New housing initiative for long-standing applicants

TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune - www.newsofbahrain.com

The Ministry of Housing and Urban Planning has initiated measures to provide alternative housing solutions to citizens with pending applications from 2004 and earlier. This follows a directive from His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince and Prime Minister, to allocate additional funds for these alternatives.

Minister of Housing and Urban Planning, Her Excellency Amna bint Ahmed Al Rumaihi, announced that the Ministry has started allocating housing units in the East Sitra project for those eligible under the first alternative option. This option includes a housing unit and construction financing of BD40,000 through the Tas’heel programme.

The Ministry will soon also deliver residential apartments to those eligible for the second option, which provides a BD3,000 financial grant and a two-year exemption from common area maintenance fees. Additionally, the Ministry has begun disbursing funds for the third option, which offers a maximum financing facility of BD70,000 along with a BD10,000 grant.

The total number of units allocated for this option across various governorates aims to address both current and backlog housing requests. The East Sitra unit allocations will be followed by units in other projects across different governorates. The Minister mentioned that the Ministry will continue to provide housing allowances for two years to citizens benefiting from the East Sitra units under this programme. The Ministry will also cover the fees for issuing building permits to facilitate and expedite construction by beneficiaries.