A revolutionary system that builds homes twice as fast may put an end to Bahrain government’s housing crisis, Housing Minister Sheikh Ibrahim bin Khalifa Al Khalifa has said.

Sheikh Ibrahim, who is also Eskan (Housing) Bank chairman, said at the launch of the International Smart Building Centre (ISBC), that new building techniques could effectively eliminate waiting lists for government homes over the next few years.

Over the last 10 years, the government has provided more than 36,600 housing services to low-income families, totalling around BD1.6 billion ($4.2 billion), he said.

The ministry provided these homes well below market rates and the Bahraini citizen pays little more than a fifth of the value of the housing services obtained, while the government bears the remaining 80 per cent of the costs, he said, adding that this was partly the reason for the huge surge in housing applications in Bahrain, with 45,000 applications still outstanding by the end of least year.

Based on traditional building methods, each housing unit would cost BD50,000 ($132,000) which would mean meeting Bahrain’s housing demands would have cost around BD2.25 billion ($5.96 billion).

However,  a solution to this problem has now been found through a partnership between Eskan Bank, Islamic Development Bank, the China Building Materials Academy and the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation’s (Unido) Investment and Technology Promotion offices.

The new properties, the first two of which have been constructed in Hamad Town, will use 90 per cent recyclable materials, have a durability of up to 90 years, be resistant to earthquakes and cyclones, well insulated and quick and cheap to build. The first development to take advantage of the smart technology will be the 800-home Hidd housing project, with construction expected to begin by the end of this year.

Sheikh Ibrahim expects it to effectively double the number of houses available to citizens, at the same time improving quality and reducing the time and costs.