Saudi Gazette report

RIYADH — The Ministry of Housing and the Real Estate Development Fund (REDF) on Sunday announced the details of the 9th phase of the Sakani (housing) program covering 30,569 housing units and financing operations.

The ministry also signed 11 agreements with a number of real estate developers to carry out 13 housing projects within this phase.

In a press conference, the ministry and REDF revealed that housing units and subsidized financing operations covered all the regions and they consisted of free developed plots of land and housing units.

According to the two, 13,903 housing units were offered through the sale on the map program in partnership with a number of real estate developing companies in addition to 8,699 free plots of land and 7,700 financing operations in partnership with local banks and financing institutions.

So far 215,075 housing products and financings were offered during the 9th phase which will increase to 280,000 by the end of this year.

The plots of land offered through the sale on the map program consisted of 1,964 in Riyadh, 1,182 in Madinah, 9,257 in the Eastern Province and 1,500 in Al-Jouf.

Subsidized financings covered 13 regions.

The ministry and the fund said 869 developed plots of land were offered free of charge in Riyadh, 2,485 in Makkah, 106 in Madinah, 1,012 in the Eastern Province, 2,191 in Asir, 728 in Hail, 1,228 in Najran and 347 in Al-Baha.

Prince Saud Bin Talal, head of the ministry’s department for housing support, said the 9th phase was a continuation of the other eight previous phases aimed at providing 280,000 housing units and subsidized financing to Saudis.

He said 12 exhibitions were held in various parts of the Kingdom in which more than 20,000 housing units including villas and town houses were offered.

“With the huge attraction for visitors during exhibitions, four projects in the north of Riyadh were fully booked in addition to Al-Mubriz plot in Al-Ahsa and a project in Rabigh, together having more than 3,000 housing units,” he said.

Ahmed Mandoura, supervisor of the ministry’s department for partnership with the private sector, said through this partnership thousands of high-quality housing units were being built in various parts of the Kingdom at affordable prices ranging between SR250,000 and SR700,000.

He said housing units bought through the sale on the map program will be delivered within three years.

Khaled Al-Amoudi, supervisor of the REDF, said waiting time to obtain soft loans from banks and financing institutions has been reduced from 11 to five years.

He said, through partnership with the Ministry of Finance and the Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority (SAMA), the fund has decided to provide bank guarantees for citizens looking for loans.

The ministry has asked citizens to visit its electronic gate sakani.housing.gov.sa to know the names of the citizens who were offered houses this month and to visit the electronic gate of the REDF redf.gov.sa to complete the procedures necessary for subsidized financings.