Development companies working on the Saudi Housing 2 project Dammam face losses after the Ministry of Housing halted the building of 4,800 units until further notice, Construction Week Online reported.

The ministry issued a letter to 8 Saudi development companies instructing them stop implementing the housing project, along the Riyadh-Dammam-Qatif highway, to allow more land utilisation to serve individuals entitled to receive housing support, sources say.

Each of the eight companies had finished the internal and external outlines, and designs of the project, costing over SR 80 million ($ 21.3 million).

The project redesigning will cause a 6 months to a year delay, while more than 80% of the project includes contracts with citizen beneficiaries registered through the Ministry of Housing’s online portal, according to Arab News.

The decision demands the 8 companies to provide the ministry with proposed plans and designs for buildings, according to certain requirements and standards, such as increasing the building area to cover up to 50 % of the entire land, while having a maximum of 7 storeys per building, and 3 apartments per floor.