Within the framework of the executive plan for the directives of His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, King of the country, may God protect and preserve him, to accelerate the pace of housing projects to provide 50,000 new housing units, His Excellency Mrs. Amna bint Ahmed Al Rumaihi, Minister of Housing and Urban Planning and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Housing Bank, held an expanded meeting with the heads and representatives of real estate development companies and commercial banks in the Kingdom of Bahrain, to discuss ways to expand the horizons of joint cooperation to provide social housing services to citizens Continuing to diversify citizens' financing and real estate options to meet their aspirations and housing needs, within the framework of strengthening strategic partnerships between the public and private sectors.
During the meeting, Minister Al Rumaihi stressed the keenness of the government headed by His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Crown Prince and Prime Minister, may God protect him, to strengthen partnership with the private sector as a fundamental pillar of sustainable development, in accordance with the priorities of the government program (2023–2026), noting that this approach contributes effectively to enhancing the stability of the real estate sector, and diversifying the housing and financing solutions available to citizens Which leads to raising the efficiency and quality of housing services provided and the speed of their completion.
Minister Al Rumaihi explained that housing financing programs and the government land development rights program represent two basic pillars in housing policies and programs to provide social housing, as these programs provided more flexible options for citizens and contributed to significantly reducing waiting periods.
In a related context, Minister Al Rumaihi touched on the developments of the "Ambition" program, stressing that it constitutes a strategic path supporting ownership apartment projects, as it provides flexible financing solutions that allow citizens to start owning a property that suits their current capabilities, while providing opportunities for expansion or moving to larger units in the future when their living conditions improve.
She also pointed out that the "Government Land Development Rights" program contributed to increasing the pace of housing project implementation and accelerating completion, through investing in government lands in partnership with real estate developers, and providing high-quality housing units at subsidized prices, stressing that the successes achieved in the projects implemented within this program enhance the trend towards expanding its implementation during the next phase.
Regarding the off-plan sales program for government land development rights program projects, the Minister pointed to the positive results achieved by the program, which stipulates the possibility for real estate development companies to sell units of projects being implemented immediately after the completion of the project bidding procedures, the completion of contractual and technical matters, and the opening of reservations by the implementing company, noting that the program benefits the citizen and the real estate developer at the same time So that the citizen can choose the location of his residential unit in the implemented project early, and thus allocate housing financing to him proactively immediately after reserving the unit in the project, which provides great flexibility in providing financing liquidity to the real estate developer to establish the project units, as well as start marketing the project units early, which provides them with sufficient guarantees to sell the units before the completion of construction work in the project Noting the success of the program after the first project was put up for sale on the map, which is the "Danat Sanad" project, which consists of 47 housing units, and is implemented within the projects of the government land development rights program.
Regarding the "Private Land Development Rights" program, Minister Al Rumaihi explained that this program aims to support real estate companies in the Kingdom to increase real estate projects at prices that match the value of housing financing received by citizens, stressing the imminent start of implementing the first housing projects within this program, which opens broader horizons for the private sector to contribute to providing quality housing projects, and enhances the diversity of solutions offered to citizens.
The Minister pointed out that this program establishes a new phase of providing government support to private sector companies to provide projects targeting the social housing sector at prices commensurate with citizens' housing financing, thus achieving the goal of increasing real estate reserves.
The Minister concluded by emphasizing that partnership programs with the private sector constitute an economic tributary that contributes to revitalizing the real estate market and enhancing the role of the financial and banking sector, which transforms the social housing sector from a basic service into a major driver of comprehensive development.
For his part, Eng. Ahmed Abdel Aziz Al-Khayat, CEO of the Urban Planning and Development Authority, reviewed the role of urban planning in supporting these partnerships by accelerating the procedures for approving plans and ensuring their structural integration, and what the Authority has accomplished in terms of planning all regions of the Kingdom during the past phase.
In a related context, Mr. Abdullah Taleb, General Manager of Housing Bank, confirmed that the bank is constantly working to inform the banking sector in the Kingdom of the latest developments in financing programs, policies and plans followed by the bank with the aim of accelerating the pace of disbursing financing to citizens, which applies to the facilities provided to real estate companies, referring to the digital services included in the Bayti Real Estate platform, which is witnessing a continuous increase in the supply of real estate projects and banking offers With the aim of providing the necessary facilities to citizens.
The meeting concluded with real estate developers and bank representatives stressing the importance of continuing direct communication with the Ministry and intensifying joint work to present innovative initiatives that keep pace with national housing aspirations, while agreeing to continue coordination meetings to achieve the desired goals.
Virtual Assistant
