Abstract
Low-income citizens worldwide have difficulty getting mortgages in order to buy a dwelling and those who managed to own a property are under continuous financial pressures. The initial field study on banks and the government funded organization namely; Real Estate Development Fund (REDF) in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) showed that they are reluctant to provide mortgages to low-income citizens as it is considered of high risk whereas mortgages from REDF are very limited and usually take very long time to be granted due to bureaucratic financing process and mechanisms. Poor population has certain socio-economic needs which cannot be ignored. These would change over time such as: change of the family size, the need to get extra income and so on. To accommodate these needs, low-income citizens usually make changes to their properties such as interior and exterior alterations; repairs and renovation. The initial field study on banks and REDF showed also that Banks and REDF are happy to provide some limited support regarding some citizens' on-going needs but this would come under price which the poor population cannot afford. This paper argues that providing initial support i.e. mortgages and on-going financial to poor population is crucial as it would help citizens to meet various rising obligations and carry on with life normally and smoothly. A field survey has been undertaken in 2011 in Dammam and Alkhober cities, Eastern province, KSA to find out the satisfaction of low-income citizens about the on-going financial support of banks and REDF. Two hundred and seventy eight valid responses were received. The survey's results showed that the majority of respondents did not manage to get a mortgage thus to buy a property though they are planning to do so. The survey showed that poor population is characterized by a unique longitudinal pattern of socio-economic requirements. This would affect the present or future dwellings in a specific way over a period of time. The respondents said that they are not happy about banks' initial and potential on-going financial support. The absence of financial support for the socio-economic needs as expressed by the respondents-, would hinder them to do proper changes to the property thus affect negatively the property's quality and value. This paper recommends that the present financing system in KSA should be reformed and innovative financing mechanisms should be created to accommodate the citizens' initial and on-going needs.