Sakani Program

The Sakani Program is one of the housing system programs in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, announced for launch by the Ministry of Housing in early 2017 to enable Saudi families to own their first home through a range of housing and financing solutions suited to different groups. [1][3]

The program operates within the Housing Program, one of the realization programs of Saudi Vision 2030, which was launched in 2018 and focused on increasing the supply of housing products of high quality at suitable prices and in a short time, targeting a rise in citizens' home ownership rate to 70% by 2030. [12][5]

The Ministry of Housing announced the launch of the Sakani Program in early 2017, and 282,000 housing and financing options were allocated during its first phase, while the target of the second phase was announced in early 2018, with the allocation of 300,000 housing and financing options. [1]

The program rests on enabling Saudi families to own their first home through a variety of options: ready units and units under construction in partnership with real estate developers, free land plots, and self-building, with access to a real estate loan supported at 100% in partnership with financing entities. [3]

Through the program, the Ministry provided the interactive Sakani electronic platform, which displays details of all projects announced since the program's launch in early 2017 and provides data on locations, prices, the number and type of units, and service facilities, with the possibility of booking appointments to visit projects and completing final reservation procedures at the project site. [2] The platform presents housing options of land plots, apartments, villas and townhouses at prices ranging between 250 and 750,000 riyals across all regions of the Kingdom, bookable electronically within about 76 projects offering more than 134,000 units, most of them in residential suburbs with integrated services and infrastructure. [4]

During 2024, the platform received more than 625 million digital visits, an increase of over 24% compared with 2023; more than 93,000 housing units were added to its offering, and more than 1.1 million services were recorded through the program's channels for its users. [10]

The program provides multiple solutions covering ready and under-construction units and self-building, alongside supporting initiatives and services such as the additional concessional loan for civilians and military personnel, the state's bearing of value-added tax on a first home, and the Real Estate Advisor service. [4]

The program set its targets for 2020 at serving more than 300,000 families, adding more than 100,000 new housing units in partnership with real estate developers, and providing 90,000 new residential land plots, with more than 130,000 families housed in their homes. [4] This track is strengthened by the program's partnerships with the private sector: the Manazel Al-Qatif project comprises 942 housing units in four different models at prices starting at 420,000 riyals, and 567 housing units were handed over from it to beneficiary families after the completion of construction and the delivery of services and infrastructure. [6]

On 29 Rajab 1444 AH (20 February 2023), the program announced the Updated Housing Support Program, which provided immediate non-repayable financial support of up to 150,000 riyals, in-kind support on housing units under construction, and an exemption from the real estate transaction tax, alongside programs supporting ownership such as the facilitated mortgage and real estate financing guarantees, for the off-plan sales product, ready housing units, self-building and «Ardak Daamak», and the «Sammim Daamak» service through the Real Estate Advisor platform. [5]

The Council of Ministers approved on 29 Dhu al-Qi'dah 1446 AH (27 May 2025) an amendment to the housing support regulations, which included lowering the eligibility age for the head of the family to 20 years instead of 25 years, cancelling the dependency condition for the wife and the divorced mother in a way that grants equal opportunities to citizens of both sexes, reducing the period of disposal of housing support options from 10 years to 5 years, and tightening the regulatory procedures relating to data accuracy, which makes it possible to recover the support amount, the housing unit or the land if incorrect information is provided. [7] In continuation of Council of Ministers Decision No. 850 dated 29/11/1446 AH, the program announced on 11 Rabi' al-Akhir 1447 AH (3 October 2025) an amendment to the executive regulations for organizing housing support, under which the eligibility period for the divorced mother becomes one year from the date of divorce instead of the two-year condition previously applied, enhancing the flexibility and speed of housing solutions and family and social stability. [8]

The home ownership rate of Saudi families reached 65.4% by the end of 2024, and more than 54,000 families benefited from housing support programs during the first half of 2025, more than 48,000 families moved into their homes, and more than 27,000 supported financings were recorded for low-income earners, exceeding the first-half target by 63%, with a beneficiary satisfaction rate of 90% against an annual target of 80%. [9] The digitalisation of contracts and documents and the simplification of procedures and regulations helped raise the home ownership rate in the Kingdom from 47% to more than 66.24% by the end of 2025, and the waiting period for Saudi families for housing support before Saudi Vision 2030 was 15 years or more, while with the launch of the Housing Program access to support became immediate. [12]

More than one million Saudi families have benefited from the Sakani Program since its launch, and a third of them now live in their lifetime home, while the program launched for tenants the Ejar electronic service, which protects tenants and grants owners and property holders contracts of reliability and enforceability, with the number of lease contracts registered through it reaching 4.5 million contracts. [12] In the first half of 2026, 63,076 Saudi families moved into their first home, the total number of families benefiting from housing support services during that period reached 48,631 families, and the total supported housing contracts since the program's launch in 2017 until the end of June 2026 rose to 1,046,890 contracts. [11]

Q: What is the Sakani Program and what is its goal? A: A program launched by the Ministry of Housing in early 2017 to enable Saudi families to own their first home through a range of housing and financing solutions, operating within the Housing Program, one of the programs of Saudi Vision 2030. [1][3]

Q: What are the targets of the program's first and second phases? A: During the first phase, 282,000 housing and financing options were allocated, and the target of the second phase was announced in early 2018, with the allocation of 300,000 housing and financing options. [1]

Q: What products and options does the program provide? A: Ready and under-construction units in partnership with real estate developers, free land plots, and self-building, with access to a real estate loan supported at 100%. [3]

Q: What is the Updated Housing Support Program? A: A program announced on 20 February 2023 that provides immediate non-repayable financial support of up to 150,000 riyals, in-kind support on units under construction, an exemption from the real estate transaction tax, and the «Sammim Daamak» service. [5]

Q: What is the home ownership rate of Saudi families and its target? A: It reached 65.4% by the end of 2024, and more than 66.24% by the end of 2025, and the target is to raise it to 70% by 2030. [9][12][5]

The Sakani Program combines the expansion of housing supply with the diversification of financing solutions, and proceeds within the Housing Program, one of the programs of Saudi Vision 2030, toward raising the home ownership rate of Saudi families to 70% by 2030. [5][11]

Related topics include Saudi Vision 2030, the National Transformation Program, the Quality of Life Program, the Saudi Industrial Development Fund and the Public Investment Fund.