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'Why wait till 60?' UAE's housing policy for single, divorced women questioned by lawmaker
Under the Sheikh Zayed Housing Programme, the eligibility for unmarried female citizens is determined by 6 main categories based on their social status
- PUBLISHED: Wed 19 Mar 2025, 2:54 PM
Why single and divorced women without children are only eligible for government housing at the age of 60, an FNC member questioned on Tuesday, with the argument made that it is unreasonable to make them wait until such an advanced age to have a home of their own.
"On what basis was 60 years set as the minimum age for Emirati women to acquire housing from the government?" asked Saeed Al Aabdi, a member of the Federal National Council. "Are they waiting for her to graduate from university at 60?" he quipped.
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“After 60, our women are surrounded by medications — what is left of their lives?” He urged the authorities to revise the minimum age, which he described as an unfair condition that leaves many women facing difficult circumstances for years.
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Al Aabdi's questions were directed towards Minister of Energy and Infrastructure Suhail Al Mazrouei, "Why are single and divorced Emirati women without children only eligible for housing through the Sheikh Zayed Housing Programme after reaching the age of 60, leaving them to face challenging circumstances in the meantime? And what measures are being taken to support these women?"
In response, Al Mazrouei said the programme "aims to enhance family stability and ensure an adequate standard of living for citizens. Accordingly, regulations and conditions have been established for obtaining housing assistance for various social groups."
He explained that eligibility for unmarried female citizens is determined by six main categories based on their social status. These include widows and divorcees with children under their custody, orphans of unknown parentage, women who have lost both parents and elderly female citizens.
In case an applicant does not fall under these six categories, her request for housing assistance must be submitted by her parents to "ensure family cohesion and unity," the minister added.
The FNC member argued that the regulation was unfair to a woman who was married for a brief period. "If a woman is divorced after two or three months of marriage, why should she wait until she turns 60 to be eligible for housing?"
Al Aabdi, a beneficiary of the Sheikh Zayed Housing Programme himself, expressed his delight over a recent tweet by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, which highlighted that 13,000 housing applications had been processed in just two years. He also welcomed the news that efforts are underway to link all housing and financing authorities, enabling approvals to be completed within a single day.
"But the problem lies with local authorities," he pointed. "The process is tied to a system that can cause significant delays. If an applicant submits a request to a local authority for a housing plot, processing can take up to a year."
Even after the beneficiary receives the plot, Al Aabdi said, it often lacks basic infrastructure — no roads or essential services. "Then, it can take another four to five years before her home is ready, as she is left bouncing between the contractor and the engineering consultant. This is too much.
"That's why I'm calling for this decision to be reviewed. This regulation contradicts the UAE's policy of empowering women, because quality of life is the foundation of women's empowerment," he concluded, "and we don't see that reflected in this clause."
