britexpat,,,you are true that the government can't afford to take strong action against them because they are fed by government itself...do you remember who reduced the house rents and property value ??? it was government and they asked locals to do it... its a kingdom not a democratic country...so things can be forced...now this issue has been raised of vacant villas in government and thats why the government is planning to take action....the loans to build high rise towers was given by banks and supported by governemnt..now the return is not coming as expected...so its the government who fails to implement something,,the locals who take things in their hand and government supports then in what ever they do,,,expats always find a solution to the problem created by government and locals, ....so its a non-stop cycle :D