RIYADH: The total number of families benefiting from the Saudi Ministry of Housing’s “Sakani” program’s subsidized mortgages for self-construction exceeded 8,000 in January. The program offers support in obtaining a mortgage loan, which gives Saudi citizens the freedom to build their own houses, and enables eligible citizens who own residential land to construct appropriate housing for their families. The 8,000 families are among 31,356 to have benefitted from various financing and housing options offered by the program in January, as part of this year’s target to help 220,000 families. The program has helped over 1 million families since it launched in 2017. The program’s app and website also allow people who wish to build their own houses to obtain executive engineering designs to facilitate more home-ownership across the Kingdom.