The Ministry of Housing announced details regarding the registration period for the White Land Fees Program, which has been in effect for six months since its implementing regulations were approved by the Council of Ministers. The ministry stated that the online portal dedicated to land registration has received 1,792 registrations, while the number of registration applications reached 2,278, of which 1,326 were completed, representing 58 percent of the total, with a total area of 635 million square meters.
Housing Minister Majed Al-Hogail noted that the White Land Fees Program plays an active role in supporting supply and enabling demand, thereby achieving the Ministry of Housing’s strategic objectives, which align with Saudi Vision 2030 and the National Transformation Program 2020, including stimulating real estate supply and increasing productivity to provide housing products at appropriate prices and quality, as well as improving the performance of the real estate sector and increasing its contribution to GDP, He noted that over the past six months, during which lands subject to the system were registered in its first phase—covering undeveloped vacant lands within the predefined urban boundaries in Riyadh, Jeddah, and Dammam— during which the Ministry received many land registrants, in accordance with the provisions of the system and its regulations.
This came during a press conference held the Ministry of Housing today. In turn, the General Supervisor of the Vacant Land Fees Program, Engineer Muhammad bin Ahmad Al-Madiheim, explained during a press conference held at the Ministry of Housing headquarters today in the presence of His Excellency Minister of Housing Majid bin Abdullah Al-Hogail, to discuss the conclusion of the registration period for white land subject to the system in its first phase, covering areas of 10,000 square meters and above in Riyadh, Jeddah, and Dammam, that the White Land Fee System aims to increase the supply of developed land to achieve a balance between supply and demand, provide residential land at affordable prices, protect fair competition, and combat monopolistic practices, noting that an annual fee will be imposed on white land owned by one or more natural persons or non-governmental legal entities, at a rate of 2.5 percent of the land’s value.
He said: " The number of registrants on the online portal over the past six months reached 1,792, who submitted a total of 2,278 applications, of which 1,326 were complete and included all required documents and information. Meanwhile, the portal and the program’s email received 1,320 inquiries from citizens, all of which were addressed and responded to within a reasonable timeframe. The number of plots registered through the Real Estate Developers Services Center (Etmam) 169 plots, following the Ministry’s call for landowners who may face difficulties using the online portal to visit Etmam branches to register their lands through its staff, in order to facilitate the process and expedite their procedures."
Al-Madiheim reported that the total area of land registered on the portal across various cities in the Kingdom reached 635 million square meters, comprising 2,278 plots, adding: " The number of plots registered in the city of Riyadh reached 648, with a total area of 283 million square meters. The area of plots registered at 10,000 square meters and above reached 270 million square meters, and 53,000 square meters for those under 10,000 square meters. In the province of Jeddah, the number of plots reached 597, with an area of 173 million square meters. The area of plots fully registered at 10,000 square meters and above reached 167 million square meters, and 177,000 square meters were under 10,000 square meters. while the number of registered plots in Dammam was 607, with a total area of 134 million square meters, and the area of plots registered at 10,000 square meters and above reached 130 million square meters, and 118,000 square meters under 10,000 square meters. The portal also received a number of plots in other cities not covered by the system in its first phase, totaling 418 plots with a total area of 43 million square meters, The area of land registered at 10,000 square meters or more reached 5 million square meters, and 26,000 square meters were under 10,000 square meters."
He noted that the Ministry will work during the current period to sort through the plots registered on the electronic portal to identify developed plots not subject to the system in its first phase, as well as reviewing exemption requests and verifying their compliance with the conditions specified in the executive regulations. Following this, the evaluation process will begin in preparation for the collection of fees, through a committee "Land Valuation Committee" appointed by a decision of His Excellency the Minister of Housing. This will be followed by the phase of sending decisions to landowners, who will be given a one-year grace period to pay the applicable fee. After the year ends, the fees remain at the same stage—the first stage—while the Ministry studies the economic impact of implementing the program and assesses the extent to which its objectives have been achieved in each city individually. This assessment may take up to 24 months, The findings will then be submitted to the body designated by the Council of Ministers to review the program’s results, as stipulated in Article 14 of the regulation. Subsequently, the necessary measures will be taken for each city, whether to maintain the current phase, transition to another phase, or suspend the regulation partially or entirely.
During the conference, Al-Madiheim highlighted the role of the partners who contributed to the preparation of the regulations, namely the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs, the Ministry of Economy and Planning, and the Ministry of Commerce and Investment. He also commended the participation of the entities that assisted in preparing the geographic information system (GIS) maps, namely the Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture; King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology; the Riyadh Municipality; the Riyadh Development Authority; the Holy Capital Municipality, the Medina Municipality, the Jeddah Municipality, the Eastern Province Municipality, the Communications and Information Technology Commission, the National Water Company, and the Saudi Electricity Company. Meanwhile, the National Information Center, in cooperation with the e-Government Program (Yesser) and the Ministries of Justice and Commerce and Investment, in setting up the technical link on the land registration website.
