On Arab Housing Day 2021... “Digital Transformation” in the Saudi Housing Sector Writes an “Unprecedented Success Story”

As one of the vital sectors, the housing sector has received full support from the Saudi government for its digital transformation and service automation efforts, as it is considered one of the sectors that significantly influences the country’s economy as well as lifestyle and societal trends, as it intersects with more than 100 economic and social activities. Given the Kingdom’s housing sector’s significance, it was imperative to expedite the development of its regulations, legislation, and service channels, and to work on creating digital solutions that facilitate the achievement of the Housing Program’s goals—one of the programs under the Kingdom’s Vision 2030.
As a result of tireless efforts, the housing sector has managed to develop its various legislative and regulatory aspects within a short period of no more than five years, and to achieve a qualitative leap in its services, programs, and initiatives, resulting in accomplishments that represent an unprecedented success story, as described by His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, Crown Prince, Deputy Prime Minister, and Minister of Defense, who praised the sector’s achievements, which exceeded the set targets, demonstrating the success of digital policies in the sector that contributed to rapid implementation, time savings, and the delivery of services to the largest possible number of beneficiaries, The housing sector has also contributed to the creation of nearly 40,000 direct jobs and more than 115 billion riyals in gross domestic product.
The Ministry of Municipal, Rural Affairs, and Housing, through the housing sector and in line with the objectives of the housing program, has taken the initiative to develop solutions, initiatives, and programs that ensure the delivery of various housing services in the best possible manner, guaranteeing service quality and rapid response to beneficiaries“ needs.
The ”Sakani“ program, through its digital platform and smartphone app, is considered the pioneer of digital housing initiatives in the sector, as it is a comprehensive electronic platform that offers a wide range of housing solutions, enabling families eligible for housing support to choose the housing solutions that best suit them through simple and accessible digital steps, with the process taking no more than 5 minutes and 30 seconds to determine a beneficiary’s eligibility for housing support, Consequently, the platform has achieved remarkable results since its launch through the end of 2020, with more than 2.5 million families registered on the platform, of whom more than 390,000 have benefited. The platform also recorded over 30 million visits to access all the services provided, and it has been linked with 18 financing entities that offer the best financing solutions to beneficiaries.
The Ministry moved quickly to regulate an important aspect of the housing sector—real estate leasing—by establishing the ”Ijar“ network —an integrated digital platform designed to regulate the real estate rental sector in the Kingdom and protect the rights of all parties to a lease agreement. The platform has helped streamline the rental payment process, and during 2020, more than 100,000 establishments were able to register their rental contracts on the network, with the contract registration process taking no more than 3 minutes, resulting in the registration of more than 1.6 million rental contracts through more than 17,000 accredited real estate brokers on the network.
The Ministry of Municipal, Rural Affairs, and Housing has focused on serving the real estate development sector, which is a cornerstone of the housing sector’s progress. It has moved quickly to find solutions to streamline real estate developers” transactions and simplify their procedures, including the establishment of the Real Estate Developers Services Center “Itmam,” which, through its online platform, accelerates the pace of work on residential projects in the Kingdom and increases investment in the real estate sector by consolidating real estate development services into a single digital portal; to facilitate and enable real estate developers to obtain approvals and licenses. The center implements and monitors the completion of approvals and licenses for various housing projects within a very short timeframe compared to the time it previously took to obtain licenses.
The Ministry has taken the initiative to adopt digital solutions to facilitate the participation of individuals and organizations in housing tenders and to involve them in the sector’s progress by providing an integrated digital platform called “Jood Al-Iskan,” which aims to engage all segments of society in supporting charitable housing initiatives through the platform, thereby ensuring transparency, accuracy, and professionalism in the provision of charitable contributions. which resulted in serving more than 20,000 beneficiaries and eligible recipients in 2020, through more than 2.2 million donations, raising approximately 400 million riyals, with each digital donation taking no more than 45 seconds to complete.
The Ministry has adopted an innovative and important step to serve beneficiaries of housing support, which has helped them make decisions regarding purchasing and owning a home: the “Real Estate Advisor,” overseen by the Real Estate Development Fund. The app streamlines the customer journey for citizens purchasing their first home and helps them find the best financing provider through effective technical integration with financing institutions, the Saudi Credit Information Company “Sama” and real estate brokerage firms. The app has improved the user experience, raising the satisfaction rate to 90%, reducing the time required to process mortgage financing from 45 business days to 10 business days, and increasing the percentage of financing contracts referred to lenders from 19% to 82%. The app also won the Arab Government Excellence Award for Best Arab Smart App of 2020, In 2020, the app saw more than 740,000 new registrations, issued over 560,000 recommendations, and finalized more than 134,000 contracts with over 18 financing institutions.
These digital initiatives launched by the Ministry of Municipal, Rural Affairs, and Housing contributed to creating an accessible digital environment to overcome obstacles, streamline services, and provide solutions. The true test of this digital transformation came during the COVID-19 pandemic, as all the technical and digital solutions developed by the Ministry proved their success by continuing to deliver their various services to the fullest extent and with the highest quality, and they were not affected by the precautionary measures taken to combat COVID-19. The figures achieved by these initiatives and programs through their digital channels prove this.