9 million benefit from land grants

The Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs has issued more than 1.5 million residential grants, which have benefited around 9 million Saudis. An average of 60,000 grants are distributed each year.
More than 1.3 million applications for land grants are currently registered on waiting lists, said a spokesman of the ministry.
The newly established Ministry of Housing will now be dealing with grants, permits and land-related matters, which were previously handled by the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs (MMRA). The MMRA must hand over the plans for land grants to the Ministry of Housing in the next few weeks.
The applicants are seeking to acquire land for residential use as per the royal decree issued on April 12, which stipulates that citizens should be granted land on which houses have to be built.
Muhammad Al-Hamad, director general of grants at the MMRA, said that following the issuance of the decree, the ministry issued a decision to form a committee to facilitate handing over the plans to the Ministry of Housing.
Al-Hamad said those who were granted land prior to the issuance of the decree would have to process their papers and obtain permits as usual, while those still on waiting lists will be taken care of by the Ministry of Housing following verification of their supporting documents.