A writer who respects his word is always keen to stay away from sensationalism and does not take an approach that adopts what emotion demands today rather than what we wish for tomorrow within the framework of a reality that cannot be overcome, there is a difference between what we wish for and what is possible!
First of all, I must confess that I do not want to write a letter while withholding the truth or looking for a private interest.
First of all, I must confess that I will not delve too much into the reasons that led to the creation of a housing issue that requires a solution, because searching for the reasons is exactly like peeling an onion, each explanation raises more questions at a deeper level! And I don't think the specialists in the Ministry of Housing or decision makers are isolated from understanding the broad outlines of the reasons! It is my belief that the most important of these causes have already been stopped, and if not, we are plowing in the water.
What is important here is that we have a clear understanding of the causes. The important thing here is that we are facing a housing issue and how to solve it and not how to blame each other and waste time on what is not productive, especially since the real causes are many accumulations, including the absence of housing policies and the granting of land to citizens of all classes, both those who need housing and those who do not need it and in different areas and free of charge, then there are many government agencies that play an indirect role and did not play the required role as it should be, such as the Ministry of Transport, municipalities, media and finance, this situation contributed to creating a good and available climate for everyone that led to the monopolization of large areas by many real estate people and others in the absence of regulation that prevents this.
Particularly since the real causes are many accumulations. Therefore, we should not hold one party responsible for this crisis, but rather several accumulations, which should be solved with knowledge, depth and sufficient time away from superficiality and urgency.
How can we find a solution that does not lead to other issues and offer multiple solutions, including creating a system that prevents monopolization and prevents the white land from being a commodity to be sold at the highest price, “and the white land here is the undeveloped, and the undeveloped is not productive.”
How can we find a solution that does not lead to other issues and offers multiple solutions. Because the root solution to the issue is a matter of integration and not only the responsibility of the Ministry of Housing, although it is concerned and directly responsible for this issue, and whoever delves into the core of the issue finds three main pillars of housing: land, financing and construction.“
These are the main lines of responsibility. These are the broad lines, and without the less broad lines, the plan to eliminate the issue will not be complete, and all I hope that whoever has the decision on this matter will give the economic side the greatest importance, because the balances in the economic side are very important and have significant side effects.
Fees and taxation are not only the responsibility of the Ministry of Housing, although it is concerned and directly responsible for this issue. Fees, taxes and even financial support are like medicines in the economy, if they are few and do not heal, and if they increase, they may destroy the economic body, for example if too much support ”note with me support“ and not discounting in one sector may lead to negative results in other sectors that may exceed the results achieved in the subsidized sector and thus in the long term economic distortions that may be difficult to solve easily, let alone if the opposite is a fee or tax is misplaced or exceeds its required standard.
And therefore, I hope that all those in charge of the decision on this matter give the economic side the greatest importance, because the balances in the economic side are very important and have side effects. Therefore, it is necessary to look within the general economic framework and not rely entirely on a partial analysis of the issue.
This does not mean that I am against the subsidized sector. This does not mean that I am against fees on real estate, but rather that some business owners or others, of all classes, should not think that the principles of economic freedom are a fertile ground for monopolizing or looting people's money and using power or social status to achieve individual interests at the expense of the interest of the group.
Then there is an aspect that should be considered within the general economic framework and not rely entirely on a partial analysis of the issue. Therefore, the government is required to activate the role of these government agencies so that they play their required role, as well as enacting regulations and laws, including real estate, that prevent monopoly in land and at the same time ensure that private capital is not harmed by this regulation, especially since the private sector is the backbone of the productive economy in all countries, even in oil countries because oil is not considered a rentier economy, and the rentier economy has great positive and negative aspects as well if not exploited and directed correctly in development and there is no room here to explain them.
One of the most important aspects of the rentier economy in the country is its economic freedom. I am not against fees, but I may disagree with some in the way the fees are imposed and the way the issue is addressed. I even disagree with some who believe that the price of land is the main obstacle in the housing issue, but it is an important part among other important parts, and if we accept that land is the only obstacle to the housing solution, we have living examples that many poor African countries have free land, not just cheap, and yet most of the population has no housing.
