In line with the National Transformation Program 2020, the Ministry of Housing is moving to offer housing loans to those eligible for housing support who have chosen the mortgage loan product from among the housing support options available to eligible individuals, whose number exceeds 600,000, in partnership with Saudi banks, and a new mechanism for determining the murabaha rates on the loans, which the Ministry will bear based on the borrower’s creditworthiness. The number of loans expected to be offered next year is 130,000 new mortgage loans in partnership with local banks.

This step is in line with the National Transformation Program 2020, which aims to provide one million housing units, with a total rate of 5%, raising the homeownership rate from 47% to 52%. The new partnership also fulfills the Kingdom’s vision of relying on the private sector and reducing dependence on direct government support.This program, which is expected to be launched next year, is the first to provide assistance to eligible recipients under the housing support program. It follows the suspension of loans from the Real Estate Development Fund—which had been the sole source of support for those on the fund’s lists since November 2015— These were replaced with financing products offered by banks; the most recent of these was an accelerated loan that saw little demand due to the bank’s requirement of a 30% down payment to qualify for the loan.