Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) is planning to develop about 350,000 housing units at five locations across the kingdom.

The plans being considered include building about 100,000 units in Riyadh, 100,000 units in Dammam, 50,000 units in Jeddah, 50,000 units in Mecca, and 50,000 units in Asir.

It is understood that firms are competing for a programme management role that will oversee the development of the initiatives, and consultants are expected to be invited to bid for building and infrastructure design roles this year.

The building programme is expected to cost tens of billions of dollars to complete, and is aimed at solving one of the key issues facing policy makers in Riyadh.

In its Vision 2030 document that were published in 2016, Riyadh said that is was aiming to increase home ownership levels in the kingdom: “Even though 47 percent of Saudi families already own their homes, we aim to increase this rate by five percentage points by 2020”.

The government aims to meet this target by introducing a number of laws and regulations; encouraging the private sector to build houses; as well as providing funding, mortgage solutions and ownership schemes.

The PIF has already announced initiatives to stimulate the housing market. In October last year it established the Saudi Real Estate Refinance Company (SRC) to help meet the 52 per cent home ownership target and improve the performance of the real estate market and increase its contribution to GDP.

Launched in partnership with the Ministry of Housing, the new company is designed to stimulate housing sector development by injecting liquidity. It plans to refinance up to SR75bn ($20bn) for the kingdom's housing sector over the next five years, reaching SR170bn by 2026. Overall demand for real estate financing in the kingdom is expected to increase from SR280bn in 2017 to SR500bn in 2026.

The PIF is increasingly being used to invest and drive development in Saudi Arabia as Riyadh aims to overhaul its economy, stimulate the private sector and diversify away from the traditional oil and gas sectors.

According to details release with the Saudi Budget for 2018, the PIF will be the kingdom’s most active client body in 2018, with spending of $22bn on new and existing projects.

Commenting on the state budget for 2018, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman al-Saud revealed that the PIF’s project spending will supplement SR205bn ($54.7bn) of capital spending made directly by the government and SR50bn by the National Development Fund, taking total public expenditure in the kingdom during 2018 to SR1.1 trillion.

The PIF is set to become the largest sovereign wealth fund in the world when it takes on the non-listed portion of Aramco after its initial public offering (IPO) in 2018

For construction, it is working on a series of major projects that also include housing components and has also taken over the development of King Abdullah Financial District.

Its largest scheme is the $500bn Neom city project, which will be funded by the PIF together with local and foreign investors.

“Neom will be backed by more than $500bn over the coming years by Saudi Arabia, the [PIF], and local as well as international investors,” said Prince Mohammed when launching the project on 24 October 2017.

The city will be developed across 26,500 square kilometres of land along 468km of coastline along the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aqaba. It will also cross into Jordan and Egypt. The plans also include the King Salman Bridge that will connect Saudi Arabia and Egypt – Riyadh and Cairo agreed to develop a causeway that will link the two countries across the Red Sea in 2016.

In Medina, the PIF has established a new company to deliver projects that will allow more pilgrims to visit Medina and the city’s Prophet’s Mosque.

The company will be known as Roua al-Madinah. It aims to develop a 1.3 million-square-metre site about 1km away from the east wing of the Prophet’s Mosque.

The project includes 500 housing units, 80,000 hotel rooms, and prayer areas capable of accommodating 200,000 worshippers a day. Initial preparation works are currently under way, with construction due to start in 2018. The first phase of the scheme is anticipated to launch in 2023.

The PIF will also lead the SR18bn redevelopment of Jeddah’s waterfront corniche. Known as New Jeddah Downtown, the 10-year redevelopment scheme covers an area of 5 sq km.

The residential area will comprise 42 per cent of the new development, with 35 per cent dedicated to entertainment and retail areas, 12 per cent to office space, and 11 per cent to new hotel and hospitality facilities.

For housing, the project aims to deliver more than 12,000 housing units that will accommodate 58,000 new residents.

Another major scheme in the Western Region is the Red Sea project. It will incorporate 200km of coastline between the cities of Amlaj and Al-Jawh on the western coast of the kingdom.

The area for development is vast and includes a wide range of attractions. These include: 50 natural islands, heritage sites such as the ancient ruins of Madain Saleh, mountains, nature reserves, dormant volcanoes at Harat Alrahat, coastlines and beaches.

In Riyadh, the PIF is developing an entertainment city in the Al-Qidya area of the Saudi capital. The project will focus on cultural, sports and entertainment offerings, and will cover an area of 334 sq km, including a safari site.