18 April 2012
Muscat: Oman needs 400,000 housing units for the next 10 years to meet the growing needs of Omani and expatriate population, according to Abdul Rahman Barham, chief executive officer, Al Madina Real Estate Company.
Speaking at the second day of the Affordable Housing Development Summit held yesterday at Grand Hyatt Muscat Abdul Rahman Barham said, "Oman is a young and vibrant society where 60 per cent of the population is in the age group of 15-60 years. With the total housing units estimated at 551,058, about 25 per cent needs rebuilding and hence there arises a strong demand for more affordable housing units."
One way of achieving this is through public private partnership (PPP) models, he said, "Social housing aid should be linked between developers and land from government, affordable housing soft loans should be linked with developers and housing bank and there is an urgent need for planning and approval for one-stop shop."
Speaking on the topic 'Social Housing System in the Sultanate of Oman,' Dr Ali bin Azzan bin Ali Al Hashami, advisor, Ministry of Housing, said that the Sultanate, under the wise leadership of His Majesty Sultan Qaboos Bin Said, was concerned with providing a decent livelihood regarding housing aspect for limited income citizens .
"With the purpose of providing adequate and appropriate housing for such class of citizens, various initiatives like construction of housing units, or financial assistance to build or renovate a house or in the form of interest-free loans were undertaken by the ministry to make affordable homes a reality," Dr Ali bin Azzan bin Ali Al Hashami further added.
"The first law issued to organise the provision of social housing services was the Law No. (11/73) promulgated on May 10, 1973 concerning public houses, and since that date, issuance of regulating and amending the laws of social housing services, occurred consecutively by promulgating the Royal Decree No. (35/77) on May 11, 1977, then amending its title and some of its articles under the Royal Decree (27/88) and Royal Decree No. (92/88), and finally by the issuance of the Royal Decree No. (37/2010) on April 14, 2010, with regard to the Social Housing Act," he further said.
Focusing on Affordable Housing -- Challenges of Delivery and Accessibility, Abdul Haq Mohammed from Trowers & Hamlins said, "The main challenges are increased supply of housing, increased availability of mortgages, adapting to changes in the aspirations among buyers, providing creative products and schemes and greater collaboration between public and private sectors."
Other speakers like Rudayno Abdo, senior advisor, urban planning, Otak international, highlighted on revisiting urban planning and development codes to promote development in North Wathba and Al Gharbia in the United Arab Emirates and Yasser Yacoub, managing director, Ewan Architectural and Engineering Consultancy, focused on implementing best practice methods in the planning and design of affordable housing projects.
Muscat: Oman needs 400,000 housing units for the next 10 years to meet the growing needs of Omani and expatriate population, according to Abdul Rahman Barham, chief executive officer, Al Madina Real Estate Company.
Speaking at the second day of the Affordable Housing Development Summit held yesterday at Grand Hyatt Muscat Abdul Rahman Barham said, "Oman is a young and vibrant society where 60 per cent of the population is in the age group of 15-60 years. With the total housing units estimated at 551,058, about 25 per cent needs rebuilding and hence there arises a strong demand for more affordable housing units."
One way of achieving this is through public private partnership (PPP) models, he said, "Social housing aid should be linked between developers and land from government, affordable housing soft loans should be linked with developers and housing bank and there is an urgent need for planning and approval for one-stop shop."
Speaking on the topic 'Social Housing System in the Sultanate of Oman,' Dr Ali bin Azzan bin Ali Al Hashami, advisor, Ministry of Housing, said that the Sultanate, under the wise leadership of His Majesty Sultan Qaboos Bin Said, was concerned with providing a decent livelihood regarding housing aspect for limited income citizens .
"With the purpose of providing adequate and appropriate housing for such class of citizens, various initiatives like construction of housing units, or financial assistance to build or renovate a house or in the form of interest-free loans were undertaken by the ministry to make affordable homes a reality," Dr Ali bin Azzan bin Ali Al Hashami further added.
"The first law issued to organise the provision of social housing services was the Law No. (11/73) promulgated on May 10, 1973 concerning public houses, and since that date, issuance of regulating and amending the laws of social housing services, occurred consecutively by promulgating the Royal Decree No. (35/77) on May 11, 1977, then amending its title and some of its articles under the Royal Decree (27/88) and Royal Decree No. (92/88), and finally by the issuance of the Royal Decree No. (37/2010) on April 14, 2010, with regard to the Social Housing Act," he further said.
Focusing on Affordable Housing -- Challenges of Delivery and Accessibility, Abdul Haq Mohammed from Trowers & Hamlins said, "The main challenges are increased supply of housing, increased availability of mortgages, adapting to changes in the aspirations among buyers, providing creative products and schemes and greater collaboration between public and private sectors."
Other speakers like Rudayno Abdo, senior advisor, urban planning, Otak international, highlighted on revisiting urban planning and development codes to promote development in North Wathba and Al Gharbia in the United Arab Emirates and Yasser Yacoub, managing director, Ewan Architectural and Engineering Consultancy, focused on implementing best practice methods in the planning and design of affordable housing projects.
© Times of Oman 2012