Then there are figures that are circulating in the media. <Then there are figures circulating about the size of the expected fees from the real estate, and I do not think it is hidden from anyone who has a slight familiarity with the financial aspect of the impossibility of the validity of the expected figures of fees on the real estate that are circulated through the press, whether printed or electronic, as everyone who has a knowledge of the economic aspect knows that this is impossible, especially in the absence of a productive economy and most of the income from the economy. In the absence of a productive economy and most of the income from oil rents, which is the only pillar of all sectors, the impossibility of the validity of these figures is clear and does not need clarification when we realize that the cash stock in banks does not cover these imaginary figures circulated by some pens, when we divide that cash on its sources and the extent of its association with real estate owners.
The circulation of these financial figures and the lack of awareness of their damage in the event that they cannot be applied has negative effects on some citizens who will be shocked when confirming that this is not true, so here I appeal to my esteemed brothers who are enthusiastic about solving the housing issue to stay away from excitement and investigate the accuracy of each financial figure and its applicability, because if the truth has more than one face according to the angle from which it is viewed, numbers have one face that cannot be changed.
There is also a piece of information about the banks” cash stock that does not cover these fictitious figures circulated by some pens, when that cash is divided into sources and the extent of the relationship with property owners. There is also a piece of information circulated by some that if land prices drop dramatically, it will be easy to own a house, and I believe that once there are huge drops in real estate, the economic situation at that time will forget about the housing crisis.
Let me simplify here.
Let me simplify the matter here, away from the complexities of numbers and financial and economic laws.
<This is through examples, and examples are illustrative tools that we derive from what we live and what we are accustomed to and thus it is easier to assimilate the information to be communicated.
Land prices are now like a very healthy person, i.e. obese, “high prices“ and therefore this obesity causes serious issues for the heart and other parts of the body and hinders the movement of blood.
This person has a choice.
This person has two options: Either go to a specialized doctor to prescribe treatment methods proven by scientific studies that are safe from side risks and the doctor knows the correct limit of weight loss that if exceeded, the scales would tip again.
Or go to a doctor who specializes in weight loss. <Or he goes to a folk doctor or someone close to him who is enthusiastic and hasty without depth of perception and then prescribes him a set of herbs that may dissolve his fat but will destroy his kidneys or liver functions, and thus hinder his life completely, this person, unfortunately, and before he started either of the two treatments, he contracted an emergency disease. ”This illness is caused by a sharp decline in income, whose only source is almost exclusively oil, and this is another issue much more serious than the housing crisis, and there is no room here to talk about it, and I have already written an article entitled “The Supreme Commission to dispense with oil in this newspaper on 712-2015 Issue 17332”
You see, does he continue to choose between the two remedies and which one is better
I believe that the best option is the specialized doctor who will take care of treating him from the disease and at the same time balancing between reducing his weight from the disease and if necessary reducing it by therapeutic methods that are safe from risks, and the Ministry of Housing is the ideal doctor to solve the issue and prescribe the best medicine because it sees the whole picture economically, financially, socially, strategically and the rest of the details.
<All I wish is to let the doctor work and support him with positive and not negative media and the right information about our patient. <I am applying this by offering a humble opinion that can be summarized as follows: I believe - and God knows best - that the best solution to the housing issue is a huge real estate marshal with two financial and organizational components led by the state and implemented by everyone, including the private sector, developers, investors, real estate, individuals and all government agencies, and the main goal is to increase the supply of saleable and desirable housing units from all citizens, and certainly the increase in supply over demand in real estate is the only force that will bring down real estate prices without unnatural negative effects.
We can either wish for it, or we can hope for it. If we hope to bring real estate down in the media, it will not fall at all, but if we try to bring it down forcibly and with unstudied “arbitrary” laws, then I imagine the popular saying that we used to joke as children, “Put it down and not under it!?”
The results will be the only force that will bring real estate prices down without natural negative effects.
The results will be painful in the long run! <As for how to prevent land monopolies, I can say with confidence that land fees alone will not solve the issue, but will complicate the matter and create issues that we do not need. The alternative to direct fees that will prevent monopoly is very easy, let us here borrow local proverbs in simple language and say “Catch the dividend and do not worry.” The dividend here, around which the realtors are humming and for which land is monopolized, is the profit obtained from monopoly, if the Ministry of Housing imposes a fee on profits, not on the land, but on any profit made from any land in any place or region throughout the Kingdom, the Ministry of Housing must deduct a part of it that it believes achieves the goal of preventing monopoly.
