Wednesday 8 April 2015

Saudi King Takes on Cozy Landowners to Thaw Homebuilding Freeze - Bloomberg Business

Saudi King Takes on Cozy Landowners to Thaw Homebuilding Freeze - Bloomberg Business:



"Saudi Arabia’s new monarch isn’t afraid of riling the rich and powerful to get his subjects into homes they can afford.



One of King Salman’s first policy decisions after taking power in January was to approve a tax on millions of acres of so-called white land: development plots in cities that lie empty for years because the owners have no incentive to build on them. The move breaks the kingdom’s taboo on property taxation and puts pressure on landowners and developers who until now have been content to own and trade empty land like a commodity.



“It’s a bold decision that will ruffle some feathers,” Ramzi Darwish, a consultant with Cluttons LLC, said in an interview in Dubai. “The majority of landowners are royals and powerful trading families and this will push them to either develop the plots or sell.”"



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