Muscat: A leading property developer believes that the Oman government must take new measures to ease the shortage of apartments.
"We need at least 20,000-25,000 units to meet the current demand that keeps increasing due to the growing number of development projects in the country," Mahmoud Mohammad Al Jarwani, chairman of Sohar International Development and Investment, told Gulf News.
"The demand keeps increasing but there's also a shortage of big land plots to develop apartments," he said.
He also suggested constructing houses for low and middle income citizens for which he wants a joint government-private sector effort.
"The government should provide land and ask private developers to develop property for the citizens," he said.
Al Jarwani said that his company was developing apartments for low and middle income citizens.
"We developed Dar Al Maha I property in the residential area of Darseit and all 108 units were bought by Omanis with moderate incomes," he said. Now his company is beginning the second phase of the residential units in the same area.
"We are open to selling these units to other nationals from the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) but in the first phase the demand for houses by Omani nationals was so high that not a single unit was left for non-Omanis," he said. He agreed that Omanis prefer to build individual villas but added that the trend was changing. "Not everyone today can afford such houses so they opt for apartments," he said.
He also said that the culture of forming associations and managing apartments would soon catch on in Oman. "The first association will be formed at our property Dar Al Maha I," he said. He added that as the developer they would maintain the property for the first three years and then the association of apartment owners will handle the maintenance.
He blamed speculators for the reluctance of landowners to build apartments. "They look for quick and easy gains and refrain from developing plots of land."
He urged the Omani government to tackle the problem of real estate speculation.
Authorities in Oman traditionally don't grant permission for high-rise buildings but Al Jarwani believes this trend could also change.
"We have no option but to go skywards to create more housing units. It has started since some nine- and ten-storey apartments have already been granted permission by the Muscat Municipality," he said.
Al Jarwani also believes the Oman government will open the doors to non-GCC nationals to buy property.
"It is everywhere in the world and it is coming here to Oman," he predicted about the legislation allowing non-GCC foreigners to buy property in the Sultanate.
