Muscat: Saif bin Muhammad al Shabibi, Minister of Housing, issued a decision that is effective from Monday, in which Article 18, of the executive regulations of the Social Housing Law will be replaced by a new text.
According to the new amendment, “The value of housing assistance is determined based on number of family members and area of construction. The decision said that an amount that does not exceed RO 20,000 for a family consisting of two or three individuals to build or rebuild a house, provided that the building area is not less than 140 square meters, and in the case of the beneficiary’s contribution, the building area should not exceed 250 square meters.”
It also stated that an amount not exceeding RO 25,000 for a family consisting of four individuals or more to build or rebuild a house, provided that the building area is not less than 190 square meters, and in the case of the contribution of the beneficiary, the building area should not exceed 300 square meters. Besides, there is provision of an amount that does not exceed RO 20,000 to restore the house or make additions to it.
In all cases, the beneficiary is not allowed, in case he wants to extend the construction area by more than 50 per cent of the total value of the housing assistance.
The decision included adding a new article No. ‘18’" repeated to the list, stating that "After receiving the initial approval, the applicant for housing assistance shall submit the following: a copy of the title deed, survey, and recent maps of the house, authenticated by the competent authorities, subject to approval by the ministry, a building permit to be valid for the house required to be built, rebuilt, restored or made additions to it, if necessary, a quote submitted by a contractor licensed by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, a letter from a consultant specifying his fees for overseeing the implementation of the house, provided that these fees are deducted from the value of housing assistance, or to be paid by the beneficiary and a certificate of completion, approved by the competent municipality, in case of purchasing a ready-made house."
Article 18, which was replaced in the regulations, states that "the value of housing assistance for building, rebuilding, restoring or making additions to a house is limited to a maximum of RO 20,000, and the minister may raise the value of assistance in areas of difficult topographical nature."
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