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Raul739
Joined: 10 Feb 2016
Posts: 21
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 Posted: Mon Jul 25, 2016 7:39 pm Post subject: |
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| I-forgot wrote: |
Based on my own research from about 2 years ago -
The cheapest compound I was willing to live in cost around 6000 per month. That was considered a 'budget' compound.
It is standard to pay rent six months or a year in advance in all compounds.
There is a waiting list for compound accommodation. Bribes will get you bumped up the waiting list. In fact, sometimes that is the only way to get on a waiting list.
The DQ is nice and there are some small and affordable apartments there. The non-refundable key fee is six months or more of the yearly rental. They are in great demand and go quickly. However, you will need a reliable driver as taxis are rare.
Apartments in central Riyadh are not as expensive. A reasonable 2 bed/2 bath can go for 30,000 per annum. Possibly/probably less to non-white, Arabic speakers.
Very few teachers live on compounds. SBC used to house teachers in a compound in central Riyadh. Lots of teachers complained about the standard of the compound and they were relocated to Bonita Compound which is almost an hour out of town. The company provided buses were too crowded and no everyone was able to go shopping when they wanted to or needed to. Taxis were expensive and you couldn't just hail one on the street. Long daily commutes. Teachers complained again and were moved to an apartment/hotel block in Riyadh. A few managed to get their housing allowance and stay at Bonita but had to supplement the allowance as it was not enough for compound accommodation.
Nomad Soul - teachers working at PNU via contracting companies are not housed on campus. The on campus housing is for direct hires only. |
Please write the currency next to the amount of money. That can be confusing for many on the forum. |
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nomad soul
Joined: 31 Jan 2010
Posts: 11454
Location: The real world
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| Posted: Mon Jul 25, 2016 9:17 pm Post subject: |
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| Raul739 wrote: |
| Please write the currency next to the amount of money. That can be confusing for many on the forum. |
The amounts mentioned above are in Saudi riyals (SR).
Either way, the average monthly housing allowance for a teacher isn't meant to cover a spot on a compound. Serviced apartments are a reasonable option. |
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TOBY23
Joined: 01 Oct 2014
Posts: 12
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| Posted: Tue Jul 26, 2016 6:34 am Post subject: university of jeddah housing |
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in reply to Travels questions about housing from UJ, it is 17,000 SAR per month. they offer only three days hotel stay upon arrival.
Good luck! |
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Al-Ikwan
Joined: 07 Jun 2016
Posts: 18
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| Posted: Tue Jul 26, 2016 10:23 am Post subject: Re: university of jeddah housing |
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| TOBY23 wrote: |
in reply to Travels questions about housing from UJ, it is 17,000 SAR per month. they offer only three days hotel stay upon arrival.
Good luck! |
They also say offer a one off 50% furniture allowance. |
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TOBY23
Joined: 01 Oct 2014
Posts: 12
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| Posted: Tue Jul 26, 2016 11:37 am Post subject: housing allowance UJ |
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| just to correct my recent post: housing allowance is 17,000 SAR per YEAR, not month. |
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1chunk
Joined: 05 Aug 2014
Posts: 123
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| Posted: Tue Jul 26, 2016 3:27 pm Post subject: |
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The only realistic way for teachers to live in a compound is through Company provided compound accomodation. Raytheon, Vinnell, BAE, and Aramco are some examples.
Otherwise you can forget about it. Companies will put you up in serviced apartments or give you a measly allowance which will be enough to find your own furnished place.
I have been to compounds and nearly all occupants there are anything but ''teachers''. Lol |
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hash
Joined: 17 Dec 2014
Posts: 456
Location: Wadi Jinn
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| Posted: Tue Jul 26, 2016 10:14 pm Post subject: |
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| 1chunk wrote: |
| The only realistic way for teachers to live in a compound is through Company provided compound accomodation. Raytheon, Vinnell, BAE, and Aramco are some examples. Otherwise you can forget about it. |
As I said if you re-read my 2 posts, I wouldn't go to KSA (especially if you're a woman and especially if it's your first time) UNLESS my company/uni/whatever PROVIDED ME with furnished accommodations the minute I arrived in that environment.
You are not looking for a "place" in Laussane or Valencia.....or Santiago. In Riyadh (or KSA in general) you're in totally alien and hostile territory.
I am sure you will agree that 99% of the info you've gotten so far is totally worthless for your situation.....it's all hearsay, stories, info gotten off Google, exaggerations and so forth. But go ahead....."take the plunge". |
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I-forgot
Joined: 28 Jun 2015
Posts: 153
Location: Riyadh
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| Posted: Tue Jul 26, 2016 10:16 pm Post subject: |
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| Another thing to add to Hash's post - many landlords will refuse to rent to single women. |
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hash
Joined: 17 Dec 2014
Posts: 456
Location: Wadi Jinn
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| Posted: Tue Jul 26, 2016 10:39 pm Post subject: |
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| I-forgot wrote: |
| Another thing to add to Hash's post - many landlords will refuse to rent to single women. |
Yes...that's true....but I would would say that's not because landlords necessarily have anything "against" single women......it's because the cultural norms of KSA and region mitigate against viewing single women as independent individuals in the "public" arena.
A single woman is still viewed as someone who could besmirch the honor and dignity of the family and therefore has to be protected (which means restricted) at all costs. A single Saudi woman running all over the place in Bat-Ha (Riyadh city) looking for a "place" would be considered "scandalous".
