- The document discusses a field survey conducted in Saudi Arabia to gauge citizens' satisfaction with financial support from banks and real estate funds for housing. - The survey found that most respondents did not get a mortgage and were unhappy with the limited accessibility of financing options to support both initial property purchase and ongoing maintenance/repairs. - The author argues that reforming Saudi Arabia's current financing system and creating new, innovative financing mechanisms tailored to citizens' socioeconomic needs are necessary to help the population afford and maintain quality housing.

1. IAHS XXXVIII
World Congress on Housing
April 16-19, 2012, Istanbul, Turkey
The clients’ satisfaction with property-related financing by banks and Real Estate Development
Fund (REDF)
B. Sidawi
Department of Architecture
University of Dammam, Dammam, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
e-mail: Bsidawi@ud.edu.sa
Key words: socio-economic needs, property-related issues, initial financial support, on-going
financial support, Islamic financing system
Abstract
The Saudi population has various and dynamic socio-economic needs. Each citizen has the right to
have a shelter and to own a property that is of good quality and adaptable enough to accommodate
their socio-economic needs. This paper argues that providing initial financial support i.e. mortgages
loans is essential as it enables the citizens to own a dwelling thus to have social and economic
stability. The on-going support to finance the property-related issues such as repairs, maintenance and
refurbishment works, is crucial as it would help citizens to meet various rising obligations. A field
survey has been undertaken in 2011 in the Eastern Province of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to gauge
the level of satisfaction amongst citizens with the initial and on-going financial support of banks and
Real Estate Development Fund (REDF). The survey’s results showed that the majority of the
respondents did not manage to get a mortgage and own a property. They said that they were not happy
about banks and the REDF’s financial support as it is beyond reach most of them. The serious lack of
financial support for the population’s socio-economic needs will surely thwart a great number of
population in their attempts to own a property, and to undertake any proper changes on it. This will
also impact negatively their social and economic life, as well as the property’s quality and value. The
paper recommends that the current financing system in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia should be
reformed; and innovative financing mechanisms that are based on Saudi society’s characteristics
should be created to accommodate the citizens’ initial and on-going needs.
1 Introduction
A number of researchers have highlighted the importance of providing quality banking services
including mortgage loan services to clients. The previous studies and surveys have concentrated on
how to increase the clients’ satisfaction and limit the defection by improving a number of
professionalism issues such as: employee performance and professionalism, willingness to solve
problems, friendliness, level of knowledge, communication skills, selling skills, adjustments in a
bank’s rates, policies and branch locations (see for instance [1& 2]). These studies however do not

2. B. Sidawi
examine the mortgage loan product itself and find out whether it suites the initial and ongoing socio-
economic needs of clients including the poorer and what should be done to provide mortgage loan
products that satisfy all citizens.
In the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), a study on banks and the government funded organization
namely; Real Estate Development Fund (REDF) showed that they are reluctant to provide mortgages
to low-income citizens as it is considered high risk to do so. Mortgages offered by the REDF are very
limited and usually take very long time to be granted due to bureaucratic financing process and
mechanisms [3]. Saudi population, particularly the Poor has certain socio-economic needs and rights
that cannot be ignored. These would change over time such as the family size, the need to get extra
income. To accommodate these needs, citizens usually make changes to their properties. Internal and
external alterations; repairs and renovation are frequent procedures, many opt to carry out on their
properties for various reasons. The initial field study showed that banks and the REDF are happy to
provide some limited support to such on-going needs but maintain that this would come under price
which poor citizens cannot afford. This paper argues that providing initial support i.e. mortgage loans
and on-going financial support to low-income population is crucial as it would help citizens to meet
various rising obligations and carry on with life normally and smoothly. A field survey has recently
been undertaken in 2011 in Dammam and Alkhober cities, Eastern Province of KSA to gauge the
citizens’ level of satisfaction with the financial support that banks and the REDF offer. A
questionnaire survey, discussion forum and interviews were used to achieve the objectives of the
research. With regards to the questionnaire, four hundred and twenty responses were received.
Accordingly, eleven interviews were conducted and a discussion forum was held together with eight
participants. The next sections highlight the citizens’ socio-economic needs and the difficulties that
face the authorities in translating these needs into the built environment.
