Dubai permits citizens to sell ‘granted’ government homes

Dubai’s national housing body (MRHE) has been authorized to permit housing grant benefactors to “sell the house or land granted to him if the beneficiary owns another house or plot of land or if the house does not satisfy his requirements.” (Reuters)

LONDON: The Dubai government issued a decree on Thursday that aims to “provide housing solutions for the beneficiaries of grants and their families and to preserve the demography of citizens’ residential areas,” said a report from state news agency WAM.
Dubai’s Ruler HH Sheikh Mohammed has authorized the emirate’s national housing body Mohammed bin Rashid Housing Establishment (MRHE) to permit housing grant benefactors to “sell the house or land granted to him if the beneficiary owns another house or plot of land or if the house does not satisfy his requirements.”
The decree stipulates, “The purpose of selling the house or land should be to buy another house or plot of land and the beneficiary must agree in writing to the transaction being supervised by the MRHE. The beneficiary will not be able to apply for another house or plot of land once the house or land granted to him is sold.”
The law also states that the buyer must be a UAE national and the property should not be attached to any legal or financial liabilities and the sale price should not be less than the market value.
The decree specifies the terms and conditions for selling inherited property, trading properties, purchasing adjacent government-owned property and renting a house built on granted land.
MRHE was established in 2007 with the aim of providing appropriate housing to Dubai nationals through various means, such as granting residential plots, governmental houses and giving housing loans.