Riyadh—Amlak
Last week, the Ministry of Housing submitted the «National Housing Strategy» to the Cabinet’s Expert Committee in preparation for its approval or for any comments.
An informed source said: ” The strategy will include a proposal to impose a zakat levy on vacant and unused land within urban areas, in line with the government’s policy to reduce land prices, as recently indicated by Housing Minister Dr. Shuish Al-Duwaihi.”
The National Housing Strategy includes important provisions aimed at restoring balance to the housing market and thereby creating a sustainable market that provides a healthy environment for investment at all levels. These include efforts to increase the supply of land ready for construction to borrowers from the Real Estate Development Fundor various other government or private financing funds, as well as requiring owners of undeveloped land to pay zakat on unused land, and enacting measures to curb speculation and real estate trading.
The strategy also includes the National Housing System, which embodies the principle of sustainability in housing. This comprehensive housing framework consists of two main components: the National Housing System and the technical regulations addressing specific topics, accelerating the adoption and implementation of the Saudi Building Code and incorporating it into all regulatory provisions for the housing sector, as well as establishing specific regulatory guidelines for housing operators—specifically developers and real estate brokers.
The strategy also emphasizes the need to launch a National Center for Housing Research and Data, which will address the challenges facing the housing market—most notably the scarcity of reliable data and information, which underscores the importance of establishing a National Center for Housing Research and Data, along with creating a transparent system for housing indicators and benchmarking. This will better position the government and both the public and private sectors to monitor the housing market and respond effectively to market fluctuations, in addition to fostering public-private partnerships to develop diverse programs that meet the needs of the population and enable the private sector to play its proper role in the housing sector as a whole.