These were the excuses that doorkeepers in Al-Rawda and Al-Salama districts gave to Badar Mohammad, a newly married Saudi who is still struggling to find an apartment.

On one of his flat-hunting trips, he was given different excuses from various doorkeepers, who would often tell him the apartments had already been taken.

Others would question him about who would be living in the flat before again telling him it was not available. “It was a Yemeni doorkeeper who told me that the owner of the building does not want to have any Saudis in his building because they don’t pay the rent,” said Badar.

“The doorkeeper said the building was new and he does not want anyone except expatriates living in it.” Badar said the doorkeeper told him the owner had a bad experience with a Saudi who rented out a villa and then did not pay the rent for four years. When the owner complained to the authorities the man did not leave. Finally he had to force him out, without receiving any money in return.

Hashim Abdulrab, a Saudi father, said that some owners also do not like large Saudi families, as they may have teenagers who could damage the buildings.

“It is not that we do not pay. But the owners increase the rent prices without giving any prior notice. The expatriates are receiving accommodation allowance from their companies and will pay anyway because they can be threatened easily,” he added.

Head of the Real Estate Committee  at Jeddah Chambers of Commerce and Industry Abdullah Al-Ahmari claimed around 5,000 disputes over rent had gone to court.

Resolving one of these cases could take up to two years, which is why landlords are now not welcoming Saudis into their buildings, he added. “Some people have been forced out of buildings by cutting off electricity,” Al-Ahmari told Al-Madinah daily, criticizing the exaggerated increase of rent prices at the same time.

It is estimated that only 22 percent of Saudis are living in their own houses.

Despite the increase in rental prices the Kingdom will need around 500,000 additional homes in the next five years, especially in major cities such as Riyadh, Jeddah, Dammam, Alkhobar and newly established economic cities.