Well-informed sources have clarified that banks and financial institutions will be charged fees for mortgaged vacant land, regardless of the original owners.

The sources noted that any delay in paying the fees or evasion of fines will subject violators to statutory penalties, which may include referral to the enforcement court, as the fees are subject to the state revenue system.

Engineer Muhammad Al-Madiheim, General Supervisor of the Unregistered Land Fees Program at the Ministry of Housing, said that the ministry will only recognize the title deed for mortgaged land registered in the bank’s name, noting that owners of land mortgaged to banks are entitled to submit a letter of authorization to register the land’s details.

He noted that the total area of vacant land currently registered in Riyadh amounts to approximately 9.8 million square meters across three plots, one of which covers 7 million square meters, and the other two each exceeding 1 million square meters, while the largest plot in Jeddah was registered at 6 million square meters and in the Eastern Province at 3.5 million square meters.

It should be noted that the Ministry of Housing announced last June the targeted geographic scope for implementing the first phase of the vacant land fee system in Riyadh, Jeddah, and Dammam, with the registration period set to end on December 12.