Housing application reinstatement window may rise to four years

A proposal to give families longer to revive a cancelled housing application will be debated in Parliament on Tuesday, with MP Hanan Fardan urging the government to extend the reinstatement window from two years to four after an applicant loses one of the eligibility conditions.

The recommendation targets Article 69 of Ministerial Decision No. 909 of 2015, which governs the housing system. Under the rule, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Planning issues a decision cancelling a housing-service application if the applicant loses any condition required to receive the service.

Article 69 also grants applicants, except in cases linked to Bahraini nationality, the right to ask the ministry to return the cancelled file to the register of applications that meet the conditions, provided the request is made within two years from the date of cancellation.

Fardan is seeking to amend that time limit, saying some families face short-term setbacks that make it hard to restore eligibility within two years. ‘Since Article 69 provides for an application to be cancelled as soon as an eligibility condition is lost, while giving the family two years to reinstate it, we propose extending that period to four years,’ she said.

She said the change would reduce the need for families to submit new applications and repeat the process from the beginning. ‘Families may face temporary difficulties that prevent them from meeting the requirements within two years, such as job loss or unstable economic conditions,’ she said.

In its written view, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Planning said job loss and financial crises do not lead to a housing application being cancelled. It added that if an applicant’s social status changes, such as through divorce, the ministry does not cancel the file straight away and may keep the application by transferring it to another category that suits the family’s circumstances, in line with the categories set out in the decision.

The Services, Utilities and Environment Committee recommended backing the proposal, with all members present in agreement, citing the public-interest reasons given for extending the reinstatement period.