RIYADH, 19 August 2004 — With a view to providing housing facilities for citizens, the Saudi government has earmarked SR524 million in soft loans to be used for building 2,280 residential units across the Kingdom.
This move by the government-run Real Estate Development Fund (REDF) will help citizens to own houses, while an inbuilt mechanism at REDF will give preference to the low-income group as well as persons with disabilities and women in the allocation of loans.
“More than 1,900 Saudi citizens will benefit from the new soft loans extended by the REDF, the third set of loans accredited within the year’s budget of this real estate financial institution,” said Mohammed ibn Wasl A. Al-Harbi, REDF’s director general.
Al-Harbi said the soft loans come within the framework of the REDF’s mandate to finance construction of housing units mainly for residential purposes.
Loans provided by the fund are to be repaid over 25 years. An REDF report said the real estate agency has provided more than 451,000 private loans valued at billions of riyals.
These loans have helped finance building of hundreds of thousands of residential units covering most parts of the Kingdom. This has substantially solved the housing problem of the people.
The report said that the Kingdom’s urban centers require more housing facilities because of migration of people from the suburbs and rural areas.
Riyadh city alone will require 1.5 million additional housing units by 2022, when its population is expected to exceed 10.5 million.
Keeping in view such a demographic growth, many Saudi citizens will need the REDF support to build their houses.
The report said the number of housing units distributed by the fund exceeds 21,211 in different parts of the country.
The fund has also extended 2,488 investment loans. The REDF, which extends loans covering 70 percent of the construction cost, offers private loans and also investment loans.
Every Saudi citizen is entitled to get a private loan from the REDF for building a house.
