Riyadh-Amlak
The Ministry of Housing is preparing to enter a new phase within the framework of the implementation of the royal order to build half a million housing units in all regions of the Kingdom, at a cost of up to 250 billion riyals, and this new phase of the Ministry of Housing in the Kingdom draws a roadmap for the localization of housing by the private sector, as the mechanism for the distribution (sale) of housing by the Ministry of Housing will not be completed before the end of this year, and therefore private sector companies will be the sole financier of housing products for consumers.

Mechanism of distribution (sale) of housing units
Dr. Shuwaish bin Saud Al-Duwaihi, Minister of Housing, revealed during a meeting he held recently at his office at the Ministry with the National Real Estate Committee of the Council of Saudi Chambers that the distribution mechanism for housing constructed by the Ministry will be after a year and there will be no distribution before that time, according to a distribution mechanism that distributes between entitlement and priority through points that clarify the eligibility for entitlement.
The Minister of Housing reviewed during his meeting with the National Real Estate Committee headed by Hamad Al Shuwaier the vision of the Ministry of Housing and its plans to provide adequate housing for the deserving citizen and the Ministry's endeavor to regulate the housing sector, enhance transparency and achieve balance and sustainability. He emphasized the role of the private sector to integrate with the ministry's efforts and cooperate to find working mechanisms to ensure the production of more housing units with standard specifications and quality, and welcomed every initiative that contributes to serving the citizen and allows him to obtain housing in a social environment and integrated services and facilities.

Housing Sites
In the same context, the Ministry of Housing received its third site in Riyadh, and the new land is located east of the seventh power station on Dammam Road. It is expected to receive another site in addition to the site of its project north of Riyadh and Ramah, bringing the total number of Ministry sites to four, distributed to the north and east of Riyadh.
On the other hand, the members of the National Real Estate Committee highly appreciated His Excellency the Minister of Housing for this meeting and the visions he put forward in order to promote the housing sector and his keenness to cooperate and find ways to qualify the real estate developer and establish legal frameworks for joint work in a way that reflects a positive reality within the development of housing activity in the Kingdom. The local demand for real estate in the Kingdom is one of the largest drivers of the real estate market in the region due to considerations related to area and population, and supporting the housing sector and addressing the housing ownership crisis for citizens is an absolute priority at this stage in which the country is experiencing a good economic situation based on high oil prices and the formation of large financial reserves with the government, especially since the percentage of Saudis who do not own their own housing rose to reach about 70% of the total number of Saudis.
Real estate and growing demand
The real estate sector in the Kingdom is expected to maintain a growth rate between 5 and 7 % driven by continued strong local demand for residential projects and increasing commercial development projects at a time when Saudi Arabia ranked first in the volume of foreign direct investment flow in the Middle East region according to the report of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia «ESCWA», as its share in 2008 amounted to about 38 billion dollars, concentrated in the real estate sector by 21%. The growing importance of the real estate sector in the huge Saudi economy is highlighted by the fact that the sector's contribution to national income increased to 7.2 percent last year compared to 6.81 percent in 2004, in light of the volume of real estate investments in the Kingdom during 2009 to about 1.125 trillion riyals, with expectations that these investments will increase to 1.5 trillion riyals during this year.