KSA issues law on non-Saudis property ownership

Saudi Arabia issued today, July 25, the law on non-Saudis property ownership, which has been recently approved by the Cabinet.

The 15-Article law will come into effect 180 days after publication in the Official Gazette.

Based on Article 2 of the law, non-Saudis may own real estate or acquire other in-kind rights over property within the Kingdom, in the geographic scope determined by the Cabinet.

The Cabinet shall determine the geographic scope where non-Saudis may own real estate or acquire other rights in kind over property, the type of these rights, the maximum ownership percentages for non-Saudis within the defined geographic scope, the maximum period permitted duration for non-Saudis to acquire usufruct rights over property, along with any regulations related to non-Saudis owning property or acquiring in-kind rights. 

A non-Saudi natural person who is legally residing in the Kingdom may own one property designated for personal residence outside the geographic scope referred to above—excluding the cities of Makkah and Madinah.

The right of non-Saudis to own property or acquire other in kind rights—mentioned in the above section—within the cities of Makkah and Madinah shall be limited to Muslim natural persons only.

Moreover, the law stipulates that without prejudice to any fees or taxes prescribed by law, a fee shall be imposed and collected by the Authority on the value of a non-Saudi’s disposal of in-kind rights over property in the Kingdom, not exceeding 5% of that value.
 

Without prejudice to any fees or taxes prescribed by law, the authority shall impose a fee of no more than 5% of the value of the non-Saudi's disposal of real estate rights in the Kingdom.

In the event of a violation of this law—and without prejudice to any harsher penalty stipulated in another law—any person who violates this law shall be penalized.

Penalties include a warning or a fine not exceeding SAR 10 million.