Ledger
Each row is a public claim about the project, with its current status and the evidence behind it. A row changes when a document appears, a deadline is missed, or an official number moves. “No change” is also a finding.
| Item | Public claim | Status | Evidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| Next deadline | Definitive agreement by end of October 2026 | Open | Mark hit or missed on 31 Oct 2026. Housing Minister (15 Oct) and AG tie the final agreement to further negotiation and the new law; recent statements give no date |
| Deal signed | Commercial terms, 21 Sept 2026 | Reported | Press and ministry photos. Full text unpublished |
| Land for Eagle Hills | About 500 ha of Ras Malé (about 1,100 ha total site). Rest said to stay for local housing | Official claim | Need map. Ministry says pledged Ras Malé plots are not affected |
| Acquisition fee and rent | No acquisition fee and no rent for 99 years. Revenue share chosen instead of a lump-sum lease fee | Official claim | Housing Minister; local reports. Not verified in a public contract |
| State take | 10% of master-developer revenue; 4% on each property sale or resale; TGST on hotels, meals, shops; no tax holiday. Housing Minister, 15 Oct: the 10% is a “land premium” on Eagle Hills’ gross revenue | Announced | Written reply to MP, 15 Oct 2026. Definition of gross revenue and audit rights still unpublished |
| Escrow and banks | Sale receipts in a Maldives escrow; project funds through local banks. Minister, 15 Oct: off-plan payments go first to escrow at MMA-licensed banks. President, 20 Oct: escrow is government-controlled | Announced | Need bank name, account control and release rules |
| 5,000 homes: where | Housing Minister: Hulhumalé, three-bedroom. One finance quote: location set by government | Mostly specified | Plot or phase in Hulhumalé not published |
| 5,000 homes: money | USD 400–500 million, contractor finance by Eagle Hills. No sovereign guarantee claimed. Cost later taken from government’s 10% share and/or from selling the units | Two official explanations | Minister, 15 Oct: government incurs no financial obligation for the homes. Who they are sold to, at what price, still unknown |
| Housing start | Planning now; construction Q1 2027 | Target | Finance Minister, 21–22 Sept 2026 |
| Projected state revenue | Two official figures. Over USD 11 billion during the development period (ministerial figure, Sept). About USD 3.1 billion over 10 years from the 10% share (Housing Minister, written reply 15 Oct) | Two projections | Periods and bases differ. Method for neither figure published |
| Tenure | Land stays with the state; no freehold. Eagle Hills (21 Sept): up to 99 years, with a new term on each sale or inheritance. President (20 Oct): no automatic renewal; at the end of 99 years the buyer must sell back to the state, which decides any resale | Conflicting statements | Eagle Hills release; President on “The Pulse”, 20 Oct 2026. Buy-back price, payment period and re-tender rules not stated; resort leases have these in the Tourism Act. Need the lease instrument |
| Who may buy | Housing Minister: government approves each buyer; developer cannot freely assign to any third party | Official claim | Muththalib, Sept 2026. Need the consent clause in the contract |
| Visa and residency | Minister: purchase does not create PR or citizenship; state can issue or refuse a visa; cancelled visa means the person leaves and the unit is sold to another approved buyer | Official claim | Same statement. Existing corporate-resident visa rules still a separate question |
| Governing law | AG Usham, 29 Sept 2026: project to proceed under a Real Estate Law now being drafted; related bills must pass Majlis; only a commercial terms / letter of intent exists today; definitive contracts after that. Government says it will not act contrary to the Constitution | Official claim | X post @a_usham. President, 20 Oct: bill to go to Majlis “very soon”. No submission reported as of 22 Oct. Supreme Court petition also filed on Articles 250–251 |
| Alabbar visit, 7–8 Oct 2026 | Says nothing to hide; text unpublished because still being finished. Will not proceed without public support. Construction in about a year. First money: USD 500m Hulhumalé homes, recovered later. Finance: equity, loans, sales. Jobs: 40,000 build, 15,000–18,000 permanent. Tax claim conflicts: nearly USD 20bn in one report, nearly USD 2bn in another. Local firms and investors invited; funds via Maldivian banks. Maldivian law, including the 99-year rule, must be followed. | Interview claims | Sun, Mihaaru, PSM, 8–9 Oct 2026. No new signed text |