2 The literature review
The literature review points out to the on-going socio-economic needs of low-income population and
how this issue should be addressed in the built environment. It also discusses why banks and the
REDF are incapable to meet these needs and what is the possible negative impact on the population
particularly the poor and on the property value. The following sections discuss the present and future
needs of the KSA’s citizens. These can be categorized under the social needs and the economic rights
and needs.
2.1 The population’s socio-economic rights and needs
The following paragraphs discuss the population needs and how these needs would addressed in the
built environment. Maslow [4] set the hierarchy of these needs as the following: physiological needs,
safety needs, belongingness and love needs, esteem needs, self-actualisation needs, the desire to know
and understand, aesthesis needs. Some Islamic scholars suggested the order of the human needs is: the
religion, life, intellect, property and posterity (the same reference). Akbar [5] defined three types of
individual rights/ responsibilities with respect to a property that can be exercised in the Islamic world
which are control and management, ownership, and use. The latter includes right of use and right of
benefit. The transfer of the right of benefit to relatives or a third party means the owner would keep the
property ownership right with himself/herself while granting somebody else the right of use of the
property or a part of the property by letting it, or granting the right of benefit of the property to
somebody to use for a commercial or business purpose. In the Islamic world, this right is practised to
this day and the reason behind the transfer of this right by the owner is for good causes such as to help
poor relatives financially. The property ownership and/or control rights can be transferred partially or

3. IAHS XXXVIII, April 16-19, 2012, Istanbul, Turkey
wholly from the original owner to other owners and/or individuals (e.g. property managers, relatives
etc.). The exercise of these rights should not interfere or violate rights of other parties or the rights of
the neighbours [6,7,8]. This dynamic and flexible transfer of the rights throughout the life of the
property would affect the value of the property as the responsibility of ownership, control/
management and use would be exercised by different individuals or group of people. A number of
research studies have highlighted the importance of the consideration of characteristics such as those
mentioned above in the home design and suggested that it is essential to build up knowledge that
would be used in housing design to provide tailored design solution to peoples’ needs, lifestyle and
future preferences [9,10,11,12,13].
Many researchers suggested that non-consideration of owner’s lifestyle in the architectural design has
created an unsuitable environment for the clientele in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia [14,15,16]. Al-
Kurdi [14,15] and Darweesh [16] recommended that property should be adaptable and flexible enough
to accommodate the changing requirements of the client. Al-Naim and Mahmud [17] mentioned
similar factors which are lifestyle driven as the motivations behind the transformation of properties.
They include (i) the adoption (by the client) of some modern lifestyle features such as the installation
of a modern kitchen or bathroom (ii) the need to achieve a higher degree of privacy for some spaces
(iii) to adapt the spaces to suite the owner’s lifestyle by, for example, increasing the number of spaces
or changing the functions of some spaces. However, there are other reasons for the ‘transformation/
adaptation’ such as initial financial constraints faced by the client and the client’s need for an
additional income. This latter reason manifests into reality when the owner transforms a part of the
property to a shop that can be run by the owner or let to somebody else in order to generate additional
income to support the family [17]. This ‘transformation’ tradition is rooted deep in the history of
Arabic and Islamic cities. A substantial number of such transformations which occurred during these
cities’ evolvement and throughout their life are found by a number of researchers such as Ibn Al Rami
[18], and others. These transformations can be considered as a part of people’s socio-economic life
which is practised particularly by low income people [19]. On the other hand, it is proposed that the
way that the client exercises these rights would affect the property’s value and in turn affect the
financing arrangements. The research done by Sayce [20] supports this hypothesis as it pointed out a
number of user characteristics such as the occupier’s satisfaction with the property that have an impact
on the property value. The occupier’s satisfaction is very likely to be affected by the capability to
exercise the right of use. Hence this right of use should be supported fully. Absence of this right could
easily affect the property value negatively.
2.2 Housing’s provisioning and property-related financing problems
The previous section highlights the rights of every citizen to own a property. However, low income
citizens cannot afford to buy a property. In the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, more Saudis will demand
government’s housing in the future. The housing affordability for Saudis and non-Saudis would
decline substantially from present to future because housing prices rise rather faster than incomes.
