Preliminary estimates indicate that the total area of land mortgaged to banks ranges from 6 to 8 million square meters of the total land area subject to land fees in various regions.
This was clarified by Housing Minister Majid bin Abdullah Al-Hogail, who noted that the banks are only holding the land as collateral and therefore there will be coordination between them and the owners of the mortgaged land, and—as reported by the newspaper “Al-Eqtisadiah”——the Ministry has not yet confirmed that all banks have registered the land in their possession.
On another note, Al-Hogail said that 2016 was a year of organizational restructuring for the ministry and the development of appropriate measures to serve the nation and its citizens, while the coming calendar year, 2017, will be a good year for the housing sector.Dr. Ahmed Al-Khulaifi, Governor of the Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority (SAMA), said that SAMA is still in discussions with the Ministry of Housing regarding the mechanism for paying fees on unutilized land held as collateral by banks.The total number of plots of land registered in the Undeveloped Land Fees Program reached 2,278, with a total area of 635 million square meters across all Saudi cities, including those subject to fees in the first phase and those not meeting the applicable criteria.
