Saudi Arabia Accelerates Riyadh Housing Push with 300,000 Homes Target

Accelerates Riyadh Housing

Saudi Arabia: Saudi Arabia has more than 100 million square metres (sqm) of development-ready land available in Riyadh as the government aims to deliver 300,000 residential units in the capital over the next three years, according to Minister of Municipalities and Housing Majed Al-Hogail. Speaking at the Real Estate Future Forum on Monday, the minister said authorities have introduced fees on undeveloped plots and vacant properties to activate idle land, with more than 60,000 invoices issued since the start of the year. He noted that homeownership rates in the Kingdom have risen from 47 percent in 2016 to over 66 percent in 2025, while more than 370,000 beneficiaries received housing support in the first stage of the Sakani programme.

To expand access to housing, particularly for younger buyers, the government has rolled out alternative ownership models such as rent-to-own, fractional ownership and real estate tokenisation, alongside developing standards for property tokenisation through the Real Estate Registry. Al-Hogail said housing-linked financial market activity has accelerated, with refinancing by the Saudi Real Estate Refinance Company (SRC) exceeding SAR54 billion (D 14.4 billion), boosting lender liquidity and supporting affordable housing loans. He added that SRC’s international sukuk programme, valued at 4.55 billion, attracted 1,000 investors globally. The minister also confirmed the activation of the non-Saudi property ownership framework under a regulated regime, highlighted that around 80 percent of real estate transactions are now conducted digitally through 13 platforms serving more than 35 million beneficiaries, and noted that real estate accounts for about 23 percent of gross capital formation in the Kingdom.

Source: Zawya