Deyaar offers homeowners struggling to make payments new options including apartment downsizing

Dubai developer Deyaar has taken drastic action to help customers struggling amid the global liquidity crisis to meet payments on their homes, with a raft a measures to give more flexibility.

Extreme measures include allowing customers to downsize their apartment and move to another one up to 50% smaller. Deyaar said: “We firmly believe that this enhanced payment schedule will also further contribute to the stability of the real estate sector.”

Deyaar said in February that it had put 25% of its development schemes on hold.

Under the new initiative, called the Easy Payment Plan, individual payment plans can be drawn up and various banks have been drafted in exclusively to help Deyaar's customers gain access to mortgage financing options.

The exact repayment terms will vary depending on the specific project and development timeline, but deals will be available to all Deyaar homeowners and investors.

In January, Deyaar posted net profits of 1.1bn dirhams (£200m) for 2008, a rise of 105% on the previous year's figures. Turnover in the same period went up by 136% on last time, to 3bn dirhams (£528m).