Real estate agents have advised the Shoura Council to speed up its efforts to approve the establishment of a general real estate authority to curb dualism and problems that have cost the market SR2 trillion.

Among such problems are the lack of land development, chaotic leasing, the presence of a freehold market and the rising prices of lands.

Real estate agents said the establishment of such an authority should depend on actual market studies and its chronic problems, which has led to a gap between supply and demand.

“Establishing a real estate authority has been a pressing matter for many years and studies emphasize the importance of creating such an entity. It would serve as a reference point and would be solely responsible for real estate issues instead of the tens of entities that now share this responsibility. Among these are the Chambers of Commerce, Municipal Affairs and the Ministries of Trade, Justice and Housing,” said estate agent, Thamer Al-Dibian.

He said one of the most prominent challenges before the authority is increased encroachment on government lands and rising prices. This limits the ability of people to purchase such land, he said. Studies say that only 40 percent of citizens own their houses and that rent prices are increasing exponentially. Rents have increased by 100 percent in the past five years.

Businessman Ahmad Al-Owaifi demanded setting up a clear system that defines relations between owners and tenants, which he says is necessary to approve the unified contract that sets the mechanism for raising rent in light of the current chaos. There are many negative practices prevailing in real estate offices because of the conflict over brokers’ fees, for instance, even though it has been set at 2.5 percent.

He said the biggest challenge is to develop lands and allocate larger spaces so as to compensate the shortage in

housing units. Municipalities should speed up providing abandoned government schemes with services, he added.