More than 50,000 homes will be built for Abu Dhabi residents Emiratis over the next 20 years in a bid to solve the current housing shortage.
The Abu Dhabi Urban Planning Council (UPCannounced the plans after massive rent hikes forced thousands of residents to move to cheaper areas such as Dubai Marina and Oman.
Tens of thousands of Emiratis have applied for government housing and the waiting list is already up to five years long.
About 30,000 houses will be constructed in Abu Dhabi and 20,000 in Al Ain at an initial cost of Dhs25 billion (US$6.8bn) in the first three years.
Both cities are suffering from an acute housing shortage, with demand estimated to exceed supply by a third -the result being that house prices and rents have soared by as much as 80 per cent in 12 months.
The initial projects in Abu Dhabi include 5,000 houses in Al Falah, 10,500 plots in Shamkha South Shamkha, about 13,000 in Al Wathba and 2,000 to 3,000 in central Shamkha.
In the Al Falah development, which is the furthest advanced, the houses are being built by Aldar Properties and are scheduled for completion next year.
Mr al Ahbabi said the Government was reviewing the project and would soon sign a formal deal with the developer.
“People will be able to live there by the end of 2010,” he said.
