“Its approval is prioritized on the council's agenda in light of the recent recommendations made by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah on boosting real estate development in the Kingdom,” said Al-Asheikh.

He added that the anticipated law would definitely boost the real estate business in the Kingdom and solve the housing problems faced by citizens.

The chairman said the council set up a special committee comprising six members to study in detail the draft law. The committee has completed more than 12 sittings and will soon present its report to enable the house to discuss the law; this would allow them to make amendments, deletions and additions to the draft law.

Following the council’s approval, the Cabinet will have a final look at the draft regulation before it is presented for ratification to the king.

The draft mortgage law is a package of five laws — a mortgage registration law for the use of mortgages in real property financing, including mortgage registration; an execution (enforcement) law that expands a judicial court’s authority to provide injunctive and declaratory relief and enforce such orders; a financial leasing law that regulates the incorporation, activities and governance of financial leasing companies; a real estate finance law that regulates the incorporation, activities and governance of companies engaged in real estate financing; and a control of finance companies law that regulates the incorporation, activities and governance of finance companies.

The proposed law was approved by the council in 2008 and was sent to the Cabinet for approval. Since there were some differences of opinion on some of the important articles of the bill, the Cabinet returned it to the council for review.

At a session presided over by Deputy Chairman Abdul Rahman Al-Barrak on Sunday, the council approved a draft regulation on encroachment on lands belonging to the government.

Shoura Council Secretary-General Muhammad Al-Ghamdi told reporters following Sunday's session that the bill was approved on a recommendation made by a special committee headed by Abdullah Al-Hudaithi.

The bill contains 12 articles to prevent such encroachment on public land. It sets out the guidelines to monitor the status of government land in all parts of the Kingdom and also outlines measures to prevent the illegal occupation of such lands.

The bill calls for the formation of a central committee in each governorate headed by the governor who will work out a mechanism to investigate any possible infringement on government land and accordingly take suitable action.

The committee will appoint sub-committees in various districts of the governorate to ensure government lands do not end up in the hands of unscrupulous dealers. Members of the sub-committee have to protect lands that come under their jurisdiction and take preventive measures against any encroachments.