Their demands:
Raising the value of the Real Estate Fund loan and receiving it in one go
Providing basic building materials at reasonable prices, especially iron, cement and blocks
We appeal to Saudi youth to enter the field of construction and contracting and we are tired of the manipulation of foreigners! Major issues:
Scarcity of skilled labor, especially tilers, lack of punctuality, building materials are high and we complain about the lack of blocks! Prices for materials: ”God help us! No comment”
The majority prefer ordinary concrete to ready-mixed concrete for its quality
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No issues with the municipality, electricity has evolved but has raised its costs, and the water issue in areas not covered by the network
These are the prices of tilers, blacksmiths, carpenters, painters and painters
Contractor Al-Subaie responds: Our prices are reasonable and the difference in prices is due to the method of design
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Introduction inside the box
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Amlak's desire to learn more about the nature of the concerns and issues of young people who directly supervise the implementation of the construction of their homes through contractors, and not through the ownership of ready-made houses offered by real estate companies, Amlak took a live tour in more than one neighborhood where the new construction of houses is spreading, we met the owners of these projects, projects to build the future home and the dream of years. We asked them about all the issues they face, in order to put them in front of the decision makers, and so that the specialists and decision makers recognize the suffering of these young people and take them into account in order to work to overcome them, and seek to develop solutions, even if far-reaching, to address them. Our interview was conducted with professors Mohammed Al-Shadoukhi, Fahad Al-Jaryan, Khalid Al-Aqeel, Abdulmohsen Al-Nasiri, Khalid Al-Shadoukhi, Khalid Al-Jalawi, Ali Saud Al-Mariba, and Ibrahim Mohammed Saad. We also polled the opinion of contractor Khalil Sayer Al-Subaie, General Manager of Al-Sahman Contracting Corporation, about the opinions raised by these young people ... Let's listen to the outcome of this constructive dialogue:
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The dream of owning a house! A number of young Saudis appealed to state officials to support them in realizing the dream of building and owning a house, and to take all means that help them turn this dream into reality, and these young people put in the context of a survey conducted by “Amlak” a list of requirements that they thought the state could adopt to help them reach this goal, and own the house where it was normal in the past to see every Saudi living in his own home owned and not rented!!!

<Raise Real Estate Fund loans
In their interview with Amlak, these young people - who follow up the implementation of the construction project of their homes directly through contractors, not through real estate companies - said that at the forefront of these requirements that they believe that the state can work to achieve them is to consider raising the value of the loans provided by the Real Estate Development Fund to citizens, where they confirmed that the value of the loan is not enough to meet the need for construction, but does not exceed 50 to 70% of the construction cost, and they wished that they had received the loan in one payment and not in installments to help them raise the rate of fulfillment of the cost of construction.

Block. The most difficult issue
The youth also called on officials to work to provide the market with the necessary basic building materials at reasonable prices, such as: They said that the most difficult issue they face in the field of obtaining basic building materials is the block, and they believed that if the block was separated from the ready-mix concrete factories, it would help speed up the construction process, as this material would be available in the market more than the current time.

“We are tired of foreigners and their manipulation and lack of credibility, we hope that the Saudi youth will work in this field, and that our money will go into the pockets of citizens,” they said through their experiences with foreigners in the construction of their homes: ”We hope to God Almighty that we will find Saudi youth who do the construction process, because this field has a lot of good, and we hope that officials at the General Organization for Technical and Vocational Education will pay attention to this point, encourage young people to enter this field, and support them in this task with the labor office.”

Scarcity of skilled labor and appointments! Amlak asked young people about the most difficult issues they face in construction, based on their real-life experiences, whether it is the owner, contractor, tiler, electrician, permits, building materials supply, or other aspects. The answers came to confirm that the most prominent and most difficult of these issues are the lack of punctuality of workers, the lack of availability of experienced labor in a timely manner, and even the dates may extend to several months, as well as the frequent issues of block supply, and they said that if this material was available, they would not find difficulties in construction.
They added that the usual difficulties are: The executor - the good designer - the experience of the contractor - the lack of credibility of contractors - the lack of labor in the market. They said that each stage of construction has its own issues, but the bone stage is considered one of the most difficult stages, because it is the basis for the rest of the stages, and therefore dealing with the contractor, and the supply of basic materials such as iron, cement and blocks are the most difficult issues.

Amlak and field tour
“Amlak” asked the youth about the issues they face in detail through their experiences in the construction process and its follow-up, where ”Amlak” chose through its field tour the youth who are still following the stages of building their homes, in the issue of obtaining building permits, some described this process as an easy routine transaction, and some even considered it very easy, but others demanded that its method be reformulated to be easier.


As for the prices of building materials at the present time, opinions varied between those who consider them too high, those who consider them relatively high for foundation materials, and those who consider them reasonable to a certain extent, some of whom answered wishing God and then the rulers to consider the issue of high prices of building materials, and those who said: “God help us. As for the finishing materials, some said that the choices are multiple, allowing freedom of choice.

Iron prices
About the prices of iron at the beginning of construction, our interlocutors said that they range between 2100 riyals for a ton of 14mm, 2200 riyals, and 2700 riyals, and about the needs of the villa of iron to build it, they said that it needed between 25 tons to 33 tons, and about the price of the bone without materials (contractor), the answers varied between 85 riyals (hand work only) without materials, without decoration, 100 riyals, 110 riyals per meter and up to 140 riyals according to the plan and decorations.

