Abdu Khal Okaz newspaper The real estate world is in a bad state. I challenge any employee who struggles to make ends meet with his limited income to buy a piece of land within major cities without having to work for decades. This means a citizen has to spend three-quarters of his life spending in a miserly manner on himself as well as his family to buy a piece of vacant land. He has to choose between prison, for insolvency, and worry, for not owning a house. When he concludes a long-term loan deal with a bank to build a house he has worries on two counts. He has to earn money to clear the loan and is now haunted by fear day and night over how to clear the debt. Owning a house is a prestigious accomplishment but many people see that owning one is subject to the fluctuating moods of real estate owners who know well that to get a house is one of seven impossible things. This is more evident in the case of the younger generation who started their career recently or widows and employed divorcees. In most cases rental prices depend on the fluctuations of bourse. Rental prices have soared in a crazy way that cannot be compared to anything else. In some districts of Jeddah the average rate has reached SR45,000. Anyone who finds an apartment in other districts for SR24,000 is considered lucky. This exorbitant increase in rental and real estate prices is ongoing. No authority is intervening to check these spiraling land prices to achieve price stability and enable people to own a house within a relatively short period of time even though solutions are ready and possible. Though the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs can take action over this issue, it is still far away from paying any attention to solve the problem. Let me point out some solutions for this problem: First of all, levy an annual fee on real estate traders and owners of vacant plots of land who keep land in their ownership for a long time in order to sell them after market prices increase. For the time being, there is no law to levy fees on realtors. As for the Zakat and Revenue Department, its collection is focused on those who become rich from business. Even for businessmen, there are ample opportunities for manipulation and employing fraudulent means to evade Zakat. Secondly, the sale of blocks of lands to realtors can be prevented. Instead of doing this, the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs can develop townships and make available infrastructure facilities and utilities and then sell them in a public auction. The ministry should not allow the sale and purchase of land before making basic services available. It is also possible to launch a real estate index and revaluation of property within and outside each city after taking into account demand and supply. Likewise, it is also possible to build residential units within urban areas to meet the requirements of city dwellers in future. Some foreign companies can be entrusted with this and they can build either detached villas or apartments based on leased ownership in accordance with the capabilities of urban dwellers. There are many solutions that can translate into action to relieve the citizens of their longtime hardship to buy their own home. It is incomprehensible that in a country with vast geographical areas the citizen still finds it difficult to get a piece of land of an area of 20 square meters. If he wishes to own it, there are several odds that he has to overcome. On the other hand, if he chooses a grave of an area of two square meters, then he can depart without any grief and heartache.
