In a move against an emerging housing problem in the country where only 30 percent of Saudis own their own home, a Shoura Council member has submitted a proposal that housing units worth SR200 billion be sold to citizens with no interest. The proposed project by Shoura member Abdulmohsin Al-Zikri is planned to be a cooperative venture executed by Social Insurance, the Retirees Association, and local banks. The government's role is to ensure that the project has sufficient finance, Al-Zikri said. Al-Zikri added that the average nuclear Saudi family needs at least a four-bedroom house. Proper cooperation between the government, local banks, and land developing companies would help provide enough funds to real estate projects, thus increasing a person's chance of finding a good house to buy and at the same time, boosting the real estate economy in the Kingdom, he said. A well-defined legal relationship between the landlord and the tenant should be put in place to create confidence between the two as many landlords are still concerned that they will not be paid their due rents despite having a legal contract. “Many tenants just don't pay their rents on time making it difficult for landlords to pay off their mortgage loans, which has a negative effect on the entire lending mechanism of local banks,” he said. – Okaz/SG The Ministry of Justice has reportedly started studying the many financing options available in the market to create more regulations for ensuring smooth real estate transactions.
