Saudi Arabia to develop 14,600 housing units

16 April 2015

Housing Ministry signs agreements as part of the Housing Development 2 project

  • Saudi Arabia sign deals to develop 14,600 houses
  • 750,000 families currently eligible for public housing

Saudi Arabia’s Housing Ministry has signed agreements with 13 local developers to build approximately 14,600 houses in three cities as part of the Housing Development 2 project (Tatweer Iskan 2).

Local media reports say the project involves the construction of 6,800 units in Jeddah, as well as 3,145 and 4,700 units in Madinah and Dammam respectively.

It is understood that the developers involved include Al-Hakmiah, Tamkeen, Bin Sultan Group, Bwabat al-Dar, Mada al-Sharqia, Emdad Najed and Al-Qadeebi (all local).

According to government statistics, there are currently 750,000 families eligible for public housing. Despite a $67bn plan in 2011 to build 500,000 homes over several years, Saudi Arabia’s poorer citizens have suffered from rising rental prices in cities such as Riyadh and Jeddah.

The authorities have been trying to tackle the housing issue across the country and in January MEED reported that Saudi Arabia’s Housing Ministry plans to impose taxes on undeveloped land.

The ministry says the policy targets unused, privately owned land across the country that can be better utilised to solve the kingdoms housing problems.

While a topic of discussion for many years, it was not until September 2014 that the taxation measure was referred to the Supreme Economic Council for review.

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