Amlak Finance Istithmari Buy-to-Let Finance

Amlak Finance PJSC was established in November 2000 as the region's pioneer specialized real estate financier, went public in 2004 on the Dubai Financial Market, obtained a RERA escrow-management licence in 2007, and is licensed by the UAE Central Bank. It provides exclusively Sharia-compliant property financing for ready and off-plan property, with an Egypt subsidiary in divestment as of 2025.

The story that defines the company is the restructuring and its exit. Amlak froze in the 2008 Dubai property crash, entered a creditor arrangement that culminated in the 2014 Common Terms Agreement, and spent the following decade servicing and renegotiating. Resolution came fast in 2025: the sale of its Ras Al Khor land bank completed on 23 July 2025 for AED 2.9 billion with full proceeds received same day; on 24 July 2025 all remaining financier obligations of AED 898 million (AED 989 million total payments including profit across the year) were settled, the CTA exited ahead of its October 2026 deadline, and every pledge, security and mortgage was released. FY2025 accounts show net profit after tax of AED 1.47 billion (2024: AED 12 million), total income of AED 3.12 billion, accumulated losses fully offset with retained earnings restored for the first time in 15 years, and the auditor's material-uncertainty language resolved. A AED 735 million dividend followed, and Q1 2026 delivered AED 52 million net profit (up 86% year on year) with distribution costs to financiers at zero and treasury income from wakala deposits.

The product shelf is compact and structurally interesting. Amlak Ijarah is the flagship: the financier buys the ready residential or commercial property and leases it to the customer with a promise to sell, monthly payments comprising fixed, variable and supplementary rentals; up to 80% finance, 25-year tenors for individuals (10 for companies), AED 250,000 minimum, no salary transfer, ages 21 to 70. Istithmari, billed as the region's first Islamic buy-to-let product, finances completed investment property to 65% with payments serviced by rental income, a 3-month payment holiday, variable-rental-only payments for the first four years, and a complimentary property management suite (tenant screening and management, rental assessment, advertising, inspections, rent collection, Ejari and title transfer assistance). Tatweer extends the model to under-construction property: up to 50% during construction from listed developers, tenors to 25 years, customized payment plans, and a post-handover top-up refinance facility to 80% of value, plus the same property-management extras. Edaara and private construction finance round out the shelf. Every product page carries a downloadable product fatwa.

Fees are published in an unusually complete schedule: AED 3,000 application, 1% processing, valuation AED 3,500 to 10,000+ by property band, own-funds settlement 1% capped at AED 10,000 (maximum two partial prepayments a year, AED 25,000 minimum each), bank buyout settlement 3% of outstanding within five years then 1%, plus the Istithmari-specific 4% of last annual rental if settled within five years. What is never published is the profit rate itself: the installment calculator asks the customer to type their own rate, and quotes are bilateral. Sharia governance sits with the Internal Sharia Control Committee: Sheikh Dr. Mohammad Abdul Rahim Sultan Al Olama (chairman, also a National Bonds board member), Sheikh Moosa Tariq Khoory (member of the Sharia Standards Committee reporting to AAOIFI's Sharia Board) and Dr. Azzeddine Benzeghiba, and the company maintains a shareholder zakat information page.

The forward assessment: with a settled balance sheet, growing wakala-funded treasury income and a dividend-paying posture, Amlak has capacity to originate again, and its niches (self-employed borrowers, investor products, off-plan) are underserved by banks. The execution question is scale and pricing discipline, and the customer's protection is competitive quoting. Nothing in the public record raises Sharia-governance concerns; the fatwa-per-product practice is the best in the UAE mortgage market.