The Saudi Housing Finance Company (Sahl) is one of the first Saudi companies since its inception and establishment in 2008 specialized in the field of real estate finance, which the company seeks to meet the financing needs of customers to obtain a home and turn the dream of owning it into reality according to the controls and principles of Islamic law,
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The CEO of the company, Mr. Abdullah Al-Sheikh, confirmed to Amlak through this interview that the company is keen to provide financing products in accordance with the principles of Islamic Sharia, pointing out that the presence of a Sharia Supervisory Board has helped to ensure compliance and apply the programs accurately according to the requirements of the Sharia Commission, and also stressed the company's commitment in applying the most accurate performance and risk management standards in line with the best international standards. In addition to the development of the company's internal programs according to the most important and latest versions of the main systems and other auxiliary programs, which gave the company a very strong internal IT structure to ensure achieving the highest levels of satisfaction for the company's customers, which is the ultimate goal that we are working to achieve and materialize on the ground,,,,
**You recently won the Best Customer Service Provider Award in the Kingdom, what distinguished Saudi Home Finance Company from competitors to win the award?
First of all, we must point out that the Saudi Housing Finance Company (Sahl) has achieved several awards and successes during the past period of years, and to summarize, the company was awarded the third place for the largest growth in the financing portfolio for 2013 and 2014 respectively, in addition to achieving a market share of more than 8% of the residential mortgage market in Saudi Arabia, Sahel has achieved a market share of more than 8% in the residential real estate finance market in Saudi Arabia.
Back to your question about the company's advantage during which we were able to win the award, I will tell you the most important things that took place during the past period, as the company was oriented towards customers and sought to meet their requirements for housing finance, and the company opened two new branches in the eastern region and the western region to meet the needs of the market throughout the Kingdom, in addition to that the company's management sought to choose Three Eye Infotech systems (Castle and Orion) modern
Tell us about the financing products offered by the company.
The Ijara program is the most important and most flexible program in the Saudi Housing Finance Company, where the program is based on the formula of Ijara with the promise of ownership and is a program compatible with the provisions and principles of Islamic finance approved by the company's Sharia Board, and extends the financing years up to 30 years with a financing amount of up to 4000,000 riyals to meet the needs of customers in various segments and sectors, including retirees and residents, and will soon issue a new and innovative financing program that specializes in financing commercial buildings ** What are the company's goals?
Since the establishment of the Saudi Housing Finance Company (Sahl) in 2008, we have been striving to achieve all the goals for which the company was established, which is to be the first company in the real estate finance market in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in serving its customers" housing needs, reducing the gap between supply and demand, and facilitating the dream of home ownership for customers so that the dream becomes a reality in an easy and easy way. <span class="p1
** Do you find competition from banks in the real estate finance sector?
I believe that competition is a positive and healthy requirement in the business world, especially the real estate finance sector, yes there is competition, but we in the Saudi Housing Finance Company have been able during the relatively short years compared to the age of banks operating in the Kingdom to prove And the diversity of financing entities and programs has strengthened our innovation and emphasized the need to continue to develop both services and financing programs to meet the needs of customers and keep pace with their aspirations and desires of all kinds. ** The real estate market in the Kingdom is currently stagnant, has this stagnation had an impact on the real estate finance sector?
I see that the market in the current period is witnessing a decrease in the pace of demand as a result of multiple factors, not a recession in its usual concept, as prices have not fallen clearly, but I agree with you that this decrease in demand has affected the financing sector directly,,,,
** After its approval and application since 1436 AH, how did you find the impact of the decision issued by the Monetary Authority for the mortgage finance system on the real estate finance sector in the Kingdom?
In my opinion, every decision must have an impact and that impact varies between positive and negative, regarding the approval of the 30% down payment required from customers to obtain real estate financing, many finance seekers faced the obstacle of obtaining the amount of the down payment, which delayed their decision to buy their homes and thus pushed them to rent, which has been observed recently. On the other hand, there is another segment of customers wishing to buy, who were forced to obtain additional loans to secure the payment and complete the financing process, but some of them may face repayment issues in the future due to borrowing amounts exceeding their credit capacity, and therefore we can say that this decision has negatively affected the real estate finance sector in the Kingdom.
