Building up the housing finance market in KSA improving the legal infrastructure

This research project purports to offer a comprehensive analysis of how the legal framework in Saudi Arabia might be improved to further the development and efficacy of the housing finance market. The research aims to achieve the following objectives: enhancing the efficiency of the main participants, lender and borrower, in the housing finance market by providing them with the desired protection; facilitating access to that market; building up a proper regulatory framework for governing the market; and finally, addressing the legal barriers that hinder the provision of cheap liquidity in the market.
Although the Housing Finance Laws (HFLs) 2012 were introduced and enacted with similar objectives in mind, this thesis argues that four issues still present significant obstacles to the development of the housing finance market, albeit some are a result of the provisions of the HFLs themselves. As a consequence, the thesis has sought to address the following questions; what barriers to the development of the housing finance remain unaddressed? How should Saudi law be reformed to provide adequate protection for lender and borrower in the market? Can the Land Fees Law 2016 play a critical role in addressing the current issue of increasing land prices which hinders access to the housing finance market? How can the regulatory framework for regulating the housing finance market in general, and for adopting the macro-prudential policy in particular, be developed to achieve the HFLs’ aims? And, finally, how might Saudi laws be reformed to enable the launch of a securitisation market, in order to assist in the development of the housing finance market by providing new means of liquidity?
It is hoped that critical analysis of the above questions will help to facilitate development of the housing finance market and contribute to its further improvement, by addressing potentially workable solutions to the obstacles listed above.