| Hulhumalé 5,000 homes: site | Concept posted 10–11 Oct 2026. Location: Hulhumalé Urban Isle (also called Phase 3). Designs by WOW Architects. Same land previously named for an ~USD 8–8.8bn financial centre and a Commercial Spine project. Early 2027 start claimed. Government says it sets price and who gets the homes. | Concept only | Minister video on X; Adhadhu on prior uses of the site. No plot survey or allotment list public |
| Buyer nationality rules | Minister, LinkedIn ~13 Oct 2026: draft Real Estate Law to bar Israeli nationals and Israeli-controlled entities as buyers, owners, shareholders, financiers or agents. Full nationality declaration; false statement voids lease and can forfeit the price. Checks on every transfer. Corporate residence visa still possible, subject to Israeli-passport ban and the new screen. No PR or citizenship from purchase. | Proposed, not law | LinkedIn post. Existing law bans Israeli passports, not dual nationals. Bill text unpublished |
| Local purchase priority | Minister, LinkedIn ~13 Oct 2026: aim is first right for Maldivians to buy a share of units in every phase of Ras Malé, paid in Maldivian rufiyaa. Proposed foreign ownership caps would not apply to Maldivian buyers. No percentage, price, reservation period or unsold-unit rule stated. | Proposed, not law | LinkedIn post, summarised by edition.mv, Sun, MV+ and Maldives Business Review. Not in the published commercial terms. Bill text unpublished |
| State buy-back at 99 years | President, 20 Oct: at the end of 99 years buyers must sell properties back to the state, which may resell. Compared to resorts | Not detailed | No valuation basis, payment period or re-tender rule given. Tourism Act sets these for resorts: buildings valued, paid within two years, new lessee pays the state. See explainer 10 |
| Pearl Residence and Henley | Separate residency-by-investment scheme designed with Henley & Partners (agreement July 2025), cited for Ayla. President, June 2026: no part of Ras Malé for Pearl Residence. Minister, Oct 2026: Ras Malé buyers may use the corporate residence visa; no PR or citizenship | Official claim | Henley agreement withheld under RTI; Pearl Residence bill at policy stage. See Other projects |
| How Eagle Hills was chosen | No tender. Housing Minister: Eagle Hills submitted a private-sector-initiated proposal (PSIP), accepted under section 10.22 of the public finance regulations | Official claim | Written reply to Galolhu North MP Mohamed Ibrahim, 15 Oct 2026. Proposal and its evaluation not published |
| Investment schedule and failure terms | Housing Minister: the investment schedule, and what happens if the project is not completed, will be set out in the definitive agreement | Deferred | Written reply, 15 Oct 2026. Not in the commercial terms as described |
| President’s answers, 20 Oct 2026 | First response to opposition criticism. State keeps full control; property cannot change hands without government knowledge; Israelis barred by law; no other religion practised; a Maldives Police station in the area; no school in the Eagle Hills area. Says Maldivians’ Ras Malé plots and flats are unaffected | Interview claims | “The Pulse”, President’s Office podcast; Edition, 20 Oct. Eagle Hills’ own material lists education facilities |
| Cap per nationality | President, 20 Oct: citizens of any single country may buy at most 25% of Eagle Hills’ Ras Malé properties. Detail to be set in the Real Estate Bill | Proposed, not law | “The Pulse”, 20 Oct 2026. Bill text unpublished |
| Majlis disclosure resolution | MDP MP Meekail Ahmed Naseem moved to require the agreement to be disclosed (emergency motion 5 Oct; resolution 12 Oct). Debated 21 Oct. Ruling PNC group leader Ibrahim Falah called it the most transparent project to date | Outcome pending | Atoll Times, Sun. Record the vote when reported |
| Opposition campaign | “Maldivian Land for Maldivians” campaign launched 19 Oct by opposition groups, led by former Home Minister Sheikh Imran Abdullah, calling for the project to be cancelled | Reported | Atoll Times, Maldives Independent, 19–21 Oct 2026 |
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