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دار العثمان .. و للخير دار : مركز المرحوم عبدالله عبداللطيف العثمان الخيري الثقافي الاجتماعي

لجنة أوصياء إدارة وتنمية ثلث المرحوم عبدالله عبداللطيف العثمان

عثمان هذا الزمان

 

MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING

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I will review with you a press release published a month ago which states: "In an effort to find practical solutions that contribute to calming private housing prices, a government committee was formed with the membership of leaders representing about 6 ministries and related bodies, including undersecretaries of ministries, to work on providing major and reliable proposals to help the government reduce the risks of the growing housing crisis, especially after its requests finally reached about 94,000 by the end of 2021." Frankly, this press release stopped me a lot, and I also pondered before writing my opinion. The members of the committee are still assembled, and the most important thing they have reached is a proposal to increase electricity and water fees on the second house for any Kuwaiti who owns more than one house. They excluded the second wife's house if any. They stressed that one of the most important reasons for the increase in residential real estate prices and its transformation into a magnet for investment real estate developers is the low cost of electricity. To be honest, and if my analysis of what was reported in the newspapers is correct, this conclusion applies to the proverb: "Much Ado About Nothing", and I am surprised by this, as the increase in the cost from 3 fils to 5 fils will not affect the merchant that much, as its total amount will be only 500 dinars per year, which he will bear to the tenant. I can understand that this will increase the state's revenues, but it can never curb prices and prevent our residential areas from turning into investment areas. Of course, although the members of the committee mentioned the reason in the scope of their narration of the problem, it seems that they did not understand it, simply because what attracted investors to build extra floors and apartments are three reasons, which are as follows: The first reason is the great demand for such units. They mentioned that there are 94 thousand housing requests and that this number is increasing. The second reason lies in the weakness of the municipal oversight apparatus, which made violations a basis for some building's owners and not an exception, which increased the return on their investments in violation of the law and the penalties it carries, because, unfortunately, the law without application is considered worthless. The third reason—although not the last—is the high percentage of construction in private housing, which has become close to the percentage of investment housing, with a lower cost of construction compared to investment housing and the ease of obtaining exceptions from municipal leaders in private housing compared to investment housing. These are the main factors in this quandary and raising electricity and water rates will not solve it because it will flatten the problem. Solving this problem cannot be done unless the queues for housing are eliminated. Of course, this solution requires a huge budget to support the infrastructure and increase the country's ability to produce electricity and other things. It also needs a government agency more capable of managing this problem, and unfortunately, this matter may be excluded according to the available capabilities. The second solution, which must accompany the first solution and be the basis for solving this dilemma, is to involve the private sector in the development of housing cities with a structural system different from what is currently in place, through joint stock companies established for this purpose, and the Kuwaiti citizen contributes to them.  To sum it up, I was presented with a housing scheme in Al-Khobar, and I was surprised that the scheme included five sectors. The first sector is an investment sector with a high density, the second sector is commercial, the third is residential with a medium density (buildings with large apartments and it is no more than 3 floors), the fourth is residential medium villas (plots of 400 square meters), and the fifth is for luxury villas (plots of more than 1000 square meters), not to mention the services of mosques, gardens, and others. What is great about this is that the traffic and parking lots are properly studied, and the owners of these projects are not allowed to sell until after the infrastructure is completed, and at their expense. The intent here is that such well-studied projects with a citizen financing system that extends for 30 years increases the ability of middle-income citizens to provide them with adequate housing, relieves pressure on the state and revives the economy as well. As for that committee that has the idea of increasing the electricity tariff to solve the housing crisis, I say to them, may Allah reward you good and be safe.

Stay Safe.

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عدد الزائرين:

102 زائر، ولايوجد أعضاء داخل الموقع

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