An academic confirmed the inability of the local real estate sector over the past decades to achieve remarkable progress in enabling citizens to own a housing unit. <The academic did not deny the increase in the growth of the residential sector during the previous years through more than 36,000 licenses for residential facilities annually. However, he cited studies that emphasized the Kingdom's need for up to three million new housing units in addition to one million units to replace the current stock over the next two decades.

In his scientific research titled “Enabling Saudi Families to Own Housing”, a copy of which was obtained by Riyadh, the academic attributed the rapid rise in housing demand to the steady growth in the population (2.4% per year), especially in young age groups, in addition to migration from villages to cities, the increased influx of expatriates and the decrease in the average number of family members.

The academic attributed the rise in housing demand to the steady growth in the population (2.4% per year), especially in young age groups. Dr. Raed bin Mansour Al-Dakhil, a faculty member at the College of Architecture and Planning at King Saud University, revealed that the ability of Saudi families to own a housing unit has decreased significantly over the past four decades, citing recent studies that show that Saudi families deduct on average up to 45% from their income to cover the cost of owning a housing unit, compared to 20-30% in developed countries.

Dr. Raed bin Mansour Al-Dakhil, a faculty member at the College of Architecture and Planning at King Saud University, said that the percentage of Saudi families who can afford to own a housing unit has decreased significantly over the past four decades When reviewing the occupancy rate of the current housing stock, which exceeds 92%, the demand gap in major cities amounts to 26%, which confirms the existence of good opportunities in middle-income-oriented residential projects in major cities, which constitute 75% of the current opportunities."

Al-Dakhil said. <He added that according to this data, the average increase in demand exceeds 175,000 housing units and more than 125 million square meters of raw land per year. The gap between the demand and the availability of housing units in the market varies according to the size of the cities, as the gap exceeds 26% in major cities, while this percentage decreases in medium and small cities, where the current gap is estimated at 400 thousand housing units, while current estimates indicate expectations that the gap will increase to one million units within three years.

Dakhil outlined the solutions. Al-Dakhil identified solutions to establish the real estate industry on solid bases in the face of a real partnership between the public sector, the private sector and charitable organizations to create an attractive investment environment that preserves the rights of investors and beneficiaries through appropriate legislation and mechanisms to support and encourage the development, financing and construction industry capable of completing a large number of housing projects in line with the needs and capabilities of beneficiaries that provide services and facilities for healthy, decent and safe living.

He added that it is necessary to reduce the percentage of housing units in medium and small cities, as the current gap is 400,000 units. He added that it is necessary to lay the right foundations and contribute to the development of regulations and legislation for the Saudi real estate market as well as building a clear future for this market that stimulates investors according to scientific, professional and professional foundations.

Dr. Al-Dakhil added <Dr. Al-Dakhil added that the most important obstacles to citizens' ownership of housing units are divided into three main groups: regulatory, social and economic. He said that the regulatory obstacles are the delay in the approval and application of the legislative and regulatory environment, a comprehensive housing plan, the development of a land grant program for citizens, the development of building and planning regulations, land subdivision and division, and the application of the Saudi code appropriate to the needs of the Saudi family.

As for the social obstacles, according to the research, most citizens prefer to reside in major cities, exaggerating the size of the housing unit, individual development, choosing expensive traditional methods of construction and finishing, ignoring the cost of operation and maintenance, and the lack of public awareness of the importance of saving.

While the economic obstacles include the scarcity of financing resources, the diminished role of the Real Estate Development Fund, the scarcity of liquidity, investors' commitment to economic feasibility studies, lack of coordination and delays caused by service providers, weak capabilities and capabilities of technical services supporting the sector, the novelty of the development industry, the delay in encouraging specialized companies, ignoring development companies for large segments with actual needs, and the lack of clear vision and institutional work in the building and construction industry.

Al-Dakhil pointed out that there is no clear vision and institutional work in the building and construction industry. Al-Dakhil pointed out that the research participants emphasized that the developer and financier in the Saudi market have an obsession with empowerment because there are good opportunities for profitability and that there are efforts to reach the appropriate formula that achieves empowerment.

Al-Dakhil pointed out that the participants identified <He explained that the participants identified that the developer helps empowerment through a set of roles, the most important of which are raising the efficiency of land use and architectural designs compatible with the need and possibility and developing the design of structural and electromechanical engineering systems. In addition to the use of standardization of innovative architectural components, developing mechanisms for managing resources and materials, reducing speculation on raw land, working to stabilize the market, activating appropriate means of representation and pressure, and seeking with the competent authorities to approve, develop and implement appropriate legislation and regulations such as mortgage systems, in-kind registration and real estate financing
(Riyadh)