RIYADH, 29 January 2005 — Crown Prince Abdullah has instructed Prince Abdullah ibn Abdul Aziz Foundation to expand its housing projects all over the Kingdom for the benefit of underprivileged sections of Saudi society.
This was announced by Dr. Yousuf ibn Ahmed Al-Othaimeen, secretary-general of the foundation, who said the crown prince also wants the houses to be fully furnished and equipped with air-conditioners, furniture and home appliances.
Dr. Al-Othaimeen said the foundation is constructing 2,070 houses in different parts of the Kingdom at a cost of SR385 million. These houses will be allotted to deserving Saudi families when they are ready.
Prince Abdullah’s move on the housing front underlines the severe housing shortage in the Kingdom, where the population is growing at 3.2 percent annually, one of the world’s highest. According to Minister of Planning and Economy Dr. Khaled Al-Gosaibi, there will be a shortage of 270,000 housing units by the end of the Seventh Five-Year Plan ending this year.
Dr. Al-Gosaibi said the Saudi Real Estate Development Fund granted loans worth SR135 billion for the construction of housing units. “The demand will continue to rise in future, since 60 percent of the Saudi population is under 20,” he said.
The Arriyadh Development Authority organized in 2003 an international “Modern Saudi House” competition that attracted 1,365 entries from 61 countries, 16 of them Arab. The housing crisis has been compounded by the demographic bulge and the fall in per capita income resulting from the population growth as well as the emergence of nuclear families, heralding a trend away from the traditional joint families.
Riyadh’s population is projected to hit eight million by 2010, necessitating an additional 1.5 million housing units over the next 20 years. Recent studies indicate that government support to the housing sector in the past two decades has helped to solve the problem of housing shortage in the capital.
According to a survey conducted five years ago, Saudi homeowners increased from 59.2 percent in 1987-1991 to 77.5 percent during 1991-95. The ADA survey revealed that 30.3 percent of all Saudis were living in rented houses. Families with SR36,000 in annual income spend 37.4 percent of that amount on housing.
Migration of job seekers from the surrounding areas is said to be responsible for the phenomenal growth — 32 percent annually in Riyadh as against the national average of 3.2 percent.
