Riyadh—Amlak
Sheikh Othman bin Sulaiman Al-Majid, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Asas Real Estate Company, highlighted the real estate initiatives introduced by the government under the guidance of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz, may God preserve him, the most recent of which were the gracious royal decrees regarding accelerating the process of handing over government-owned land to Saudis and granting them loans and land for construction.
Sheikh Othman Al-Majid said in a statement to the newspaper ”Amlak”: ” These royal decrees are considered partial solutions that contribute to the system of steady urban growth and address the worsening housing crisis in the Kingdom. A study conducted by the University of Business and Technology, titled «The Housing Crisis in Saudi Arabia…Causes and Proposed Solutions,» revealed that 28 percent of Saudis live in apartments and 28 percent live in low-income housing, The study indicated that the projected demand for housing in Saudi Arabia over the next ten years is expected to reach 1,761,000 housing units, while the total projected supply is 1,300,000 housing units, As a result, the housing supply-demand gap for the next ten years will be 453,000 housing units, meaning that we still need more economic, real estate, and development policies to bridge this gap between supply and demand.”
Sheikh Al-Majid emphasized that solutions to the housing crisis and real estate problems must be presented to the real estate market as a single, integrated package—whether through the formation of valuation bodies(the Council of Certified Appraisers) or regulating real estate activities, combating unregulated practices in real estate companies and offices, and expanding access to financing and mortgages—all of which collectively constitute part of the solution.
Sheikh Al-Majid also addressed the steps being taken by Asas Real Estate to regulate real estate activities within its jurisdiction, which include determining the true value of real estate properties, managing sales transactions through contracts and buy-sell agreements between all parties involved, developing applications, and transitioningreal estate transactions from their customary form to an officially approved format. This is achieved by conducting studies and preparing reports on all real estate transactions—including sales, purchases, leases, appraisals, and property management—and organizing all these processes according to standardized templates to minimize irregularities.