The number of vacant housing units in the Kingdom has reached 900,000, Statistics indicate that 6.5 million housing units have been built over the past decades; Saudi citizens occupy approximately 3.5 million of these units, while residents occupy approximately 2 million housing units.
This was revealed by Housing Minister Majed Al-Hogail during a meeting organized by the Saudi Economic Association on Thursday evening. Al-Hogail explained that the ministry had met with numerous real estate developers, financiers, and all stakeholders in the housing industry to discuss the obstacles facing the sector and to develop appropriate and effective solutions to advance it.
He said that financing in the Kingdom’s housing sector is very weak, as the number of housing units currently financed stands at 160,000 out of 6.5 million units nationwide, representing no more than 2 % of the sector as a whole.
Al-Hogail added that the government has been the primary source of financing for individuals, having provided 65 % of the 290 billion riyals, while private sector support amounted to 35 %.
He noted that 95 % of the housing units built in past decades were constructed by individuals, which led to the finance sector’s lack of participation in construction due to the risks involved, nor did this construction contribute to employment. He noted that construction took place on-site rather than in factories, so we lacked a domestic manufacturing sector, and the quality of construction lacked engineering oversight.
Al-Hogail continued: “Local content in the housing sector accounts for 54 %, while the construction sector accounts for 35 %; therefore, there is an imbalance, and we must implement appropriate solutions in the future.”
