Crew mortgage calculator
What a bank will actually lend on flying pay
Airline pay is part fixed, part variable, and lenders do not count the variable part in full. This works out the ceiling three ways, applies the Central Bank limits, and tells you which one decides your budget.
A generic affordability calculator asks for your salary and gives you a number no bank will offer, because it counts every dirham of flying pay as though it were basic. This one separates the two, then tests your case against the three ceilings the Central Bank of the UAE imposes: the debt burden ratio, the loan to value cap for your category, and a limit on total financing expressed in years of income. The lowest of the three is your real budget, and for crew it is often not the one you would expect.
Result
Your ceiling is set by the loan to value cap for your category, so more income would not raise it. Only a larger deposit or a different property category would.
AED 960,000
Maximum loan
Which ceiling binds
- Debt burden capAED 1,288,493
- Loan to value capbindsAED 960,000
- Total financing capAED 1,461,600
- Income the bank counts
- AED 17,400
- Income you actually earn
- AED 21,000
- Monthly payment
- AED 5,336
- Payment as assessed
- AED 6,482
- Debt burden, assessed
- 37.3%
- Debt burden cap
- 50%
- Loan to value
- 80%
- Loan to value cap
- 80%
- Price you could support
- AED 1,200,000
- Left each month
- AED 9,618
Cash to complete
- Deposit
- AED 240,000
- Land department transfer feeGovernment fee
- AED 48,000
- Mortgage registrationGovernment fee
- AED 2,400
- Agency fee
- AED 24,000
- Valuation
- AED 3,150
- Bank arrangement fee
- AED 9,600
- Insurance, first year
- AED 4,800
- Total cash needed
- AED 331,950
This is a model, not a credit decision, and not legal, tax or immigration advice. The regulatory limits are as published by the Central Bank of the UAE and are ceilings: a bank may lend less. Every other value here, including the share of flying pay recognised and each fee, is an assumption you can change. Actual approval depends on a full assessment of your documents by the lender. No bank is named on this page and no lender's policy is stated.
The limits this uses, and where they come from
- Debt burden ratio: at most 50 percent of gross salary and regular income from a defined source, and 30 percent once the borrower is retired.
- Stress test: the loan must be assessed 2 to 4 percentage points above the rate on it.
- Loan to value, UAE nationals, first home: 85 percent up to AED 5 million, 75 percent above it. Second home or investment: 65 percent at any value.
- Loan to value, expatriates, first home: 80 percent up to AED 5 million, 70 percent above it. Second home or investment: 60 percent at any value.
- Off-plan purchases: 50 percent, regardless of purpose, value or category of buyer.
- Maximum term: 25 years.
- Maximum financing: 8 years of annual income for UAE nationals, 7 years for expatriates.
- Investment purchases: at least two months of rental income must be deducted when assessing repayment capacity.
Source
Central Bank of the UAE Rulebook, Regulations Regarding Mortgage Loans, C 31/2013, Article 3, in force since 28 December 2013, together with Notice 2901/2011 Article 7-2 for the retirement ratio.
This is a model, not a credit decision, and not legal, tax or immigration advice. The regulatory limits are as published by the Central Bank of the UAE and are ceilings: a bank may lend less. Every other value here, including the share of flying pay recognised and each fee, is an assumption you can change. Actual approval depends on a full assessment of your documents by the lender. No bank is named on this page and no lender's policy is stated.
Questions this calculator raises
Why does a bank not count all of my flying pay?
Because it varies. Lenders assess whether you can service a loan in a bad month, not an average one, so productivity-linked pay is discounted before it enters the calculation. How much is discounted is each lender's own policy and is not published, which is why it is an adjustable assumption here rather than a fixed number. Your basic salary is counted in full.
Which of the three ceilings usually decides a crew budget?
More often than people expect, it is the cap on total financing, which is 7 years of annual income for expatriates and 8 for UAE nationals. Crew incomes are often high enough to pass the debt burden test at a comfortable payment while still running into that multiple. When it binds, nothing about the deposit or the term changes the answer.
Why is the payment shown as assessed higher than the payment I would make?
The regulation requires the loan to be stress tested 2 to 4 percentage points above its actual rate. The bank decides affordability on that higher figure, so it is the one that matters for whether you qualify. The lower figure is what leaves your account.
Does the calculator apply a specific bank's rules?
No. It applies the limits published by the Central Bank of the UAE, which bind every licensed lender, and treats everything a bank decides for itself as an assumption you control. We do not name banks or state their credit policy. Where a bank has given you its own figures, enter them.
What happens if my repayment runs past retirement?
The debt burden cap drops from 50 percent to 30 percent, and the bank must satisfy itself that the balance outstanding at retirement can still be serviced from post-retirement income. For crew this matters earlier than for most professions. Tick the retirement box to see the effect.
Why is off-plan treated so differently?
Because completion risk sits with the buyer for years. The regulation caps the loan to value at 50 percent for off-plan purchases regardless of purpose, value or whether you are a national or an expatriate, so the deposit roughly doubles compared with a completed property.
Are the fees in the cash-to-complete figure exact?
The land department transfer fee and the mortgage registration are government charges and are marked as such. The agency fee, valuation, arrangement fee and insurance are market assumptions with typical defaults, and all of them are editable. Confirm each against your own quotes before you rely on the total.
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