RIYADH, 23 March 2007 — The King Abdullah Charitable Housing Foundation is putting the final touches to handing over 500 fully furnished housing units built at three locations in the Kingdom.
The three residential projects, built at a cost of SR114.5 million, are in Ghazala in Hail, Thaul in Jeddah governorate, and Gharya Yabas in the Mekhwat in Baha, according to Yousuf Al-Othaimeen, secretary-general of the foundation.
On behalf of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah, governors of each region will hand over the title deeds to the beneficiaries, the Saudi Press Agency quoted Al-Othaimeen as saying yesterday.
“The houses, which are being handed over with their keys, are fully furnished and equipped with utilities such as water, electricity, telephone and sewage system. The projects also have roads with sidewalks and designed in the modern construction style suited for Saudi customs and traditions besides being adapted to local climatic and environmental conditions,” Al-Othaimeen said. He added that the projects also have mosques, schools for boys and girls and clinics.
The foundation, which was established four years ago with the aim of solving the growing housing problem for the poor, has already constructed a large number of low-cost housing projects in various parts of the country. The Kingdom needs more than one million housing units to shelter the poor, according to a study conducted last year.
King Abdullah donated a 10,000-square-meter plot of land for the SR20 million Charitable Housing Foundation’s headquarters in Riyadh last March. Al-Othaimeen said the foundation intended to establish 13,000 housing units in different parts of the Kingdom that would benefit approximately 50,000 citizens.
The king had also donated five million square meters worth SR2 billion located between the Prophet’s Mosque and the Madinah airport for the foundation’s works in Madinah. The plot is meant as source of income for the foundation, according to Al-Othaimeen.
The beneficiaries of the foundation’s housing schemes should meet four conditions. First, the person should be a Saudi; second, he should not have received any loan from the Real Estate Development Fund; third, his monthly income should not exceed SR2,500; and four, there should not be any workers under his sponsorship.
