The minister emphasized the need for the total development of REDF in order to enhance its various services rendered to citizens. “We should also make sure that our loans reach deserving people.”

The Ministry of Housing is planning to implement a seven-point strategy to solve the country’s housing problem and achieve the goal of making every citizen a homeowner.

The ministry wants to enable the housing market to meet growing demand, make available adequate amount of developed land for building houses and enact new laws to help citizens obtain their own houses. The ministry also aims to improve the ability of citizens to purchase houses, make more homes available at cheaper prices, allow construction of multistory buildings and prevent disorganized residential districts.

Saudi Arabia needs 150,000 housing units annually as demand for residential property is soaring as a result of rapid population growth and an inflow of expatriate workers.

Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah has taken a number of steps to solve the problem. He ordered in March 2011 the construction of 500,000 new housing units in various parts of the country at a total cost of SR250 billion.

According to market estimates, the Kingdom’s housing sector needs to invest around SR1.5 trillion to build 32.2 million housing units during 2005-2020.