Tuesday, 27 October 2026 · Malé Search Newsletter Send us your launch WhatsApp the desk
Maldives Real Estate News

Maldives real estate, reported from the ground: developments, developers, prices, rules, and the homes behind them.

Rules & rates

3,200 lease-to-own homes: Bank of Maldives' affordable housing push and what it means for buyers

Under a Maldives Monetary Authority rule, every commercial bank must put 10 to 15% of its lending into affordable housing. Bank of Maldives has set up a company to build more than 3,200 lease-to-own homes in Hulhumalé and Villimalé. Who they are for, and what the scheme means for the private market.

By Published 2 min read

Illustration from Binga's stock library: a marble kitchen island at sunset. Not the building in this story.
Illustration from Binga's stock library: a marble kitchen island at sunset. Not the building in this story.

The biggest change in Maldivian housing finance in 2025 was not a rate cut. It was a rule. The Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA) now requires every commercial bank to put 10 to 15% of its total lending into its Inclusive National Affordable Housing Scheme (INAH). The rule supports the Cabinet's National Housing Affordability and Accessibility Project. Bank of Maldives (BML), which holds more than half of all loans in the country, moved first.

How it unfolded

  • 13 November 2025: BML signed a land allotment and development agreement with the Ministry of Construction, Housing and Infrastructure. It secured land in Hulhumalé Phase 1 and 2 and Villimalé for about 3,000 homes. The bank set up a wholly owned, Shariah-compliant subsidiary, BML Affordable Home Leasing Pvt Ltd, to deliver them.
  • 29 December 2025: contracts awarded.
    • Beijing Urban Construction Group: 1,117 homes on four plots in Hulhumalé Zone 2, about 13,475 square metres.
    • China Machinery Engineering Corporation, which built Vinares: 1,224 homes in Hulhumalé.
  • 27 January 2026: construction formally began on five projects. Local contractors Amin Construction, FW Construction and Rasheed Carpentry & Construction joined the two Chinese firms. Together they will deliver more than 3,200 homes in Hulhumalé Phase 1, Phase 3 and Villimalé.

How lease-to-own works

The homes are for first-time homeowners:

  1. You lease the home and make monthly payments.
  2. When the payments are complete, ownership passes to you.

It works like a long instalment purchase, without the deposit that has kept many families out of the market.

What it means if you are buying privately

  • More supply at the affordable end. Over 3,200 homes is a large addition to Greater Malé. As they are handed over, they may ease rents and prices for smaller flats.
  • A different buyer. The scheme is for first-time owners on a lease-to-own path. Buyers of developer apartments, especially larger or premium homes, are a different market, and the main products for them stay the bank's Home Purchase Financing.
  • Timing. BML has not published completion dates for the five projects. Until it does, treat their effect on the market as a question of years, not months.

From Bank of Maldives' announcements of 13 November 2025, 29 December 2025 and 27 January 2026. General information, not financial advice.

Ask the concierge how the scheme affects your plans

Sources and method

Prices are asking prices as listed through Binga unless marked achieved, and are dated. Developer descriptions are reported as the developer's own. Facts the desk could not verify are left out. Spotted an error? Write to hello@binga.mv; corrections are noted at the foot of the piece.

Binga Properties is a real-estate concierge; it may represent homes and developments mentioned here.

Rules & rates

The five lenders that accept your pension, and the five steps to use it

Only five institutions can take your pension savings as a home loan deposit: Bank of Maldives, Maldives Islamic Bank, HDFC, Mauritius Commercial Bank and Commercial Bank of Maldives. How the request moves between you, the lender and the Pension Office, step by step.

· 2 min read

Rules & rates

The Pension Office's housing leaflet, explained in full

The Maldives Pension Administration Office's Dhivehi leaflet on using pension savings to buy a home sets out the whole scheme on four pages: who qualifies, how much you can pledge at each age, which homes count, the five lenders, the three steps and what happens to your money. Here it is in English, section by section.

· 4 min read

Rules & rates

The developments Bank of Maldives will finance before they are finished

To finance a flat that is still being built, Bank of Maldives must have approved the development. Its published list names more than thirty projects, from Bayfancy and Blue Lagoon in Hulhumalé Phase 2 to Solitaire, Aqua Vita and Kandoofaa. Here is the list, and what approval does and does not mean.

· 2 min read