The Ministry of Housing on Tuesday revealed the conditions for Saudis seeking housing support, be it a house, land, residential loan or loan and land, which will be paid for by the applicant through affordable installments.
Ministry spokesman Muhammad Al-Zumai, at a press conference in Riyadh, explained the mechanism and criteria for the housing support scheme approved by the cabinet on Monday, adding that applications from the following groups of families will be accepted — man and wife, man and wife with one or more children, a father with one or more children, a mother with one or more children, two siblings with deceased parents, one or more children whose father is deceased and mother of non-Saudi or the other being their only provider.
The ministry spokesman said that according to the approved scheme, an applicant has to be a Saudi, the family has to be residing in Saudi Arabia, the applicant should be 25-years-old or more, none of the family members owns a house, or has owned a one in the last five years (the date is set from the time of application), none of the family members had been registered in other government programs to own a house.
The application should be filed by the husband or father, the wife or the mother who provides for her children including widows and those who were divorced at least two years before the date of application. It can also be filed by the children of deceased parents (the children should apply together).
The conditions will be applicable from the date of application to the date when the housing support is granted. Merely applying does not mean obtaining the support immediately. The conditions will have to be met when it is granted. Priority for obtaining the support (the house, loan or land) is determined based on the applicants’ and their family’s financial state, age, the number of family members, the social and health status of the applicant and family as well as the date of the application (applying first fetches an applicant priority points).
The ministry will launch an online portal for receiving application and verifying the data entered. The website will be launched in 60 days and will be connected to all relevant parties that have the information on the applicant’s status and the extent of their need for housing support.
The scheme will also include those who had already applied for loans at the Real Estate Development Fund after 2010.
