The “Sakani” program revealed that 124,208 families have benefited from its housing solutions and options from the beginning of this year through last July, including 97,822 families who have moved into their homes. The program also announced the launch of the Comprehensive Housing Center in Madinah under the patronage of His Excellency Majid bin Abdullah Al-Hogail, Minister of Municipal, Rural Affairs, and Housing.
During the “Sakani” Forum for the second quarter of 2021, held today in Riyadh, the program highlighted that the number of Saudi households benefiting from subsidized mortgage loans has exceeded 520,000, and that the average time it takes for households to complete the procedures for accessing the housing options and financing solutions offered by the “Sakani” website and app “Sakani” website and app—to 3 months from registration until they secure a housing option and sign contracts, with immediate eligibility and streamlined electronic procedures.
The “Sakani” Forum honored a number of partners contributing to the success of the housing system. His Excellency the Minister of Municipal, Rural, and Housing Affairs presented awards for the best consulting firm, engineering firm, mortgage lenders, infrastructure contractor, and real estate development companies.
During the “Sakani” forum, His Excellency the Minister of Municipal, Rural, and Housing Affairs inaugurated the Comprehensive “Sakani” Center in Madinah—located on King Abdullah Road—with the aim of providing all housing system services under one roof. The center encompasses all residential projects currently under construction in the Madinah region to enable beneficiaries “Sakani” beneficiaries to complete all procedures for reserving units, following the success of the “Sakani” centers in Riyadh, Jeddah, and Al-Khobar in serving Saudi families, as part of the ongoing effort to expand the launch of Comprehensive Housing Centers in various cities.
Issam Al-Ghamdi, the Ministry’s Deputy Minister for Housing Support, explained during his speech at the “Sakani” Forum for the second quarter that 70% of the families who benefited from ”Sakani“ options in 2021 completed all their procedures and signed their contracts within just three months of registering and receiving their housing option through immediate eligibility and streamlined electronic procedures, emphasizing that the program continues to empower Saudi families to become homeowners by taking advantage of ”Sakani’s” diverse solutions, and that it has achieved rising numbers in the recent period toward the target of benefiting 220,000 Saudi families by the end of 2021.
Al-Ghamdi noted that the “Sakani” program has benefited more than 124,000 families in the past few months of 2021, of which 97,000 have moved into their homes, with the aim of reaching a homeownership rate of 70% by 2030, in line with the targets of the Housing Program—one of the programs under the Kingdom’s Vision 2030, noting that 53,000 families have benefited since the beginning of the year from the subsidized mortgage option to purchase ready-built housing units, while the self-build option has benefited 40,000 families, Additionally, the “Sakani” platform recorded 7.7 million visits, and the Sakani Comprehensive Centers in Riyadh, Al-Khobar, and Jeddah recorded approximately 57,000 visits from January through last July.
The Undersecretary for Housing Support reviewed the local and international praise the housing sector has received over the past quarter, most notably from His Royal Highness Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz—may God protect him— as well as the Council of Economic and Development Affairs and, more recently, the International Monetary Fund, and the role of housing options and facilities in raising the homeownership rate to exceed 60% by the end of 2020.
For his part, Mansour bin Madi, General Supervisor of the Real Estate Development Fund, revealed that more than 520,000 families have benefited from subsidized mortgage loans from June 2017 through the end of June 2021, with their loans supported by 29.6 billion riyals. He noted that more than 100,000 beneficiaries across various regions of the Kingdom benefited from subsidized mortgage loans totaling over 63 billion riyals during the first half of 2021.
He explained that subsidized housing finance contracts during the first half of 2021 included 45,000 contracts for ready-built housing units, 33,000 contracts for self-construction, and 12,000 contracts for units under construction. He noted that the subsidized mortgage program contributed to a 1.5% reduction in mortgage interest rates, highlighting the completion of more than 4.8 million transactions and services, 913,000 financing recommendations were issued, and services were provided to more than 1.2 million registered beneficiaries on the Real Estate Advisor platform and app, in addition to 343,000 beneficiaries served through branches across the Kingdom.
For his part, the CEO of the National Housing Company, Engineer Mohammed Al-Bati, highlighted the company’s efforts, in partnership with private-sector real estate developers, to provide a variety of housing units that meet demand by delivering more than 3,000 housing units across 9 residential projects under construction in 2021, bringing the total number of projects listed on the “Sakani” to 102 projects offering 144,000 units at an average price of 700,000 riyals to meet the aspirations of Saudi families, noting that the first half of 2021 saw the service assist more than 57,000 beneficiaries through the Sakani Comprehensive Centers in Riyadh, Jeddah, and Al-Khobar, with the Sakani Comprehensive Center in Madinah joining them to meet the aspirations of Saudi families, He highlighted that the company has signed 18 partnership agreements that have resulted in the introduction of more than 12,000 housing units into the market.
He stated that expansion plans are ongoing to provide more integrated housing projects, noting the great attention that residential suburbs receive from the wise leadership, as His Royal Highness the Crown Prince —may God protect him—to allocate 20 million square meters to be added to the Al-Jawan suburb north of Riyadh, bringing its total area to 30 million square meters and providing 73,000 housing units.