Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Labour and Social Development is planning to oversee the development of a major housing project for low-income families in the kingdom.

According to a ministry statement, the SAR3bn ($800m) programme will be implemented in partnership with the private sector under both build–operate–transfer (BOT) and public-private partnership (PPP) systems providing housing to widows and orphans through charities and orphanages in cooperation with the Ministry of Housing.

More details of the project are yet to be released.

Saudi Arabia is facing a significant challenge to meet the housing needs of its people, with more than 65 per cent of its 30 million population under the age of 30. According to government statistics, 750,000 families are eligible for public housing across the kingdom’s urban areas.

The government of Saudi Arabia has made the provision of sufficient housing for lower income segments of the population a priority. It intends to involve private sector to develop more affordable housing projects in the country. The Ministry of Housing recently announced its intention to invite local developers for partnership deals to develop up to 1.5 million homes over the next eight years. Saudi Arabia’s National Transformation Plan states that SR59.2bn will be spent on developing close to 400,000 housing units over next five years, to ease pressure on the shortage of affordable homes.

In April 2016, government signed a $20bn agreement with a consortium led by South Korean Hanwha Engineering & Construction to build 100,000 homes in Saudi Arabia over the next 10 years.