Rules & rates
Paying for a flat that is still being built: Bank of Maldives' 24-month grace period
Bank of Maldives lets buyers defer full repayments for up to 24 months. Pay only the lease payments, or nothing at all with the payments added later. On a MVR 3.56 million financing the choice is worth thousands a month for the next 23 years. How each option works.
When you buy a flat that will not be finished for a year or two, you can end up paying for a home you cannot live in or let. Bank of Maldives (BML) eases this with a grace period of up to 24 months on Home Purchase Financing. It has offered 24 months since August 2023.
The two options
BML publishes two ways to use the grace period:
- Pay lease payments only. You pay the monthly lease (the profit portion) but none of the purchase of the bank's share. Full payments start after the grace period.
- Pay nothing during the grace period. The lease payments that build up are added to your monthly payments for the rest of the term.
What the choice costs
Our estimate, on MVR 3,562,500 financed at 9% (a Bayfancy 1+1 at MVR 3.75 million with 5% down), taking the full 24 months:
| During the grace period | After it, for 23 years | |
|---|---|---|
| Option 1: lease payments only | about MVR 26,700 a month | about MVR 30,600 a month |
| Option 2: nothing now | MVR 0 | about MVR 36,100 a month |
Option 2 frees about MVR 640,000 of cash over two years, but costs about MVR 5,500 more every month for 23 years afterwards. The bank's financing documents set the exact figures.
Matching the grace period to the building
- Know the handover date, and how it has moved. Bayfancy Residence, for example, now gives 30 June 2027, later than first planned. A grace period that ends before you can move in or let the flat leaves you paying in full for an empty home.
- Ask when the bank pays the developer: in stages against construction, or in full. That decides when your lease payments begin.
- If you are buying to let, remember BML does not count the future rent from the home you are buying when it assesses your income.
Terms as published by Bank of Maldives on 18 October 2026; payment figures are our estimates. General information, not financial advice.
Plan your payments around the handover date
Sources and method
- www.bankofmaldives.com.mv/personal/financing/home-purchase-financing (BML Home Purchase Financing product page, read 18 October 2026)
- atolltimes.mv/post/business/4855 (Atoll Times, 1 August 2023: tenor extended to 25 years and grace to 24 months)
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.
