Around 621,000 Saudi nationals have been found eligible to receive housing aid under a new scheme designed to ease a shortage of homes in the Kingdom.

They were chosen from 961,000 applications received from across the Kingdom, said Housing Minister Shuwaish Al-Duwaihi.

Families obtaining assistance from ESKAN are to receive state-subsidized home loans or subsidized sales of land or housing units.

The Housing Ministry launched the scheme, dubbed “ESKAN”, to offer housing aid to needy Saudi families.

It received a large number of applications following a comprehensive media campaign, which included mobile phone texts and billboards displayed on major streets and squares and at airports.

Informative flyers containing conditions for applying had also been handed out to citizens.

Al-Duwaihi said that the ministry had implemented a mechanism, devised by the Council of Ministers, for organizing housing support. The Housing Ministry portal, eskan.gov.sa, was launched 60 days later.

Applicants to ESKAN were given two months to register on the website.

“The ministry investigates applicants’ financial needs with every possible government agency, including the Education and Higher Education, Interior, Justice, Civil Service, Social Affairs and Municipal and Rural Affairs ministries,” he said.

“The General Organization for Social Insurance (GOSI) and the Public Pension Agency (PPA) are also consulted on the matter.”

Tight verification procedures were in force to ensure that funds reached the needy people.

The ministry had even texted applicants, who failed to complete the forms properly.

Applicants have been advised to call 920002431 for assistance.

The ministry has also informed would-be candidates that application for financial support is still open.

Families will pay for their subsidized homes or land, or pay off their loans, in monthly instalments over 10 years through a 25 percent deduction of their monthly income.

Family units eligible to receive support include childless couples, married couples with one or more children, single men or women with one or more children in their care, orphaned siblings, children with no father and Saudi women with non-Saudi offspring.

Applicants should be Saudi nationals living in the Kingdom over the age of 25 with no house to their name within the last five years.