With a Western woman, landlords could also be legally liable should anything "happen " to the woman in ways that they wouldn't be liable for male tenants.
REMEMBER: (It wasn't all THAT long ago (up to about the 1960s) that a single woman in the USA looking for an apt. in a strange city would be the object of "whispers", to say the least).
Another angle on this subject important to keep in mind:
The fact Western (and other) women are indeed ALLOWED AT ALL to roam around "looking for an apt." in KSA emphasizes and confirms my comment that Westerners (particularly women) are viewed -with some exceptions- with disdain (I'm being nice) by Gulf area inhabitants. If this is how you are viewed, then "roaming around" is part and parcel of the "what do you expect?" viewpoint held by many Gulf residents. "They're American.....what can you expect....?) |
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nomad soul
Joined: 31 Jan 2010
Posts: 11454
Location: The real world
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| Posted: Wed Jul 27, 2016 3:56 am Post subject: |
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| I-forgot wrote: |
| Another thing to add to Hash's post - many landlords will refuse to rent to single women. |
That's not the case in Jeddah, which isn't as conservative as Riyadh. I went apartment hunting with a couple of female friends and it was obvious landlords in buildings near universities in Jeddah are especially used to renting to single non-Saudi women. By the way, I too had a housing allowance and would have rented an apartment near my university if I hadn't snagged a place on campus. |
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sheikh radlinrol
Joined: 30 Jan 2007
Posts: 1222
Location: Spain
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| Posted: Wed Jul 27, 2016 11:51 am Post subject: |
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| 1chunk wrote: |
Otherwise you can forget about it. Companies will put you up in serviced apartments or give you a measly allowance which will be enough to find your own furnished place.
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What exactly is a ¨serviced apartment¨? Does it mean that a stranger comes in to do your household chores? I wouldn´t like that given that some of the things we consider normal in our own homes are illegal in KSA. Certainly wouldn´t like a stranger poking his nose around my ¨place¨ |
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I-forgot
Joined: 28 Jun 2015
Posts: 153
Location: Riyadh
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| Posted: Wed Jul 27, 2016 2:41 pm Post subject: |
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[quote="sheikh radlinrol"][quote="1chunk"]
Otherwise you can forget about it. Companies will put you up in serviced apartments or give you a measly allowance which will be enough to find your own furnished place.
[/quote]
What exactly is a ¨serviced apartment¨? Does it mean that a stranger comes in to do your household chores? I wouldn´t like that given that some of the things we consider normal in our own homes are illegal in KSA. Certainly wouldn´t like a stranger poking his nose around my ¨place¨[/quote]
No. A serviced apartment is like a hotel suite. Usually, but not always, there will be a bedroom, bathroom and living/kitchen area. The kitchen is a kitchenette - little counterspace, no oven, maybe a microwave, a fridge/freezer and a sink.
You can have hotel staff come in and clean for you if you wish. They will change the bedsheets when you ask them to. Or you can do it all yourself.
There are different standards, some are infinitely better than others. |
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hash
Joined: 17 Dec 2014
Posts: 456
Location: Wadi Jinn
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| Posted: Wed Jul 27, 2016 5:56 pm Post subject: |
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| I-forgot wrote: |
| The kitchen is a kitchenette - little counterspace, no oven, maybe a microwave, a fridge/freezer and a sink.You can have hotel staff come in and clean for you if you wish. They will change the bedsheets when you ask them to. Or you can do it all yourself. |
And you'd be satisfied with this? THIS is what you're coming to KSA to live like?
You know what it reminds me of? It reminds me of growing up in Latin America. These were the kinds of "quarters" our household servants used to have way in the back of the house. I wonder if running water is included.
If Westerners are coming to KSA to live at poverty levels and they are satisfied with this standard, I really have nothing more to tell you. I really am not one of you.....never have been I see now, and never will be. |
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bigdurian
Joined: 05 Feb 2014
Posts: 401
Location: Flashing my lights right behind you!
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| Posted: Wed Jul 27, 2016 6:57 pm Post subject: |
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| hash wrote: |
| I-forgot wrote: |
| The kitchen is a kitchenette - little counterspace, no oven, maybe a microwave, a fridge/freezer and a sink.You can have hotel staff come in and clean for you if you wish. They will change the bedsheets when you ask them to. Or you can do it all yourself. |
And you'd be satisfied with this? THIS is what you're coming to KSA to live like?
You know what it reminds me of? It reminds me of growing up in Latin America. These were the kinds of "quarters" our household servants used to have way in the back of the house. I wonder if running water is included.
If Westerners are coming to KSA to live at poverty levels and they are satisfied with this standard, I really have nothing more to tell you. I really am not one of you.....never have been I see now, and never will be. |
You're Definitely not one of me either. I can still remember our coal bunker out back, outside toilets at grandparent's house, youth spent renting a sequence of grotty rooms with shared toilets, alcoholic landlords, mattresses on the floor.
Not everyone grows up with servants that's for sure. Certainly not down the OKR!
It's all relative. You accept what you're happy with.
I wouldn't want to live in a serviced apartment either, but it wouldn't be the end of the world for a few months till something better came along. |
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Raul739
Joined: 10 Feb 2016
Posts: 21
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