As for the price of a meter without materials (contractor), they said that it varies between 6 to 8 riyals, varying from one master to another according to experience and area, ”and it is rare to find the expert master.” As for the prices of paints and labor (piece / meter), the answers were relatively high, and it is better to agree by piece for large areas after determining the demand and type, while an investor saw that a meter is better for him than a piece, and some said that ordinary paints are suitable prices, good is worth its value, while poor is not worth half its value!

Some said that they ”prefer to make paints the last thing in construction, even if they are limited to basic paints until they rest a little from the financial burden of construction, and then they repaint the whole house with the best types.“ They said that they prefer the meter to the piece, and the full supervision of the painting process and labor hands as well, and one of them pointed out that good paints are priced at 12 riyals per meter with materials.

One of them pointed out that good paints are priced at 12 riyals per meter with materials.

Skilled tilers are rare
As for the price of tilers, there is a clear disparity between 10-15 riyals per square meter for tiles, 15 riyals for ceramics (walls and floors), and 16-20 riyals for marble, and they say that ”the most difficult thing is to find a highly experienced tiler. Another adds that the price of the tiler varies according to the type of tiles, as ordinary tiles and ceramic tiles are 15 riyals per meter, while marble is priced at 18 riyals, and the longitudinal meter is calculated at 4 riyals.
As for the carpenter's price, it is 180 riyals for a meter of press type, 180-200 riyals for Syrian press, 50 riyals for a meter without materials, 200 riyals for a meter of Syrian, 250 riyals for press, and one of the speakers says: “The carpenter is usually within the work of the contractor, but according to my knowledge, the carpenter charges approximately 40 riyals per meter,” while the price of the blacksmith is Luxan: 400 riyals and sheet metal: 220, and like the carpenter, the blacksmith charges about 30 riyals, and there are those who work only by the day, and another adds: “Prices vary and range between 400 and 1400 riyals, 500 riyals for a worked meter, 270 riyals for a meter of sheet iron prepared for work, and Kasan 440 riyals for an internal meter.”

<Regular concrete is better than ready-mixed
“Amlak” asked about the price of concrete, and which is better ready-mixed or regular, some felt that ready-mixed concrete is better for narrow places, while regular is better in terms of quality, and as for the prices, they are all high and the appointments of teachers are not accurate, others believe that the price of concrete is exaggerated compared to cement prices, and prefer ready-mixed to regular, while some disagree and believe that regular is better than ready-mixed, and another person adds that “the prices are considered high, but they have become acceptable in the eyes of everyone, and each type has its advantages and also has its disadvantages.”.
The cost remains close. The conversation moved to another issue related to how easy or difficult it is to obtain basic utilities for the home and whether our speakers faced issues in obtaining the electricity meter, the answers came between those who said that the services of the electricity company have developed from the previous, but in return the price has increased, and those who say that he “did not face issues” and those who say that the review of the electricity company is not without issues, at least the length of appointments“.

No issues with the municipality
As for dealing with the municipality, the answers are almost unanimous that there are no issues with the municipality, and that all its employees are cooperative, while one of them mentioned that he had some issues due to waste, and others mentioned that the most difficult issues they faced were the land deed, then the plan, then completing the conditions of the municipality, as for the water company's issues, the positions varied between those who did not face issues and that by agreement they avoid falling into these issues, and those who face issues related to the area where the building is built, especially when it is not covered by the water network.

As for whether some had trouble with the engineering designs of the house, and whether there were issues from the nature of the land, some said: ”There must be issues, but they are negligible, and most of them with me and others are the mismatch between the plan and the actual land area,“ while others complained that: ”There are no designers with a high level of craftsmanship, and the prices are exaggerated, in addition to the design is not from A to Z.“ Others mentioned that the disagreements were only on certain parts, such as room sizes and the amount of iron, while some faced an issue with the nature of the land, since it was longitudinal.

The secret of choosing the land area

The secret of choosing the size of the land
When asked about the secret of choosing the size of the building land, and whether the decision was based on the high price of land/shortage of material/filling the need of the person and his family, some felt that the decision was governed by the high price of land, the high price of the cost of construction, or to fill the need for now or in the future, while one said: ”As an investor, I chose this area according to the desire of a large segment of the community.“


What was the house designed for? For a future need/for a current need/commercial, some said: For a commercial purpose at the moment, and it can be used later when needed due to its attention to the quality of the basic materials, or to fill the future need, while opening a small field for investment, and for the basis on which the facade of the house was chosen: Air direction in summer and winter / sun access / low price, most of the answers talked about the direction of the air and sun access as long as possible, some of them said that they had to buy the plot of land because they wanted to live in a specific neighborhood, and some of them mentioned that the low price was the deciding factor in the choice.
Finally, we asked our interlocutors whether they expected to make amendments to the villa's plan later, some of them answered in the negative, some of them left the possibility of such an amendment, some of them said to avoid some mistakes in the buildings, and another said: ”Maybe. Anything is possible, I may want to remove a wall or add another.“
Contractor: Our prices are reasonable
Mr. Khalil Sayer Al-Subaie, General Manager of Al-Sahman Contracting Company, said that he provides construction services to citizens at reasonable prices, pointing out that the issue of varying prices depends on the way the plan is designed.