His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, may God protect him, Crown Prince, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense, revealed that 250 billion riyals were allocated for housing in 2011 and in 2015 only two billion were spent, and it was not utilized and the ministry was unable to convert these amounts into projects on the ground because the main reason is that the state’s central authority is weak and the ministries are scattered.
His Highness said that the housing problem is 20 years old and was one of the most important challenges of Vision 2023, as citizens were waiting to obtain a loan or housing support for about 15 years, and the level of housing ownership rate ranged between 40 to 50 %. Before the vision, it was 47 % in 2016, while the housing system was able, in just 4 years, to raise the ownership rate among Saudis to 60% in 2020.
During a television interview with Al-Ekhbariya channel on Tuesday, marking five years since the launch of Vision 2030, His Highness emphasized that they are close to breaking the Vision's targets well before reaching 2030. He pointed out that the housing target of the Vision was 62%, and that they reached 60% in 2020 and will reach 62% in 2025. This means that the Vision's target has exceeded 62% to 70% in terms of the number of citizens who own homes.
He noted that the reason behind the establishment of Roshan Company was to be an alternative plan in case the housing targets were not achieved due to the absence of structure, policies and work teams, but the Ministry of Housing succeeded in the required work in cooperation with the other entities that work with it, by achieving the targeted ownership rate in 2020, which amounted to 60%.
