Sixty percent of Saudis don’t have own houses

By LAURA BASHRAHEEL | ARAB NEWS

JEDDAH: With growing inflation, stock market crashes and not enough housing, the dreams of middle class Saudis to own their own homes remain just that with many despondent that they will never materialize.

According to recent statistics, about 60 percent of Saudis do not have their own homes. Cities like Jeddah have also experienced a shortage in affordable housing and in spite of bodies like the Real Estate Development Fund (REDF) providing interest-free credit, many middle class Saudis are unlikely to own their own homes.

Adel Al-Sharaf, a 40-year-old father of four, said real estate prices are too high to allow him to afford his own home. “I have been waiting a long time to secure a REDF loan, which I finally got after years of waiting but now I have to worry about the price of construction and material costs,” he said.

Al-Sharaf had to take another interest loan from a bank and now makes monthly payments. “I am looking for a big apartment to buy if I come to a situation in which I can’t afford the mortgage. I have four children and everything is becoming expensive. My dream of providing my children with a house that could be theirs forever is vanishing,” he said.

According to a strategic plan prepared by the Jeddah municipality, Jeddah needs almost a million housing units over the next 20 years. This can be achieved through the construction of low-cost housing units. The plan was released to coincide with the Jeddah International Real State, Finance and Housing Exhibition 2010 (JIREX 2010), which took place in March.

The Jeddah municipality’s plan was based on present shortages and future requirements with a shortage of 283,000 housing units, including 80,000 in the low-income group. The plan called for the immediate construction of 151,600 units to accommodate people living in underdeveloped areas, and 51,500 units to meet the demands of the Kingdom’s growing population.

In the meantime, members of a Facebook group titled “I want a house for my children before I die” are discussing why people are unable to build or buy their own homes and solutions to the problem.

The group is calling for radical solutions, especially since Saudi Arabia has plenty of land.

“I checked the group after reading an article in Al-Riyadh newspaper and I can relate to what people are suffering,” said Ibrahim Jabir, a 36-year-old father of three. “I found my dream home but when I went to a bank for a loan I found out I would end up paying double the price of the house in installments over the next 15 years. That’s not Shariah-compliant,” he said.

Jabir is renting a small apartment while trying to save money for a home. “How can I save? I need to provide for my family and I only earn SR7,800 a month,” he added.

Nawaf, who owns a real estate office, said he often meets people who are desperate to own their own homes. “There are new apartment buildings but they are expensive and people want to have their own properties rather than wasting money on rent,” he added. “We hear about solutions but we never see any action. Landlords are greedy and construction material is not getting cheaper. I always advise my clients to take loans because sometimes it’s the only way to buy a house,” said Nawaf.

Comments

MAJID KAISRANI

Report abuse
Nawaf earns 7,800 a month and is unable to afford a house? How about people with less than 5,000 which most Saudis belong to? It is now confirmed that the Saudi real estate sector does not follow the rule of supply and demand, it follows the rule of an oligopoly where they all raise the prices so the minimum cost is still way off the top!

ISRARUL HAQUE

Report abuse
This problem can be solved to some extent if the govt approves plan fo mass housing project as there is no dearth of land. The mass housing schemes are successful as they reduce the cost of construction and also develop a sense of equality and austerity among the occupants and a dream of owning the house also gets fulfilled. This program will automatically bring a rental control which will be a relief for the tenants especailly the expatriates wo are recently hit badly by the unaffordable rents.

RIZWAN GHANI

Report abuse
1. Introduce adobe houses (houses made of 10-25 percent cement and 75-90 percent mud) because they are 50-70 percent cheaper. They can easily be made "carbon neutral". Ordinary eye cannot differentiate between an adobe house and cement made house. The problem is not expertise (see South Africa, America, EU) it is cement, real estate and insurance mafias which will hamper any effort to cut building costs in form of adobe house.
2. Educate Saudis to build smart houses, just like the Americans built in 60s to cut house building budgets by 70 percent.
3. Owning a house needs change in attitude, education and support from the government.

MEHREEN

Report abuse
It's expensive all over the world if you want to buy and be able to afford the upkeep of a home, not just in KSA. It seems that perhaps we could exercise population control measures and have less children to be able to afford things. Chances are that if you can't afford a home, you won't be able to educate your 3 or 4 children through university.

The Saudi government spends 25% of it's budge on education/training people. Given the relatively small population here and the amount of funds being spent on education, it would seem that Saudis are not taking advantage of this offer. The government appears to be doing its part - but people feel a sense of entitlement and think they should be taken care of. Let's become more responsible.

PEJVAK

Report abuse
hello.i have one question?
why Saudi Arabia dont have economic growthØŸ
Post your comment

required

required (email will never be displayed)

Please enter the following characters in the box provided (case sensitive). This helps us prevent automated programs from creating accounts and sending spam.

All comments are subject to approval

Terms and conditions

Latest comments