Kuwait plans to begin implementing urban development projects and constructing 198,000 housing units over the next few years to meet the growing housing needs of its citizens.

In this regard, Ibrahim Nasser Al-Nashi, Director of Coordination and Programs at the Public Authority for Housing Welfare, said in an interview with Reuters that work has begun on 60,000 of these units as part of the Authority’s ninth five-year plan, which ends in 2019–2020, while the remaining units—138,000 units—will be part of the 10th plan from 2020–2021 to 2024–2025.

Al-Nashi said that the projects will be built on “sites allocated by the Kuwait Municipality and under the authority of the Foundation, and are included in its in-kind share, on which the Foundation seeks to build housing projects”.

Kuwait is working to provide housing for its citizens, who number approximately 1.3 million citizens, amid a backlog of applications at the Public Authority for Housing Welfare, to the point where Kuwaiti families are sometimes forced to wait more than 17 years to obtain the housing they desire.