Criteria for house purchase finalized

The Ministry of Housing has finalized the eligibility criteria for purchasing houses pending approval from higher authorities.
Among the conditions are applicants cannot be house owners and must be family providers who have never benefited from state-funded housing programs.
Pre-specified controls for receiving residential support would determine eligibility, a source at the ministry said. The ministry has been pushing for approval of such criteria for years to assist citizens waiting to live in decent lodging.
Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah directly granted the ministry SR250 billion to build 500,000 residential units, in addition to the expansion of its activities to grant developed lands, which originally belonged to the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs, to citizens for construction purposes.
Around 57 residential projects are currently being implemented in order to build 59,944 residential units and the number of applicants exceeds 2 million. Another 550,000 landowners have already applied for a loan.
The ministry is finalizing regulatory legislation concerning the ministry’s services and that of the Real Estate Development Fund before the end of the year.

It is taking steps to keep pace with increasing demand for residential units, developed lands and loans for building.