Mena faces shortage of 3.5m affordable homes

 The Mena region is facing a shortage of 3.5 million affordable homes, with the biggest undersupply in Egypt, Iraq, Morocco and Saudi markets — a major challenge, given that this is one of the reasons behind the political turmoil in the Arab world, a Jones Lang Lasalle report said. Egypt requires 1.5 million affordable homes, Iraq one million, Morocco 600,000 and Saudi 400,000 homes.There is also a need for affordable housing in the UAE, Bahrain and Oman.

Demand is forecast to overtake supply in the next five years, widening the current gap even further, the report said.

In the UAE, the shortage of affordable housing disproportionately affects expats because the government provides free land and low-cost housing finance to Emiratis.




 Deena Kamel Yousef, Staff Reporter
Gulf News