Struyk [21] suggested that Saudis will experience a decline in housing affordability over the next two
decades because the increase in purchasing power is approximately 25%, against a 50% housing price
rise. Aldosary et al [22] mentioned there is a mass demand for government’s housing within the
kingdom, particularly by middle-income Saudi families. Therefore, financial help should be provided
to citizens to enable them of buying a property. Research studies showed that the conventional well-
run mortgage facilities are not designed according to the poor people’s needs and capabilities so they
have generally fail to reach the poor [23]. Low income citizens who managed to own a property,
would find themselves under continuous financial pressures that would not enable them to do proper
improvements or changes on their properties. A number of governments and private financial institutes
have realized the fact that low income citizens need financial support regarding these issues and have
suggested various financing schemes such micro finance programmes to finance the cost of housing

4. B. Sidawi
improvements (see for instance Mitlin [24]). However, these programmes were not very efficient as
poor citizens were forced to use their own limited income, seek additional resources from family and
friends, and borrow on informal credit markets [23]. As alternative strategy, community funds
programmes were suggested to sort out the problem. These are financial mechanisms that encourage
savings through establishing and strengthening local savings groups, providing collective finance for
shelter improvement [23]. However, much of their work remains experimental and it rests somewhat
uneasily between financial approaches and poverty reduction programming [23]. In KSA, Bank Al
Tasleef Al Saudi usually grant loans for restoration, repairs and refurbishment purposes amounting to
80,000-100,000 SAR for a duplex (i.e. terraced or semidetached house) and 40,000-50,000 SAR for a
flat. This amount is however not enough to finance the cost of an extension. Moreover, bank Al
Tasleef has its’ difficult conditions, such as the borrower's age which should be between 25-55 years
with a salary that is not less than 5000 SAR. The applicant should have no other financial obligations,
and a Kafeel (i.e. guarantor) who should pay the loan back in case that the applicant failed to do so.
3 Constraints on the translation of people’s rights and needs into the built environment
The translation of the population’s rights and needs into the built environment would be constrained
by the following types of constraints; legal; financial and property-related issues.
3.1 Legal constraints
The ownership and control/ management rights of a home owner in Saudi Arabia are only partially
addressed in the building laws of the country. These laws set general guidelines on how to consider the
home owner’s rights with regards to the construction or alteration of his/her property. These laws
specify what designers should do regarding the building setback distances, distance between other
properties, and height restrictions of building and so on. These laws do not, for instance, define how
the property should be designed to fit the local lifestyle, traditions and norms or how the user should
maintain the property. Under the present Saudi Building laws, no permission is usually required for
internal works such as refurbishment, renovation etc. The property owner needs to get permission if
he/ she wants to extend the property or to convert part of his/her property into commercial or other
uses. The permission is also needed if the owner wants to change the elevations' configurations (e.g. to
open new doors or windows), increase the built area by building an external extension or the height of
the house/ villa by adding an additional floor [25, 26]. However, these are difficult to police by the
municipality as it is sometimes done behind the high fences of the property. In case that the violation
is detected by the municipality, the long arm of the law is not brought to bear on the landlord rather the
landlord reaches some type of compromise with the municipality for an amicable settlement. Another
aspect, of this issue is the permission to convert a part of the property for commercial use, is granted
without much difficulty as long is the street/ road is classified by the municipality as commercial.
However there are some other difficulties in this process as the conversion of the property/ a part of
the property for commercial use needs an approval not only from the municipality but also in most
cases from other parties such as the civil defence, health authorities etc. In summary, the present
building laws in KSA restrict the owner's freedom of exercising his/ her rights to a certain degree. On
the one hand, the law does not address these rights properly and on the other hand is not strictly
enforced which is different from the developed countries such as the UK whereas the Building
regulations are strictly applied. This will have legal implications for the banks who lend money to the
client on an on-going basis.

5. IAHS XXXVIII, April 16-19, 2012, Istanbul, Turkey
3.2 Financial constraints
One of the citizen’s rights is to own a property and to alter his/her property according to his/ her needs.
The majority of the population in KSA, particularly the poor, needs financial support to buy a property
or to alter their properties. The financial support from financial institutions such as Banks is restricted
by tough lending conditions that they apply it to avoid potential risks and financial loss. This policy is
affected of a number of financial restrictions such as: The financial market rigidities, the Islamic
financing practices, liquidity, uncertainty, ownership risks, security/ recourse, default and
documentary complexity [3].
