A look into amended executive regulations of Housing Support Scheme

The logo of Sakani Program. The executive regulations of the Housing Support Scheme will take effect from the date the regulation enters into force.

The Minister of Municipalities and Housing issued a decision to amend the executive regulations of the Housing Support Scheme, with the revised version attached to the decision. The amendments take effect from the date of their publication in the Official Gazette.

Saudi Arabia’s Official Gazette published the executive regulations, comprising 53 Articles, which take effect from the date the regulation enters into force.

Under Article 3, Article 3 stipulates that an individual who does not fall within the family categories outlined in paragraph (a) of the same article shall be considered a family unit if they belong to any of the following groups:

A divorced woman whose divorce occurred at least a year ago, or a widow, regardless of age, as well as any unmarried woman over 25.

A son or daughter who has lost both parents and is under the age of 25.

A son or daughter of unknown parentage who is under the age of 25.

An individual over the age of 25 who suffers from a debilitating or incurable illness, or who has a severe disability, as verified by medical reports issued by the relevant authorities and accepted by the ministry, shall also be considered eligible.

According to Article 5, when a housing support application is submitted by a husband or a father, the applicant must be at least 20 years old at the time of submission. This requirement does not apply if the applicant is the wife, mother, joint siblings, son, daughter, or any individual classified as a family unit under paragraph (d) of Article 3 of the regulation.

Applicants and their family members must not own suitable housing at the time of applying for support or until the housing support contract is signed. Likewise, none of them should have owned suitable housing within the year preceding the application date, unless the property was lost due to force majeure, such as floods, fires, or other exceptional circumstances.

Under Article 9, the family must not have the financial means to purchase adequate housing. A family is deemed financially capable if its total assets have a market value of SAR 5 million or more.

Applicants are awarded points based on family size, up to a maximum of 20 points for households of six members or more, as stipulated in Article 27. Additional points—also capped at 20—are granted based on the applicant’s and their family’s financial condition.

Repayments are generally made on a monthly basis unless otherwise specified in the housing support contract. The monthly installment is set at 33% of the applicant’s income, provided that the repayment period does not exceed 25 years from the entitlement date and that the applicant’s age does not exceed 65 at the end of the payment term.

According to Article 50, beneficiaries may lease their housing unit in accordance with Article 18/3 of the regulation, subject to prior approval from the ministry. To obtain such approval, the beneficiary must be current on installment payments and must have changed their place of residence due to relocation for work, study, or other circumstances deemed valid by the ministry.