Housing Projects
The Minister of Housing explained in a speech that the forum comes this year and a number of national projects have been completed, most notably “developing the mechanism for determining the eligibility and priority for housing requests to be a tool to implement the organization of housing support, and to reach the housing support to its beneficiaries, as the organization was approved by the Council of Ministers and its electronic portal was established to receive and process all requests for housing support and launched it on the Internet 60 days after the approval of the organization as scheduled, indicating that the portal received the requests of citizens in an easy technical manner and the technical reports received by the Ministry proved the high efficiency of the electronic system on housing support
He pointed out that the Ministry has equipped a unified call center to receive citizens“ inquiries where thousands of calls are answered daily with a very short waiting time, indicating that 46 days after the launch of this portal, the Ministry is committed to the timetable previously announced in the press conference on the occasion of the approval of the regulation of housing support to process housing applications and verify them with all relevant government and private agencies and then determine the beneficiaries and start allocating the available housing products to citizens and provide detailed data on applicants and their status and distribution in various regions of the Kingdom.

He pointed out that this mechanism ensures justice and transparency to distribute the various products to the deserving applicants.
Housing Rent
With regard to the housing rental sector, Dr. Al-Duwaihi said that the Ministry has been interested in supporting the institutional and regulatory framework of the sector to achieve the interests of all parties, including landlords, tenants, intermediaries and investors, through the National Network for Housing Rental Services project, which was issued by the Cabinet decision to establish it and was launched to provide a distinct service for those wishing to rent.
He pointed out that the Ministry conducted an extensive study of the housing rental market in the Kingdom and made international comparisons of similar programs, where an electronic platform was built according to the best international specifications and standards that include several distinct services, most notably “electronic verification service, contract documentation, electronic payment, displaying units for rent, and searching for them electronically." He pointed out that a smart phone application has been launched through which units for rent can be displayed in an innovative way that allows viewing the available units in the contact area and changes automatically when the mobile user moves from one area to another, and this service is now available on iPhones and iPads. Integrated housing projects
He stressed that the Ministry has paid attention to the organizational and executive aspect, where it has achieved many steps, as the implementation of (11) projects to build housing units in full-service residential neighborhoods has been completed, and (33) similar projects are underway in many regions of the Kingdom, in addition to the current implementation of (13) projects to develop residential lands and provide them with infrastructure networks, accommodating more than (59) thousand housing units, with a capacity of more than (125) thousand housing units.


Private Sector Partnership
He stated that one of the most important topics that the ministry is currently working on is the issue of partnership with the private sector (real estate developers) in all its aspects and dimensions, which is a strategic option in light of the ministry's mandate to plan and implement infrastructure for all government lands intended for housing, as the ministry focused its attention on providing infrastructure by developing a program aimed at partnership with the private sector to implement housing projects on ministry lands or on its lands in order to benefit from the efficiency and flexibility of the private sector to inject the largest possible amount of affordable housing products in the housing market to achieve a balance between supply and demand and meet the needs of the private sector. The Minister of Housing invited all real estate developers and interested parties to visit the Riyadh Housing Project, indicating that the Ministry has studied all practical, financial and contractual aspects of the partnership with real estate developers with the help of specialized international consultants, which included holding several workshops to take the views of the private sector and reach a viable mechanism that ended with the preparation of a framework for partnership with the private sector that is now ready. He pointed out that starting next month, the specifications and conditions will be offered to real estate developers wishing to work to develop housing units on the Ministry's lands for beneficiaries of housing support according to a clear mechanism based on the citizen's choice and meeting his wishes and achieving fair competition and preserving the rights of all parties, developers and beneficiaries. He pointed out that the ministry will receive several other projects before the holy month of Ramadan, pointing out that the ministry does not buy ready-made housing units but supports the citizen to provide the appropriate housing for himself.
He stated that the number of applicants for housing programs, the number of beneficiaries and the mechanism of their distribution will be announced after verification and audit, indicating that the rental program has been completed and did not face any obstacles.
Honoring partners and sponsors
His Excellency the Minister of Housing Dr. Shuwaish Al-Duwaihi also honored the partners, sponsors and winners of the Ministry of Housing Award 2014.