3.2.1 The property-related issues and expenses
Banks are concern of possible on-going and dynamic environmental impacts on the property, and how
the property would respond, may affect the property value. So they consider any financing whether it
is initial financing i.e. mortgages or on-going financing as holding a risk. Environmental impacts on
properties are attributed to climate changes and they include rising global temperatures, rising sea
levels and increasing frequency and intensity of extreme weather. Extreme weather and natural
disasters are expected to be more frequent in coming years [27]. In the future, properties may
deteriorate faster and the systems may collapse or fail quicker. Properties will be expensive to run if
they do not interact naturally with the environment. The degree of a property’s capability to positively
respond to environmental impacts would affect its value. Myers et al [28] and Sayce et al [29]
suggested a link between the property value and sustainability indicators. The sustainability indicators
are: building flexibility, energy efficiency, transport requirement, pollutants, location, occupier profile,
ecology and design. Sayce et al [20] created an appraisal model that incorporates the sustainability
indicators, into calculations of property value. The impact of each of the sustainability indicators on
property value was done based on the changes in the allowances fixed for each of the property
appraisal criteria. The property appraisal criteria include the following: rental growth, rental
depreciation, cashflow and risk [29]. On the other hand, properties should be frequently maintained to
prolong their service life. Steemers [30] pointed out that the absence of frequent maintenance would
create a situation at a later date in which the maintenance would become exorbitantly expensive. The
maintenance of residential properties in KSA is not mandatory as there is lack of state mandate for
adequate maintenance opposite to well-developed mandatory maintenance laws in to some extent in
the developed countries. Therefore, properties are ill maintained and a significant share of the housing
stock in Saudi Arabia would need replacement in the next 20–25 years and around 30% requires
improvement in the next 5 years [21]. As a summary, the environmental issues would have serious
impact on the property value in the short term as well in the long term. Thus it would affect the banks’
lending policy and the policy in turn would affect the population’s needs and rights. The study argues
that on-going financing to low-income citizens is necessary to enable the citizens to practise normally
and smoothly their daily life and to reduce the impact of negative factors that would affect the property
value.
4 The field survey results
The survey showed that the majority of respondents (i.e. 91%) have not managed to get any mortgage
loan in the past or at present. Few respondents (i.e. 9%) have managed to get a loan in the past or
recently, however the amount of loan that granted to them was small i.e. less than 500.000 SR. Most of
the respondents are willing to get a loan to buy a property. Respondents were highly unsatisfied about
all financial and administrative services of banks and the REDF. Respondents plan to do changes on
their properties at present regardless of the fact that the property is rented or owned at present. All of
them are planning for future alterations. More than half of respondents said that the reason for changes

6. B. Sidawi
at present include: the increase of the family size at present and to adapt the property according to the
family lifestyle. Some respondents said that other reasons include the willingness to generate an
additional income, to divide the property into two residential units and because of some relatives who
chose to live with the family. Eighty percent of the respondents said that the reason for future changes
are: the increase of the family size and children who become adults. More than two thirds of them said
that the reasons are to adapt the property according to the family lifestyle, to generate an additional
income. Other reasons for future changes include dividing the property into two residential units, and
that some relatives who would choose to live with the family. The respondents pointed out that all
types of ownership, control, management rights should be included in the contract of the mortgage
loan. These include the owner’s right to alter the property, to let or sell it or a part of it, to hire
someone to manage it and to transfer the ownership/ benefit right to somebody else. Respondents said
that they do not want financial support regarding granting benefit to a third party but need support
regarding the cost of management, ownership and alterations. However, they said each type of support
should be provided in the designated period that they had specified. The most needed support in
respect to the chronic order was: external alterations expenses, internal alterations expenses and cost of
assigning someone to manage the property. The respondents gave their views about issues that affect
the property value. They said that the most issues that affect the property value are: the degree of
quality of the property, the degree of energy efficiency of the property, the owner/ occupant daily
lifestyle activities and conversion of a part of the property into Commercial. The in-depth analysis of
the survey results showed that higher income respondents are generally more satisfied about the banks’
and the REDF mortgage services more than the lower income respondents.
The higher income citizens have more tendency to undertake alterations on the property than lower
income citizens. This can be simply explained by the fact that they have more financial resources and
it is easier for them to reach to financial help than the lower income citizens. All respondents have put
nearly the same weight for the present and future reasons behind the alterations on the property.
Higher income citizens are looking for sooner financial support regarding the cost of alterations than
the lower income respondents. This can be simply explained, that they plan to buy a property soon, if
they have not already had one, and do changes. Whereas lower income citizens have much longer way
which would start with finding a way to buy a property thus start to do incremental changes.
