income residents in the holy city are facing difficulty finding an affordable apartment following a hefty increase in rents. A small four-room apartment can cost up to SR20,000 per year in Sharayeh, Nawariyah and Al-Sobhani districts. A five-room apartment costs SR30,000 excluding charges for water supply through tankers. Rents of apartments in districts like Al-Khansa, Rea Thakhir, Jabl Al-Noor and Al-Haj Street, which are closer to the Central Area around the Grand Mosque, have jumped to SR30,000, a report in Al-Watan Arabic daily said. Makkah residents attribute this surge in rents to a large number of development projects being undertaken in and around the Central Area. A large number of properties have been expropriated and owners of these properties have rented apartments in Al-Sharayeh, Nawariyah and Al-Sobhani districts and this has caused rents to increase because of high demand. Yousef Al-Ahmadi, member of real estate committee at Makkah Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said over 7,000 properties around the Central Area have been acquired. Haj missions have now turned to distant districts to rent apartments. As a result, some owners have decided to leave their buildings and rent them to pilgrims, thus buildings are offered on short-term rental every year for the Haj season and owners avoid the hassle involved in renting them out to residents of Makkah. “It's expected that after five years rents will go down once development projects have been completed,” Al-Ahmadi said. Muhammad Al-Harbi, a citizen, said rents have gone up fifty percent in some districts due to an increase in demand. Ali Al-Matrafi, another citizen, said this increase in rents threatens citizens with limited incomes who work for SR3,000 a month in the private sector. — SG Meanwhile, the rates of Umrah packages for one person have gone up 25-30 percent due to the increase in rents. Ibrahim Al-Mazini, director of an Umrah company, said that any change in the prices of services provided to pilgrims will be added to the Umrah packages.
