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Saudi signs $1bn of deals for 40,000 new homes

Kingdom needs 7.2m new homes by 2020 to keep up with growing population

By Daniel Shane
Cranes stand beside new high rise buildings under construction in the King Abdullah financial district of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Monday, April 9, 2012. Saudi Arabias gross domestic product expanded 6.64 percent in the fourth quarter from a year ago, the kingdoms statistics agency said. (Bloomberg)
Cranes stand beside new high rise buildings under construction in the King Abdullah financial district of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Monday, April 9, 2012. Saudi Arabias gross domestic product expanded 6.64 percent in the fourth quarter from a year ago, the kingdoms statistics agency said. (Bloomberg)

Authorities in Saudi Arabia have signed SR4bn ($1bn) worth of contracts as part of a plan to build 40,000 new homes and alleviate the kingdom’s housing shortage.

According to English language Arab News, the Gulf country’s Ministry of Housing inked deals to develop eight new residential districts.

The newspaper said that 26 sqm of plots would be developed in Jeddah, Madinah, Dammam, Al-Ahsa, Qatif, Tabuk and Al-Kharj. When the projects are complete they will be able to house up to 250,000 people.

“We’ll sign more contracts in the coming months to build homes in Asir, Najran, Baha, Makkah, Riyadh, Qassim, Hail, Al-Jouf, Northern Border Region and Tabuk,” housing minister Shuwaish Al-Duwaihi was quoted as saying.

“Citizens will be given land and loans to build homes either by themselves or with the help of real estate developers,” he added.

The report did not include details on when the projects were expected to be completed.

Two years ago absolute monarch King Abdullah announced SR250bn plans to develop housing in the kingdom, much of which will be allocated to building affordable homes.

According to National Commercial Bank (NCB), there are around 5.22m housing units in Saudi Arabia, as of this year, with around 7.2m needed by 2020 to keep up with the growing population.

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