Answers
Do credit cards affect how much I can borrow?
A short answer, with the article it comes from.
The answer
Yes, even if you never use them. The Central Bank requires lenders to count credit card debt when assessing a mortgage, within the 50 percent debt burden limit. Banks on our panel count 5 percent of each card's limit as a monthly commitment, so an unused AED 200,000 limit counts as AED 10,000 a month.
CBUAE Circular 31/2013 Article 2.3, and CBUAE Regulation 29/2011 Article 7(a), checked 2 October 2026.
Article 2.3 of the mortgage circular tells lenders to take into account "other debt servicing obligations (including credit card debt)" when assessing whether you can repay. The lending regulation sets the frame: repayments on all loans and cards together must not exceed 50 percent of gross salary and regular income.
How a card is counted is lender practice. The regulation contains no card formula; banks on our panel count 5 percent of the limit, not the balance. On AED 30,000 a month of income, one unused AED 200,000 limit takes AED 10,000 of the AED 15,000 available for all repayments.
That makes card limits one of the few things you can change quickly before applying. Reducing or closing limits you do not need can raise what you qualify for, though the effect depends on the rest of your file.
A specialist can show you which limits cost you most and whether closing them is worth it before you apply.
Counting 5 percent of the card limit is TLT panel practice. The regulation contains no credit card formula.
Rules are the easy part. Your file is the question.
Want to know what your card limits are costing you? Talk to a Specialist.