Land banks closed for business

In the middle of a protracted real estate boom, in nearly every urban area in Saudi Arabia, dozens of vacant plots owned by a handful of well-connected businessmen are still undeveloped.

Younger Saudis eye such plots with envy as they struggle to find homes, settling instead for sites in flood-prone Jeddah on the west coast, or the handful of apartment complexes available in provincial cities, or even less desirable locations.

In a country that is the size of continental western Europe, many of the choicest sites have either not been built on, or have been developed into sprawling shopping centres. Most of the plots have been handed out in generous grants to businessmen who have found that, after two massive downturns in the Saudi capital markets in 2006 and 2008, holding on to the sites is a low-cost means of safeguarding their assets.