Saudi REDF partners with Bidaya Home Finance to provide affordable housing solutions
RIYADH: The Saudi Real Estate Development Fund and Riyadh-based mortgage lender Bidaya Home Finance have signed an agreement that aims to provide affordable housing and financing solutions to real estate finance institutions and firms.
The agreement, signed by Mansour bin Maadi, CEO of REDF, and Faisal bin Abdul Rahman Al-Nassar, acting CEO of Bidaya, aims to provide short- and medium-term financial facilities to promote the beneficiaries’ journey to own a suitable home, the Saudi Press Agency reported. To do.
The initiative is in line with the goal of one of the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 programs, called the “ISKAN Program”, to increase the percentage of homeownership to 70 percent by 2030.
Maddy stressed that the agreement also reinforces the Fund’s pioneering role in stimulating the real estate financing market by diversifying financing and housing options for “Sakaani” beneficiaries.
REDF plans to continue forging effective partnerships with approved real estate finance institutions and firms to further enhance its contribution to the real estate financing market, its CEO highlighted.
The move is expected to increase residential real estate financing market share which stimulates the mortgage market, supports the provision of financing options to beneficiaries, and creates innovative financing and housing opportunities, he explained.
According to Al-Nasser, the agreement marks a quantum leap in diversifying the financing portfolio at Bidaya to serve different segments of customers and beneficiaries.
Earlier this year, in August, REDF signed more than 58,000 financing contracts, offering a variety of financing and housing options for housing assistance programs across the state through the first half of 2022.
These ongoing government initiatives are improving the housing market and improving access for Saudi households, according to a report from PwC Middle East last week.
Saudi Arabia’s housing demand in 2021 was 99,600 homes and is expected to increase by more than 50 percent to reach 153,000 homes by 2030.
In 2017, more than 1.6 million Saudi citizens were on the waiting list for government housing programs, prompting the development of the “Housing Program in 2018” aimed at increasing access to suitable housing for Saudi families.
The initiative reaffirmed Saudi Arabia’s commitment to addressing challenges including population growth, rapid urbanization, an insufficient supply of affordable housing, and an unregulated self-build market.
The report identified some key measures that had a positive impact on the transformation of the state, including access to finance.
Addressing the constraints created by the high mortgage interest rate environment, this important dimension directly targets the challenge of unaffordable housing through a number of government-backed initiatives.