All Saudi women married to foreigners will soon qualify for housing loans, said Tariq Bafadhl, Deputy Director General of the Real Estate Development Fund. He said some were refused loans in the past, but soon all Saudi women will be eligible, reported Al-Madina Arabic daily on Monday. Saudi women married to foreigners had hoped that they would be included after King Abdullah, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, increased the capital of the Real Estate Development Fund last year. Umm Zaki, a civil servant, who has been married to a foreigner for more than 12 years, said her loan application was rejected because she is married to a foreigner. “This raises a crucial question: What prevents a Saudi woman married to a foreigner from getting a loan when widows and divorced women are eligible for loans?” Umm Khalid, also a government employee married to a foreigner, said Saudi women in her position need houses because this provides protection for the family if their husbands die. She said most Saudi women married to foreigners live in rented houses which are a drain on their incomes. Umm Muhannad, who is married to a foreigner and has five children, said she is now retired and has failed to get a loan after applying several times. She hoped that the situation will change.
