A proposal has been passed to allocate land for hundreds of housing units in a Bahrain village.

The Northern Municipal Council has agreed to allow the appropriation of land in Shahrakan for the project, said a report in the Gulf Daily News, our sister publication.

The land, on block 1044, is currently a private property and needs to be approved for appropriation first, said technical committee head Hussain Al Sagheer.

"We need to first get approval for appropriation as it is a private property," he said.

Al Sagheer said it would be the first such project in the village, which has around 160 pending housing requests. The land, which covers 59,357 sq m, could host between 166 and 207 units.

It will replace land previously proposed by the committee, which faced procedural issues.

"This could help build more housing units to serve the area," he said.

"We have currently 160 housing requests in Shahrakan alone which this land could help serve, depending on the procedures of the Housing Ministry, which prioritises older requests."

He said the Northern Governorate currently has 18,045 pending housing requests. "Our work in the council revolves around working hand in hand with other ministries to unify efforts," he stated.

"This proposal hopes to help suggest land to the ministry to host its projects, at the same time serving residents in the governorate."

Councillors unanimously voted in favour of the proposal during their weekly meeting in Saar.

The proposal will be submitted to Municipalities and Urban Planning Affairs Minister Dr Juma Al Ka'abi for his feedback.-TradeArabia News Service