RIYADH: Saudi families have received more support to own their homes after SR933 million ($248 million) was deposited into their Sakani accounts in April. The amount — paid out by Saudi Arabia’s Real Estate Development Fund in conjunction with the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs and Housing — is in line with the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 goals which aim to provide adequate housing opportunities for Saudi families. The amount was allocated to support various housing support contracts, according to the REDF CEO Mansour bin Madi. Sakani is a real estate initiative to support and enable Saudi citizens to own their first home. In January, the fund deposited SR912 million in the accounts of Sakani beneficiaries. The CEO further indicated that the total amount deposited in the accounts of Sakani beneficiaries since the program’s announcement from June 2017 until April 2023 exceeded SR47.1 billion. Over half of the total beneficiaries who completed an initial period of up to three years after signing their financing contracts were able to update the construction stages through the fund’s website, Madi disclosed. Madi also stressed the importance of updating stages of self-construction to ensure that the fund supports the beneficiaries of the product as well as the continuity of housing support for them. The Sakani program seeks to raise the proportion of housing ownership for Saudi families to 70 percent by 2030. Ongoing initiatives implemented by the government, including access to finance and regulations standardizations, are reforming the housing market and improving access for Saudi families, according to a report from PwC Middle East. Saudi Arabia’s housing demand stood at 99,600 houses in 2021 and is expected to increase by more than 50 percent to reach 153,000 by 2030.