“Municipalities”: Expected annual fees on vacant properties to break the monopoly
The Ministry of Municipalities and Housing presented a draft Executive regulations for vacant real estate fees via the “Estilaa” platform, calling on the public, those interested, and relevant parties to review the draft and express their views and comments regarding it before it is approved in its final form, as an extension of the directives of His Highness the Crown Prince – may God protect him – aimed at organizing The real estate market and achieving a balance between supply and demand.
Efforts to stabilize the real estate market
This step comes within the framework of the Ministry’s keenness to enhance transparency and the participation of stakeholders in developing systems and legislation, which contributes to raising the quality of regulatory outputs and achieving balance in the real estate market.
The regulation aims to raise the efficiency of the use of real estate assets within Urban zones, by motivating real estate owners to operate or benefit from them, in a way that supports an increase in real estate supply and contributes to market stability.
The draft included organizing mechanisms for applying annual fees to vacant properties within specific cities and geographical zones that will be announced later, according to technical standards that take into account market indicators, levels of supply and demand, and vacancy rates. The most prominent of which is that the building remains unoccupied for a specific period of time during the reference year, with the requirement that it be usable or eligible for occupancy.
The draft indicated that in the event of multiple owners of the property subject to the fee, each owner is obligated to pay a portion of the fee in proportion to his share of ownership of the property.