The interviewees complained that the government support does not reach easily to them. Also they
complained that they did not get the right and sufficient support from their government employers.
The interviewees were totally unsatisfied about the REDF’s performance as they said there is long
waiting list of the REDF to get a loan or a land plot. Furthermore, the loan amount is very small and is
given on instalments whereas the property prices are going up dramatically.
Furthermore, the REDF’s land plots have no planning permission and the citizens would wait for long
period until the planning permission is granted. The study shows that citizens aim to own a property,
other than the one they occupy, for a number of reasons such as to let it and benefit from the rent.
They do not accept to buy a property jointly with a close relative or so as they said this would end up
with social problems and it is not acceptable nowadays. The interviewees complained about bank
conditions regarding the mortgage loans and the high interest rates. It seems that it difficult for low
income citizens to find a guarantor to support their application for a mortgage and even for a normal
loan. This would complicate the matter further as they would not be possible for them to get any
financial help. A government bank which Al Tasleef Al Saudi provides limited loans for repairs and
restoration purposes but again these are not enough to finance any external alteration works. The
interviewees complained that these loans would increase the financial debt burden on the shoulders
beside it would be virtually impossible for low income citizens to get a loan if they already got a
mortgage loan. The interviewees said that the cost of property’s changes should be paid by whoever is
capable to pay it such as the REDF and the government. It is also vital to create a social security
system that would support and protect the citizen. The interviewees said that the employer
responsibility is to support to provide or construct dwellings. Most of the interviewees have low

7. IAHS XXXVIII, April 16-19, 2012, Istanbul, Turkey
salaries and complained about the present unstable living conditions whereas most of them live in a
rented accommodation, unreasonable increase in rent price whereas the owner has the absolute power,.
Some of them did not manage to get any help, very few have managed to get help from the relatives to
buy or get a property.
The study found that the family/ tribe support scheme is conducted by some families whereas the rich
would help the poor. This helps some of the interviewees to get or buy a property.
In regards to the conversion of a part of the property to a commercial use, The researcher would like to
highlight the citizens are not educated about financial risks that would incur regarding their decision to
start a new business and provide an extra income. So they definitely need support from experts who
would advise them about the feasibility of doing this or that type of commercial activity.
The absence of on-going support –as the participants pointed out- would affect badly the property’s
quality and the family’s life. The family would have a number of property defects that should be sorted
out whereas the family do not have any financial resources to pay for the cost of repairs.
5 Discussion and conclusion
The paper highlighted possible reasons for dissatisfaction of the citizens on the initial and on-going
financial support and the REDF. It pointed out the present financial system is not capable to fulfil the
citizens’ initial and on-going requirements in respect to the property-related issues. The field survey
showed the type and chronicle sequence of these socio-economic needs. It pointed out the citizens’
views about the financial support amount and timing that should be provided by financial institutes to
meet the initial and on-going needs. The participants have highlighted anxiously the negative impact
of the lack of initial and on-going support on their economic and social life and their properties.
On the other hand, the study found the present financing system is constrained by a number of issues.
Some of these are external such as these related to the financial market and some are internal which
the bank applies on themselves to minimize potential risk. These constraints have negative impact on
the performance of banks and the REDF and disable these institutes to provide efficient and
satisfactory service to clients. It is obvious that the Western financing system adopted thus adjusted by
Saudi banks is not functioning well in KSA and there is an emergent need to re-evaluate the system
and create a financing system that does not only utilize Islamic financing tools -such as: Ijarah,
Murabaha etc- but also is built up upon the Islamic social model that prompts the community
coherence and integrity or Takaful1
and by implementing Islamic financing mechanisms such as Qared
Hasan2
, charity loans (e.g. Zakat and Sadaqa or charity payment) and use it to help the poor clients.
This would support the right of poor citizens to own a property and to undertake incremental
improvements. Eventually, banks, the REDF, charities, the government and local communities should
sooner rather than later, join efforts to tackle the property-related problems, otherwise, the problem
would be very hard to control and cure.
References
1
Takaful is an alternative form of cover that a Muslim can avail himself against the risk of loss due to
misfortunes. Takaful is based on the idea that what is uncertain with respect to an individual may cease to be
uncertain with respect to a very large number of similar individuals
2
Qared Hasan is a loan extended on a goodwill basis, and the debtor is only required to repay the amount
borrowed.

8. B. Sidawi
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