Dubai first-time buyer scheme hopes to lure Brits, and keep them
A new first-time buyer scheme in Dubai will keep expats in the country for longer and is likely to help lure even more ambitious Brits priced out of the property UK market to the gulf state, property experts in the Emirate have said.
The city state’s Land Department unveiled its first formal programme to help Dubai residents get on the housing ladder earlier this month, in a bid to improve access to the region’s soaring property market.
An announcement from the department said the scheme’s users will be given “priority access” to newly launched homes under AED 5m (£1m), preferential prices, and “competitive mortgage offers”.
Dubai property professionals branded the scheme a “game changer”, telling City AM the scheme had sparked an “unprecedented demand” from expats looking to get their foot on the housing market and was likely to accelerate the flow of young talent from the UK.
Dean O’Neil, head of sales at Invicta International Properties, the largest property Dubai property firm in the UK, said the scheme had triggered “record levels of uptake from new buyers” at his London-based firm.
“For young people struggling to get on the housing ladder in the UK, [the first-time buyer scheme] provides an accessible entry point into property investment and a chance to build wealth in a dynamic global city,” he added.
The scheme will be open to all the Emirate’s residents irrespective of nationality or how long they’ve lived in the city, the announcement said, in a further sign of the region’s push to attract and retain an ever-growing entourage of ambitious foreigners.
According to data from Henley & Partners, the United Arab Emirates is expected to attract the most millionaires of any country in the world this year. Over 9,800 dollar millionaires from across the world will move to the collection of city states over 2025, with researchers pointing to its growing economy, minimal tax and low crime rate as major drivers of inward immigration.
There are now an estimated 240,000 Brits in Dubai, with 40,000 having left the UK in 2023. And according to a paper by John Mason International Movers, the number of people moving to Dubai has risen by 420 per cent in five years.
Nick Young, a Dubai real estate veteran who recently founded fledgling property tech firm Propkee, branded the first-time buyer scheme a “game-changer”, and said it – along with the influx of millionaires – reflected a concerted push from government officials to coax in more expats.
“The government continues to prioritise attracting a younger population to support a dynamic, working city,” he told City AM. “Allowing people to purchase property with a smaller deposit will open up access to.. up-and-coming areas [in Dubai], supporting a more inclusive expansion of Dubai’s real estate landscape.”
First-time buyer scheme to compound UK brain drain
The move will stoke further fears that the UK is struggling to retain its most ambitious citizens and suffering a ‘brain drain’ to countries offering a better quality of life or brighter financial prospects. According to a recent study of young Brits, four in ten respondents said they were considering a move abroad.
Charlie Bannan, managing director at Haus & Haus, told City AM the First Time Home Buyer programme would serve to encourage the growing number of expats from the UK to stay in Dubai for longer.
He said: “Expats are likely to take it up. I only see it inciting people to buy property and getting a piece of Dubai real estate.
“I think Dubai is very attractive, the population growth is very strong. And this will aid the people who are already here to buy a home, as opposed to renting one, and keep them here, and benefit from the capital growth over the next few years.”