Ministry looks at feasibility of transferring affordable loans programme to Oman Housing Bank

(MENAFN- Muscat Daily) Muscat- As part of the privatisation initiative of the government, the Ministry of Housing is looking into the feasibility of transferring one of the programmes of social housing to Oman Housing Bank. Speaking to Muscat Daily, Aziz bin Saud al Mahrouqi, assistant director-general of Social Housing at the Ministry of Housing said, 'The Ministry of Housing provides three special programmes of social housing for the welfare of these families to ensure social stability.

'One of the three programmes - Affordable Housing Loan Program – is being studied to see if it will be feasible to transfer the programme to Oman Housing Bank. This move is part of the privatisation initiative of the government.'

Mahrouqi said that the housing loan programme started in 1991 for families with a monthly income ranging between RO301 and RO600. The value of the housing loan is RO30,000 repayable in monthly installments not exceeding 20 per cent of the total income. From the year 1991 until 2015, some 8,672 families benefitted from this programme at a total cost of RO164,002,846.

Explaining the other two programmes, namely the Social Housing Program and the Housing Assistance Program, Mahrouqi said that the social housing programme began in 1973 with the aim to establish integrated residential communities with all services to limit internal migration from the countryside to the city.

Housing units were constructed according to the customs and traditions of each region. These were low-cost housing units, and in terms of design, future horizontal and vertical expansion was taken into consideration, taking care of the increase in family members. Primarily, this programme was aimed at families whose monthly income did not exceed RO400. From 1973-2015, some 14,999 housing units were constructed at a total cost of RO340,614,801.

As for the Housing Assistance Program, Mahrouqi said it targets social security families and families with a monthly income up to RO300. The rate of housing assistance ranges between RO20,000 and RO25,000, and the amount may exceed based on the conditions of the site and the number of family members.

The housing assistance is a grant from the state to the citizen and it is not recovered. The total number of housing units that have been implemented in this programme from 1981-2015 stood at 24,188 at a total cost of RO421,259,562.

MENAFN3010201801410000ID1097637306