MP seeks to raise housing aid age limit to 60

TDT | Manama

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A proposal to allow women over 50 to apply for government housing support will go to a vote in Parliament tomorrow.

MPs will decide whether to raise the maximum age limit for divorced, widowed, or abandoned applicants to 60, expanding their access to housing ownership, purchase financing, and construction loans.

MP Lulua Al Rumaihi, who put forward the proposal, argues the change would remove hurdles that force some women to depend on their eldest son to secure a home.

She says the current cut-off at 50 locks people out of housing support when they need it most.

The Housing and Urban Planning Ministry noted that changes introduced last year had already relaxed the criteria for some applicants. Ministerial Decision No. 1474 of 2023 amended Article 3 of Ministerial Decision No. 909 of 2015, allowing divorced, widowed, or abandoned women without children, as well as orphaned unmarried women, to apply for temporary housing until 60.

Those older than that can still apply, as long as they are able to live independently.

The government has long offered housing support to Bahraini women.

Since 2004, women have been able to apply as heads of households, either on their own or jointly with a husband.

In recent years, eligibility was widened to include Bahraini women married to non-Bahrainis with children who hold Bahraini nationality.