His Excellency the Minister of Housing, Majid bin Abdullah Al-Haqeel, extended his thanks and appreciation to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud for the decisions issued on the housing sector during the Cabinet session held today, stressing that they come as an extension of the continuous attention and unlimited support that this sector receives from the wise leadership in an effort to provide adequate housing for all citizens, noting that the amendments to the regulation of housing support will increase the opportunity for citizens to own housing in a suitable time period, in addition to the role of partnership decisions with the private sector to pump more
His Excellency said in a press statement:” These important decisions come as a complement to a set of previous decisions that aim to increase the rate of housing ownership and achieve greater economic and social well-being and stability for all citizens, in addition to achieving an optimal balance between supply and demand in the housing market and organizing and facilitating a balanced and sustainable housing environment. The decisions issued today contribute to developing appropriate and urgent solutions to provide adequate housing for all citizens eligible for housing support, in line with the ministry's strategic goal of supporting supply and enabling demand in line with the National Transformation Program 2020 and Saudi Vision 2030."
These decisions are in line with the ministry's strategic objective of supporting supply and enabling demand in line with the National Transformation Program 2020 and the Saudi Vision 2030.
He explained that the amendments to the regulation of housing support are characterized by its comprehensiveness and consideration of a group of special social cases, and opens the way for them to apply on the electronic portal ”Iskan", including divorced and widowed without children after the system required the presence of children and the availability of a deed of support, in addition to the individual orphan, indicating that this provides the opportunity for the largest number of Saudi families to obtain housing support, thus increasing the ownership rate and providing it to social groups in urgent need, which enhances the stability of families as the core of society, in line with the Saudi Vision 2030 which emphasized the role of the family as the first incubator.
He added that the regulation of housing support includes the addition of other executive bodies from the public, private and civil sectors, such as commercial banks, private mortgage financing institutions, real estate development companies, ministries and relevant authorities, in order to diversify and support the supply, accelerate the injection of housing units into the housing market at appropriate prices and quality, encourage competition between sectors and promote partnership with the private sector in order to support the national economy, its efficiency and effectiveness in providing housing and financing services and products, and raise the contribution of the non-profit sector to local output from 1 percent to 5 percent by activating the partnership with charitable societies and associations.
He pointed out that the Ministry will have the authority to develop programs to accelerate the payment of financial installments in coordination with the private sector through its partnerships with banks and finance companies, by creating mortgage financing programs for beneficiaries to buy the Ministry's units, provided that the Ministry bears part of the financing burden for the beneficiaries, thus serving other beneficiaries to raise the ownership rate.
The Ministry will have the authority to develop programs to accelerate the payment of financial installments in coordination with the private sector through its partnerships with banks and finance companies.
He noted the importance of the new decisions related to the partnership with the private sector, which comes within the framework of the ministry's shift from the role of implementer and developer to the role of catalyst, organizer and monitor, pointing out that it enhances the ministry's work in this regard and pushes it to continue its efforts to attract more qualified real estate development companies locally and internationally to pump more housing units in all regions of the Kingdom. He added that the decisions encourage investment in the field of housing and stimulate the provision of new housing products to the market and thus raise the ownership rate, as well as promote competition between real estate developers in providing a better product and service to citizens, noting that the ministry is conducting legal preparation between the relevant parties to ensure the effectiveness of the new partnership mechanism (developer, financier, beneficiary).
The Minister of Housing explained that the approved soft mortgage comes within the framework of the partnership between the Ministry of Housing, the Ministry of Finance and the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency, and aims to reduce the down payment when buying a house with mortgage financing through banks from 30 percent to 15 percent for housing support beneficiaries, in exchange for a cash guarantee provided by the Ministry of Finance, and contributes to reducing the cost of financing, which makes it easier for citizens to own housing within a short period of time.
He explained that the soft mortgage that has been approved is part of the partnership between the Ministry of Housing, the Ministry of Finance and the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency.
