K|Wise · Glossary
Handover
The point at which an off-plan property is completed and the keys are transferred to the buyer. Final mortgage drawdown on off-plan units typically occurs at handover.
In plain English
The point at which an off-plan property is completed and the keys are transferred to the buyer. Final mortgage drawdown on off-plan units typically occurs at handover.
What Handover means in practice
Handover is the completion milestone on an off-plan purchase: construction finishes, the developer issues the completion notice, and the unit passes to the buyer.
It is also the financial pivot point. Payments made until then are instalments against a property under construction; from handover the asset exists, can be valued, let or occupied, and can carry a conventional mortgage.
How it works in the UAE
UAE lenders cap off-plan financing at 50%, so buyers fund the construction phase largely from their own resources and arrange finance at or near handover. Handover finance is a distinct product, and applying only once the completion notice arrives leaves very little room if the valuation comes in below the original purchase price.
A worked example
A buyer who paid AED 900,000 in construction instalments on a AED 1,800,000 unit arranges a mortgage at handover for the balance — subject to a fresh valuation, which the bank will use in place of the price agreed years earlier if it is lower.
Terms that come up alongside Handover
Off-plan
A property purchased before construction is complete. Off-plan purchases are typically paid in instalments tied to construction milestones, with final drawdown at handover.
Read the definitionAmortisation
The gradual repayment of a mortgage loan through scheduled monthly instalments of principal and interest. In the early years more of each payment goes to interest; in the later years more goes to principal.
Read the definitionBuy-to-Let Mortgage
A mortgage used to purchase a property that will be rented out rather than occupied by the borrower. Lenders assess the deal on projected rental income alongside the borrower's personal income.
Read the definitionCap
A contractual maximum on how much your variable mortgage rate can rise over a defined period. A common UAE structure caps the rate at 5.99% for the first 3 years.
Read the definitionConveyancing
The legal process of transferring property ownership from seller to buyer, including title checks, NOC issuance, mortgage registration, and the final Land Department transfer.
Read the definitionDBR (Debt Burden Ratio)
The total of your monthly debt commitments — mortgage, car loan, credit card minimums, personal loans — expressed as a percentage of your net monthly income. UAE Central Bank caps the DBR at 50%.
Read the definition