$4.7bn will be invested into over 23,000 new residential units across the country over the next five years, the UAE government has announced. This includes 5,134 houses that will be built in residential neighbourhoods that are already under construction, said Dr Abdullah bin Mohammed Belhaif Al Nuaimi, Minister of Infrastructure Development and chairman of the Sheikh Zayed Housing Programme.
Al Nuaimi was speaking at an event on the UAE’s 48th National Day to highlight the key achievements of the Sheikh Zayed Housing Programme. The programme was established by the UAE’s founding father, the late Sheikh Zayed.
The programme is said to be implementing a package of housing projects around the country this year, which include over 11,000 individual homes and another 2,936 units as part of four housing neighbourhoods that are under construction. These units will be delivered in 2020 and 2021 respectively, explained Al Nuaimi.
Under the scheme, the total number of residential units under construction this year has risen to 13,946, the minister confirmed. The programme will see the construction of 13,200 individual housing units in 2020, he said.
Dr Al Nuaimi pointed out that the main goal of the programme was to fulfil the housing needs of UAE citizens, so that it reduced its waiting period from eight years to several months.
The number of completed and delivered individual housing projects since the programme’s inception total 35,000 houses, while houses delivered to UAE citizens through residential neighbourhoods amounted to 1,490, as part of the construction of five neighbourhoods costing $408m, he added.
The programme aims to meet sustainability standards related to residential neighbourhoods, through reducing water and electricity consumption by 40% and 20% respectively.