Housing Minister Shuwaish Al-Dhowaihi chairs a meeting of the Real Estate Development Fund in Riyadh in this recent file photo. (SPA)

On an approval made by the Ministry of Housing, the Real Estate Development Fund (REDF) on Wednesday announced that it will disburse SR2.5 billion as loans to build 6,204 new housing units throughout the Kingdom.

REDF Director General Yusuf Al-Zohaibi said the loans will be paid to the applicants according to the approval given by the Board of Directors of the Ministry of Housing.

The selected applicants will be given a period of 12 months to modify the specifications of their housing units in accordance with the loan agreement.

According to a recent study, the Kingdom needs 300,000 residential units every year over the next 15 years at a total cost of 4.5 million riyals. In Riyadh, the lack of affordable homes is especially acute with a shortage of 225,000 residential units.

Established by a Royal Decree dated Nov. 6, 1974, the Real Estate Development Fund (REDF) started its activities at the beginning of the fiscal year 1975 to provide loans to citizens to help them construct their own homes and for investment purposes. It commenced operations with a capital of SR250 million and later increased to SR82,769 million.

In the first 25 years since its inception, REDF has granted 443,842 private loans as well as 2,488 investment loans, with a total value of SR120,144 million, resulting in the construction of 555,866 residential units. REDF’s services have so far reached 3,976 cities, villages and remote areas all over the Kingdom.

According to Housing Ministry spokesman Muhammad Al-Zumai, the facility has two schemes: The first is that the ministry will give Saudi citizens financial support for housing in the form of accommodation, land or a loan. The other project involves the government building 500,000 low-cost housing units at a cost of SR250 billion aimed at reducing property prices and rents.

Applicants for these facilities must be a man and wife, with or without children, a single father, a single Saudi mother who is widowed or divorced, or a non-Saudi mother with children from a Saudi father. Qualifying applicants must be a man 25 years or older with none of his family members already owning a home or owning one in the past five years. The mother of children may apply if there is no father.

 
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