The Ministry of Housing signed the first trial version of the government land rights development program in cooperation with the private sector, which the ministry launched as one of the main initiatives to involve real estate development and contracting companies in the implementation of social housing projects for citizens who meet housing standards. An-Naml for Contracting and Trading has built 132 housing units in the Lozi area, including the secondary infrastructure.
The agreement was signed by the Ministry of Housing, Engineer Bassem bin Yaqoub Al-Hamr, Minister of Housing, and on the part of the "Al-Naml" Contracting Company, Dr. Corian Varghese, in the presence of the Undersecretary of the Ministry of Housing, Sheikh Khalid bin Hamoud Al Khalifa.
According to the program criteria, the agreement stipulates that the real estate developer builds 132 housing units, including secondary infrastructure services, on government land belonging to the Ministry of Housing in the Lozi area, provided that the developer, upon completion of the construction of the housing units, will market the units and sell them to citizens benefiting from one of the financing services provided by the Ministry. As a purchase finance service or "Mazaya" program.
On the sidelines of the signing of the agreement, Engineer Basem bin Yaqoub Al-Hamr, Minister of Housing, stated that the land rights development program in cooperation with the private sector is part of the ministry's ongoing initiatives to involve the private sector in the implementation of social housing projects, with the aim of achieving the royal order to build 40,000 housing units, and in implementation of the axis In this regard, the government’s program, pointing out that this program is one of the top priorities of the government headed by His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Crown Prince and Prime Minister, may God protect him, especially as it is one of the innovative solutions to provide social housing.
The minister said that it is hoped that the implementation of the Al-Lawzi project will represent a new step in terms of strengthening cooperation between the government and private sectors to provide social housing projects for citizens, especially as it will enhance the vision of providing immediate services to citizens by providing a large base of supply of affordable housing units, and making available Purchased through the financial services provided by the ministry, to represent an additional option among the various options that the ministry provides to citizens.
Eng. Al-Hamr noted that the idea of partnership with the private sector has managed in recent years to achieve positive results, such as the "Mazaya" program, which has been able to meet more than 7,000 housing services, which reflects the citizens' appetite for the immediate options provided by the ministry.
The minister stated that the ministry aims, through this program, if its experimental version is successful, to build 15,000 housing units on government land, which will provide a large number of housing units at competitive prices that suit the beneficiaries of the housing finance service.
For his part, Dr. Corian Varghese expressed his happiness with the signing of this agreement, praising the Land Rights Development Program, which gives the private sector the opportunity to invest in providing social housing projects in the Kingdom, stressing that this program has great economic feasibility that will contribute to achieving mutual benefit between the government and private sectors.
Dr. Corian Varghese confirmed that the company is fully committed to providing high quality housing units that meet the technical requirements of the Ministry of Housing, looking forward to this project as a prelude to further cooperation with the Ministry of Housing in the future to implement social housing projects in the Kingdom.
It is noteworthy that the Ministry of Housing had previously announced the launch of the program in cooperation with the Housing Bank, during a ceremony that witnessed the presence of 95 contracting and real estate development companies in the Kingdom, which included a detailed presentation on the objectives of the program, its financial, technical and legal mechanisms, and its standards and requirements.
