MP seeks housing relief for 2004 applicants earning above BD900

TDT | Manama

Email : editor@newsofbahrain.com

Older ‘2004’ housing applicants earning above BD900 should be included in the Land and Loan scheme or granted residential plots under an urgent proposal submitted by MP Mohammed Janahi to address more than two decades of waiting without receiving the housing service due to them.

In his explanatory note, Janahi said many who applied in 2004 are now over 45.

He argued that excluding those whose salaries exceed BD900 is a flaw in the eligibility criteria, since that income does not show real repayment capacity, especially with retirement approaching and living costs rising.

Options

He explained that the current options, including a BD70,000 Tas’heel loan and a BD10,000 grant, do not enable this group to buy or build a suitable home.

Monthly instalments of BD295 over 30 years would burden retirees and diminish the social and economic value of such measures.

Janahi said that continuing to exclude these applicants amounts to unequal treatment within the same 2004 batch and conflicts with constitutional principles of justice and equality.

He called for the income criteria to be reviewed so they consider age, years on the waiting list and actual repayment ability.

Solution

As a practical solution, he suggested allocating residential plots to those above the BD900 threshold to ease financial and retirement pressures on long-waiting applicants, improve trust in housing policy and make allocation priorities clearer.

He said that approving the proposal would serve those with older applications, support family stability for people nearing retirement and align with Bahrain’s Economic Vision 2030 and the principle of equal opportunities.