Saudi ministry: 412,000 benefit from Sakani program in 17 months

JEDDAH – The Ministry of Housing has disclosed the names of the sixth batch of beneficiaries of ‘Sakani’ (My Residence Program).

The ministry said the number of beneficiaries in the 6th batch has reached 23,769. These include applicants for free plots of land, real estate loans and housing units under construction.

This brings the total number of beneficiaries in the Sakani Program, which was launched in February 2017, to nearly 412,000 in 17 months.

In a tweet, the ministry said the number of beneficiaries from the last batch of housing units reached 8,150 for housing units under construction; 7,319 for free residential plots of land and 8,300 for real estate loans.

This comes after the Ministry of Housing allocated some 280,000 housing products Kingdomwide in 2017 by constructing 120,000 prefab housing units while others are still under construction. The ministry distributed 75,000 residential plots of land, issued 85,000 new numbers for the Real Estate Development Fund beginning in Feb. 2017. Besides, in 2018 the ministry allocated over 300,000 housing products.

On its website, the ministry said 50 projects have been approved approved in partnership with the private sector. They aim to construct 88,000 housing units. Meanwhile, the ministry is carrying out 20 projects for the construction of 5,000 housing units. This brings the total number of projects to 70, resulting in 93,000 housing units.

The ministry said that the price of each housing unit differs from one project to the other. It ranges between SR260,000 and SR739,000 depending on the project.

Saif Al-Suwailim, spokesman of the ministry, said that this batch coincides with the continued handing over of ready housing units in various cities and governorates including Baish, Sabya, Qunfuda, Thadiq, Uyaynah, Arar, Dawadimi, Rumah, Al-Khobar and Al-Mubarraz. This is apart from the housing units handed over recently in partnership with King Abdullah Economic City. The ministry is set to continue handing over ready housing units after completion of all the required procedures and paperwork.

Exhibitions for housing units under construction in various cities of the Kingdom will resume work after the Eid Al-Fitr holidays. Over 60 percent of the total projects launched recently in various Saudi cities have been booked, Al-Suwailim added.