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

Diminishing Musharaka, in plain words: how MIB co-owns your home

With MIB's Ujaalaa Hiyaa, you and the bank buy the home together. Each month you pay rent on the bank's share and buy a little more of it, until the home is yours. How the partnership works, what you pay, and why the home is mortgaged.

By Published 1 min read

Illustration from Binga's stock library: a living room with a swing seat at dusk. Not the building in this story.
Illustration from Binga's stock library: a living room with a swing seat at dusk. Not the building in this story.

Maldives Islamic Bank (MIB) does not lend money at interest. Its home financing, Ujaalaa Hiyaa, is a Diminishing Musharaka: a partnership that shrinks month by month.

Four steps

  1. You and MIB buy the home together. Your equity, at least 10%, is your share. MIB's money buys the rest.
  2. You live in the whole home and pay MIB rent for its share. That rent is MIB's profit.
  3. Each month you also buy back part of MIB's share at its original cost.
  4. When MIB's share reaches zero, the home is entirely yours.

MIB's 2025 annual report describes it the same way: the customer buys the bank's ownership units gradually at cost, and the bank's remaining units are leased to the customer.

What that means each month

As your share grows, MIB's shrinks, so the rent part falls and the buy-back part rises. In practice the bank sets an even monthly payment for the term, much like an ordinary loan instalment. MIB publishes the rate as a profit rate of 9% to 10% a year.

Why the home is mortgaged

MIB's own process ends with "mortgage after completion of registration". Once the title is registered, the home secures the financing. If payments stop, the bank can enforce against the property, as with any home loan.

Why takaful is part of it

Because MIB owns a share of the home, it needs the home covered for as long as it does. That is why takaful for the full term must be paid before the money is released.

Is it cheaper than a conventional loan?

Not necessarily. The structure is different; the cost depends on the rate, the term and the fees. Compare the monthly payment and the total repaid across lenders, not the label.

As published by Maldives Islamic Bank on 18 October 2026. Rates and terms change; confirm them with MIB before you commit. General information, not financial advice.

Compare lenders with the concierge

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

MIB's Ujaalaa Hiyaa, in plain terms

Maldives Islamic Bank finances home purchases through Ujaalaa Hiyaa: 9 to 10% a year, up to 25 years, from 10% of the price down, with no guarantor. What the product is, who qualifies, and what it does not cover.

· 2 min read

Rules & rates

I'm over 50. Can I still use my pension to buy a home?

Yes, until you turn 60, but only half your balance, and the loan must be paid off before you turn 65. That shortens the term and raises the payment: on MVR 2.4 million at 11%, about MVR 33,100 a month over ten years against MVR 23,500 over 25.

· 2 min read

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

How much of my pension can I put towards a flat?

It depends on your age and your balance: all of it up to 35, 80% from 36 to 49, half from 50 to 60. Worked examples at each age, and how that compares with the 10% or 20% deposit lenders ask for on a MVR 3 million flat.

· 2 min read