I believe the Ministry of Housing deducts a part of it. I believe that the Ministry has experts who can draw up a table of those fees deducted from the profits realized from hoarding land divided by the number of years of monopoly; so that it speeds up the sale of the land because the longer the period and the profit exceeds a certain limit, the fees increase gradually and according to legislation derived from our purified law (no harm, no harm) and certainly excludes those who have no ability to sell due to compulsion or the period is calculated only after the cause is removed.
When it comes to the chasmic lands, the Ministry of Housing must deduct a portion that it believes achieves the goal of preventing monopoly. As for the very vast lands with millions of meters, they have a special treatment because their number is limited and therefore easy to deal with them firmly and decisively within the framework of the profit fee in addition to the duration of the monopoly, which when it exceeds the reasonable time from the date of purchase or grant, even before the issuance of the system, a mechanism is put in place to ensure the acceleration of its sale.
With regard to the direct fees on the land, it is important to note that these fees are derived from our pure Shari'ah (harm and damage). <This is unprecedented globally, especially in a severe economic situation that would undermine productive economic circles, create other complex issues, and destroy an important economic principle, which is the law of supply and demand. The funny thing is that it is nationalization by installments, and it has never been used as a solution to housing. In any country in the world! <The most important thing is for everyone to realize that the issue of solving the accumulated housing issue requires sufficient time, with a minimum of five years, and then we will see the availability of housing for everyone and at different prices among people and not a certain price, as is observed now. Therefore, the Ministry of Housing must activate this real estate marshal in both its physical and organizational aspects.
The physical aspect, for example, is for the ministry to initiate direct construction alongside the private sector and incentivize it to do so with either land or loan, as well as to continue and expand with individuals in direct construction with both land and loan.
The organizational aspect also includes, but is not limited to... Enacting laws and regulations that oblige government agencies to perform their role differently from what is currently in place and help push the wheel of construction, such as developing building regulations and setting a specific limit of no more than one year to finish residential plans from city secretariats, as well as expanding the building ranges and obliging the Ministry of Transport to extend roads to new residential neighborhoods and trains to the suburbs if necessary. I am sure that the Ministry of Housing has a lot of similar proposals and initiatives. There is also another branch of regulation that the Ministry of Housing must sponsor, plan and demand as the authorized body, which is to ask each government agency to develop a housing program for its employees who do not have housing and ask the Supreme Council to help in this to facilitate the existence of land, which exists even if the site is a little far from the city, in coordination with finance, transportation and municipalities and over five years, I think it is easy to overcome the difficulties of roads and infrastructure.
This way, every government agency will have a housing program for its employees who do not have housing. <Thus, every ministry and government agency has a housing program for its Saudi employees. <And even obligate, encourage and incentivize large private companies to develop housing programs for their employees by granting them a number of incentives, even if not material, but encouraging and beneficial to both parties, and I hope that these incentives do not include increasing visas to bring in foreign workers. <I believe that this coordinated collective work is the way that will enable us, God willing, to overcome the housing issue, even if we cannot work with all of them at the same time, it is important to start with the possible and demand the other ... There are international experiences in this field and perhaps the Canadian experience is worth looking at in detail, as well as the Turkish experience. As for holding the Ministry of Housing alone and saying that it is solely responsible for this legacy of housing issues for which it was not the sole cause, this is a distortion of the truth and away from the correct solution to the issue, and we must encourage it as well as criticize it in a meaningful criticism based on correct information and depth of understanding of the issue, not "to catch the manuscript from its arguments."
Therefore, the Ministry of Housing should be encouraged and criticized in a meaningful way, based on correct information and depth of understanding of the issue, not "to catch the manuscript from its arguments."
Therefore, the Ministry of Housing must develop a complete vision of the issue and a precise program that includes everyone, I repeat everyone, after that we must hold it accountable for everything it has announced and that the announced program of the Ministry is an institutional program that is not linked to a specific minister, but a ministry that has developed a comprehensive plan and approved by the higher authorities, regardless of who the minister is, and this is the required and effective institutional work because the ministry is a fixed asset and the minister is variable.
The Ministry is a fixed asset and the minister is variable.
