THOUSANDS of social homes will be constructed by the private sector, it was revealed yesterday.
Over the coming years, more than 3,300 homes will be built and offered at affordable prices as part of an expansion to the Khalifa Town which officially opened in 2017.
Deputy Prime Minister and Infrastructure Minister Shaikh Khalid bin Abdulla Al Khalifa yesterday inspected the sites near Askar.
He directed the relevant ministries and government service agencies to start preparing the necessary infrastructure work to implement this project according to a specific timetable and the required cash flows.
Shaikh Khalid was accompanied by Housing and Urban Planning Minister Amna Al Romaihi and Works Minister Ibrahim Al Hawaj along with several senior government officials.
The Housing and Urban Planning Ministry will also build 372 homes at a cost of BD17 million over the next two years in the town.
“The next stage will witness an expansion in the implementation of government lands development rights programme projects, by assigning the construction of thousands of housing units in housing towns and other sites in various governorates to the private sector,” said Shaikh Khalid.
“These will be made available to citizens benefiting from the new housing financing schemes,” he added.
“The private sector is a key partner in smoothing citizens’ access to adequate social housing.
“The social housing sector is witnessing a positive transformation in terms of the speed of service provision revolving on innovating new programmes that provide immediate solutions for citizens.”
Ms Al Romaihi said on the occasion: “The ministry seeks to speed up the rate of completion and distribution of homes in the town and other projects across the country.
“The new homes in the town’s expansion will follow similar design models as in Salman and East Sitra Towns,” she added.
“The expansion project contains an area for public services and utilities, a mosque, shops, a garden and a playground.
“While the housing units, according to the building model used, consist of four bedrooms, two halls, a majlis, a kitchen, four toilets, and a storeroom.”
Ms Al Romaihi added that the Government Lands Development Rights scheme would see plots allocated for real estate developers.
“More than 3,300 homes will be built in Khalifa Town by the private sector over the upcoming years,” she said.
“The scheme in general aims to increase and diversify the supply of housing units to citizens who benefit from housing finance and it follows the success of the pilot phase in which 132 homes were built by the private sector.”
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