“The NSHR is currently looking into complaints received from several Saudis that they were not given houses on rent just because of their nationality,” President of the NSHR Mufleh Al-Qahtani said in a statement reported by Al-Eqtisadiah business daily yesterday.

Al-Qahtani said field inspections conducted by NSHR confirmed landlords were biased against Saudi tenants in many cities in the Kingdom. The inspections were made after complaints were received about the discriminative practices of landlords in different provinces.

Khaled Al-Bishi, one of the complainants, claimed a property agent told him when he was looking for an apartment that the building owner did not want to rent out to a Saudi family.

Al-Bishi added he received the same reply from most property agents he contacted. He said the reason for this was, according to a property agent, that expatriate tenants were more prompt in paying rent and took better care of the properties.

Al-Bishi also said the ploys resorted to by some builders to keep Saudi tenants away included designing apartments in such a way that did not suit Saudi family customs. He said they are designed with small rooms and with scant consideration for women’s seclusion.

Muhammad Al-Ajami, another Saudi looking to rent an apartment for his large family in eastern Riyadh, said he found a suitable ground floor property, but the estate agent told him it could not be rented out as it was under repair.

After a few days Al-Ajami discovered the apartment had been rented out to a non-Saudi Arab. When he contacted the agent again he was shocked to hear the owner of the building did not want the property to be rented out to any Saudi.

Another man said some building owners refuse to rent out their properties to Saudi families with more than three members. But if the tenant is non-Saudi, no such conditions are insisted upon, he said.

He added Saudis were the victims of the lack of government supervision in the rented property sector.

However, Al-Qahtani said more steps are to be taken to protect the rights of the property owner and his tenant.

He also observed a building owner’s tendency to hike rentals every year strains relations between the two parties. “We have noticed building owners increasing rent by 50 percent. It contradicts what studies recommend about rent hikes,” he said.

He stressed the need for increased government regulation to protect the rights of both tenants and owners.