White land fees Saudi Arabia draft ties sale to unpaid dues.

The Ministry of Municipalities and Housing opened consultation until 6 November 2026 on a white land fees Saudi Arabia executive-regulation change that would force payment before any ownership transfer on undeveloped plots.

ByOmnia DeskThe Omnia Markets news desk2 min read1 source

المشرقية 2, المملكة العربية السعودية. From the Omnia catalogue

Argaam reported in Arabic on 30 October 2026 that the Ministry of Municipalities and Housing had put a draft change to the white land fees executive regulation on the Istitalaa platform for public comment until 6 November 2026. The ministry said the text is meant to align the regulation with Cabinet Decision 263 dated 12/3/1448H, which restricts real-estate dealings on land subject to the fee until amounts due are paid.

According to the same report, the draft rewrites the fifth paragraph of Article 13. Under the proposed wording, an owner who wants to document a transfer of title on white land still subject to the fee, and before development or building is finished, must pay the fee first. Cases that may be exempted would be issued only after the ministerial committee agrees. Argaam said the ministry framed the change as a way to lift the supply of developed land and homes, curb monopolistic holding and push owners toward building, while trying to avoid harm to the wider property market. Final wording after consultation was not yet known.

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Our take

Omnia Desk

Vacant-plot holders face a harder exit gate; finished homes do not.

This draft is about white land still under the fee, not about who may buy a finished residence or an off-plan unit. If the text sticks, a sale of undeveloped land subject to the charge cannot complete until the fee is cleared, unless a later exemption list from the ministerial committee says otherwise. That raises the cash and timing cost of flipping vacant plots; it does not rewrite foreign ownership rules or the price bands on built stock.

For anyone weighing a home rather than bare land, the check is simple: confirm the plot is developed or already under a Wafi escrow path, then budget the usual transfer stack in what it costs to buy property in Saudi Arabia. Our listed off-plan schemes such as Al Mashriqya 2 and completed stock such as Jazeel sit outside this fee gate. Owners of vacant land should model fee settlement before any transfer date and watch the 6 November close of consultation for the final exemption list.