The government of Bahrain has been focusing its efforts for a while now on expanding its social housing stock to provide the low-income citizens of Bahrain with affordable housing.

Accordingly, the Ministry of Housing alongside Kuwait Finance House-Bahrain have launched Mazaya program – social housing finance scheme – in collaboration with the private sector.

The program’s main aim is to assist those on social housing waiting list to get financed by a financial institute as well as to obtain a governmental financial support to purchase a housing unit.

Here is all you need to know about Mazaya program,

• Eligibility Criteria

First of all; you need to be a Bahraini citizen to be eligible to benefit from the Ministry’s Mazaya program.

Second, the applicant must be between the age of 21 and 35 with a monthly income that is not less than 600 BD and not more than 1200 BD.

Third, the beneficiary, by all means, should be a permanent resident in the Kingdom of Bahrain.

• Advantages

The program offers a luring list of advantages to all its beneficiaries,

1- The program gives you the right to immediately purchase a unit with no need to stay on the waiting list.

2- Beneficiaries are allowed to purchase units from any housing project that is approved by the ministry and not restricted to the ministry’s projects.

3- You are allowed to get a mortgage loan from banks that participated in the program.

4- You will only pay 25% of your monthly income as a mortgage instalment where the government will pay the reaming amount per month.

• Terms and Conditions

This here is divided into two parts,

1- Maximum loan amount

A maximum loan of 90,000 BD is the amount you are allowed to get.

However, you will be required to pay 10% of the amount as a down payment to the bank.

2- Maximum allowable house price

You are allowed to buy any type of property given its selling price doesn’t exceed 120,000 BHD.

And given that banks only loan you 90,000 BHD – in the case of buying a 120,000 worth property – applicants will be obliged to pay the difference.

3- Property status

Mazaya program beneficiaries are only allowed to purchase recently constructed units, whereas under construction units won’t be considered.

• Participant developers

A number of renowned and accredited real estate developers are among the participant developers by which buyers are allowed to purchase any of the properties registered in the program.

1- Naseej

2- Eskan Properties

3- Al Namal Group

4- Manara Developments

5- Diyar Al Muharraq,

6- Tadawul

• Participant Financial Institutions

1- Albaraka Bank

2- Bahrain Islamic Bank

3- Ahli United Bank

4- Al Salam Bank

5- Ithmaar Bank

6- Khaleeji Commercial Bank

7- Kuwait Finance House

8- Bank of Bahrain and Kuwait

• Requirements

Beneficiaries will be required to submit the following documents to the Ministry of Housing

1- Salary Sheet

2- Three-month bank statement

3- A copy of the smart ID card

4- A detailed credit report of any of beneficiary’s existing car loans, credit cards..etc

• Private Sector Social Housing Projects

There are many luxurious real estate projects by private developers that are under the public-private partnership (PPP) model.

These residential projects are committed to providing the citizens of Bahrain with their ideal housing.

Following the highest standards, these multi-purpose projects have all that residents need from shopping malls, entertaining facilities, cafés and more.

Here is a glimpse of some of the high-end projects included in Mazaya program,

1- Al Ramli project

2- Deerat Aloyoun

3- Wadi Al Riffa project

4- Hasabi

5- Danaat Al Lawzi