Focus on monthly deduction for housing services in Bahrain

TDT | Manama                                                         

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

The Public Utilities and Environment Committee of the Shura Council, chaired by Dr. Mohammed Ali Hassan Ali, discussed a draft law to amend Article 5 of Decree-Law No. 10 of 1976 regarding housing.

The draft law was submitted by several members, including Fuad Ahmed Al Haji, Juma Mohammed Al Kaabi, Jawad Habib Al Khayat, Dr. Abdulaziz Hassan Abul, and Dr. Ahmed Saleh. During the meeting, the committee discussed the content of the draft law, which aims to replace the text of Article 5 of Decree-Law No. 10 of 1976 concerning housing with the following text: “The monthly deduction for any housing service shall be based on the basic salary or the registered wage with the General Organisation for Social Insurance (GOSI).

The deducted monthly installment shall not exceed 25% of the income. The Minister of Housing shall issue a decision to regulate citizens’ loans for the purpose of building new houses or purchasing, repairing, or improving existing houses, and the methods of calculating income for eligible categories to benefit from housing services.”

The idea of the draft law is based on the preamble of the Constitution of the Kingdom of Bahrain, which aims to create a better future characterised by prosperity, progress, development, stability, and well-being for the nation and its citizens.

Explanatory memorandum

The explanatory memorandum of the draft law noted that the current effective law does not provide a definition of income that the executive authority can rely on to calculate the income of applicants for housing services or determine the amount of the monthly deduction for accessing the service.

The regulation of this matter was left to the decisions issued by the Minister of Housing. Therefore, this draft law was proposed to implement the provisions of the constitution and complement the existing legislative texts, protecting the rights and constitutional entitlements of citizens.