Saudi Gazette report RIYADH — Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman, deputy premier and minister of defense, issued directives to double housing projects in the north of Riyadh by allocating new residential land plots on a total area of 20 million square meters and transferring their full ownership to the Ministry of Municipal, Rural Affairs and Housing. The move aims at building 53,000 new residential units, as part of the Crown Prince’s focus on the housing sector and raising the rate of home ownership by nationals. The directive comes in support of the local housing sector, which raised the rate of home ownership among Saudi households to 60% in 2020 from 47% in 2017. The additional areas allocated for the housing sector in northern Riyadh will provide more than 53,000 residential units, which will be built by real estate developers, in line with the Riyadh’s development plans and the city’s growth strategy to become one of the world"s ten largest city economies. This allocation aims to increase the residential area of Al-Jawan suburb from 10 million square meters to 30 million square meters as well as to build additional fully served housing units up to 53,000 units in partnership with the private sector, in order to be added to the previously announced 20,000 housing units. The directive calls for proper planning and various solutions in the sector in addition to the supporting the real estate supply and enacting regulations and legislation that have contributed to achieving this goal by the end of 2020. This implementation of Crown Prince"s directives and the objectives of the housing program, which is one of the Kingdom Vision 2030 programs, will enable a rise in home ownership of nationals to reach 70% by 2030. This step is expected to enable more Saudi families to own homes and to generate more investment opportunities in order to enhance the private sector"s participation, in line with the growth of Riyadh and its objective to become one of the 10 largest economic cities in the world and increase its population to 15-20 million by 2030. In a statement to Saudi Press Agency (SPA), Minister of Municipal and Rural Affairs and Housing Majed Al-Hoqail, expressed his appreciation to the wise leadership"s interest in the housing sector via harnessing all efforts to raise the percentage of the citizens" ownership of first home. He added that the positive outcomes in the housing sector are attributed to the diligent follow-up and directives of the Crown Prince, who is the main supporter of the housing sector"s development. Al-Hoqail highlighted that the housing sector contributes more than SR115 billion to the GDP and creates about 40,000 direct and indirect jobs, adding that Riyadh represents nearly 50% of the non-oil economy in the Kingdom. He disclosed that the cost of developing the infrastructure and real estate in Riyadh is less than other cities by 29%, which would accelerate the injection of development projects in its various sectors and fields, including the housing sector, which is one of the most important sectors for the economy and represents attractive for the investors.