RIYADH: Aimed at increasing homeownership among Saudis, the Kingdom’s Real Estate Development Fund has released another tranche of financing worth SR929 million ($247 million) to the beneficiaries of the affordable housing program Sakani in July. This tranche is 1.42 percent up from the SR916 million the fund deposited last month into the accounts of the beneficiaries. The fund’s move to release the fund in conjunction with the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs and Housing aligns with the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 goals to provide adequate housing opportunities for Saudi families. According to the fund’s CEO Mansour bin Madi, the deposited amount was allocated to support the subsidized real estate financing contracts, Saudi Press Agency reported. The CEO added that the total amount deposited in the accounts of Sakani beneficiaries from June 2017 up to July 2023 has now amounted to an estimated SR50.2 billion. He further said that the continuity of depositing the housing subsidy at the specified monthly time comes as an affirmation of the continuous efforts to further enable the beneficiaries to own the first home according to their needs and respective financial capabilities. Launched in 2017, Sakani is a real estate initiative aimed at supporting as well as enabling Saudi citizens to own their first home. The program seeks to raise the proportion of housing ownership for Saudi families to 70 percent by 2030. In June, the fund announced that it had inked finance agreements worth SR13.7 billion in the first quarter of 2023 to boost Saudi Arabia’s housing market, according to the National Development Fund’s quarterly report. At the time, the report indicated that the deals sought to offer housing benefits to 21,000 citizens during the first quarter. 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 released by PwC Middle East in December. Saudi Arabia’s housing demand stood at 99,600 houses in 2021 and was expected to increase by more than 50 percent to reach 153,000 homes by 2030.