Riyah and Awtaad: Towards Viable Solutions for the Housing Crisis

All the economists I know are unanimous in asserting that the current measures and laws for addressing the housing problem cannot be sustained, due to their high cost to public funds, citizens, and services alike. The number of applications has reached approximately 140,000 and is growing rapidly. The cost is not limited to loan amounts and infrastructure alone, but also includes the value of subsidized services for very large traditional homes, such as electricity, water, and civil works. These subsidized services may continue indefinitely, as economists note. They point out that all countries worldwide have shifted toward modern, faster, less costly, and sustainable engineering methods.

In these countries, real estate developers are responsible for completing infrastructure, in addition to constructing diverse housing models that are less expensive to build, maintain, and service, with sizes appropriate for emerging Kuwaiti families. This involves new, reasonable construction ratios and mass production of these homes, which will positively impact costs and completion times. Citizens can purchase these homes at very reasonable prices. The citizen pays the developer the amount specified by the Credit Bank and the currently approved material subsidy, while the remainder is paid in installments deducted from the salary. This arrangement is reasonable and can be easily repaid over a reasonable period.

I believe this approach should not be presented as the sole solution, but rather alongside the traditional method. This would encourage a large number of young people, particularly those from small families, to adopt the new approach, enabling them to obtain homes within a period not exceeding five years.

Notably, Kuwaiti companies have implemented similar approaches in Gulf countries, such as the Durrat Al-Bahrain project, the “Roshn” project, and other projects in sisterly Saudi Arabia.

I previously submitted a similar proposal after it was studied by some housing experts in the Council in 2006. The proposal also recommended that real estate development companies be offered to the public through an initial public offering (IPO) led by a strategic partner, which would benefit and generate profits for families themselves, similar to some Arab and foreign countries that established housing associations and building societies (Building Societies). We used to see advertisements for these societies on television while studying in Britain. Unfortunately, this proposal was not adopted, applications accumulated, and the problem that continues to plague thousands of Kuwaiti families remains unresolved.