MAKKAH — Realtors in the Holy City have warned that unless a plan to raise more floors in the existing buildings was approved, rents in Makkah would continue to spiral. They noted that the annual rent of a small apartment these days is more than SR30,000 and this was beyond the capacity of a large number of people with limited resources. Abdullah Saqqat, a real estate expert and member of the real estate evaluation committee of the Makkah Chamber of Commerce and Industry called for the immediate issuing of the provision to increase the existing floors in a building. “This system was long overdue. The lack of such a system has led to the rise of rents and also of the prices of empty lands,” he said. Because of the economic activities in the Holy City throughout the year due to the large numbers of pilgrims coming for Umrah or Haj, the rent prices were constantly on the rise. “The compass for the prices is constantly pointing upwards,” he said. Saqqat said there were two reasons behind the hike in the rents. One was that there were few apartments available for rent against a high demand especially by youth planning to marry. The second was that because of the development projects in the Central Area around the Grand Mosque, residents were moving toward the suburbs thus increasing the prices there. Saqqat said some landlords would be willing to rent their apartments for as low as SR15,000 but the tenants would have to vacate before the Haj season otherwise they would have to pay the full rent of SR30,000. “The tenants have no other options. They will have to leave the apartment long before the Haj season or accept to pay the full rent,” he said. Salim Abu Hamra, another real estate expert, recalled that the municipality had said many years ago that the system of permitting the building of extra stories would soon be issued. “Nothing has so far happened in this regard despite the passage of long years,” he said. He hoped that the system would soon be issued in order to increase the supply and said many young men were abstaining from marriage because of the high rents. “We have to find solutions for the problem of high rents. This has become a real predicament for both the citizens and the expatriates,” he said.
