested at a rate two to four points above the one you are offered, must stay within 50% of your gross income. How that test works is set out in how the debt burden ratio affects your mortgage.
- Income multiple: the loan cannot exceed seven times annual income for expats, or eight times for nationals.
