Budget set for 6,000 housing finance requests in 2025

TDT | Manama

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More than 6,000 housing finance requests will be covered in 2025, with funds now set aside to keep the scheme running.

The waiting list for ownership services has dropped to around 47,600, down from over 55,000 in 2022, according to Housing and Urban Planning Minister, Her Excellency Amna Al Rumaihi.

The list includes 1,295 applications for residential plots and 1,697 for ownership apartments, while roughly 33,900 applicants receive the housing allowance.

In a written response to MP Abdulwahid Qarata, the minister attributed the drop to a mix of factors — chief among them the growing shift to housing finance options and the expansion of private-sector partnerships.

Some applicants waiting since 2004 have now been offered alternatives, while the rollout of modern-generation apartment blocks in Salman City has helped clear hundreds of cases in recent months.

Ownership

Housing finance has become a major plank in the ministry’s approach, offering quicker routes to home ownership.

The service has been broadened with the addition of ‘Tas’heel’ and the ‘New Mazaya’ category, both aimed at easing access to funding.

With these in place, the ministry expects to process more than 6,000 financing requests next year.

Demand for these schemes has been strong since they launched in 2022.

Finance options Eight in ten people taking up finance options have switched over from the standard housing queue. By the end of 2024, over 8,000 applications had been approved through financing routes.