The real estate sector is awaiting the issuance of bills for vacant land fees over the next month for Riyadh, Jeddah, and Dammam, and the collection of these fees from property owners via electronic services through the SADAD platform or through online banking services. The Ministry also denied rumors regarding the postponement of the implementation of white land fees, urging everyone to obtain information on the fees from the Ministry of Housing’s official channels.
Fee collection impacts development speed
Some online media outlets had published news about the postponement of the implementation of white land fees, while official sources at the Ministry confirmed that it would proceed with implementing the system according to the established programs and plans, On the same topic, economic analyst Fadl Al-Buainbin confirmed that the start of implementing the decision and collecting fees will affect the pace of development, helping those capable of developing their land to avoid paying these fees annually, in addition to putting them on the market or building on them, which will help increase the supply of land for sale or residential units. This will help address the housing crisis, which is more closely linked to price inflation than to the availability of land. Al-Buainbin emphasized that continuing to implement the decision will have implications for several different aspects, the most important of which is the impact on real estate prices in the main areas where the fees will be applied, leading to a decrease in prices and an increase in the supply of residential units.
A wake-up call for other regions
Al-Buainbin predicted that the impact of implementing the fees in the three major cities (Riyadh, Jeddah, and Dammam) will extend to other cities and provinces, as the implementation of the fees is considered the first phase, and is expected to be followed by another phase that will be more widespread and comprehensive across the remaining provinces. Additionally, real estate agents in other regions will base their calculations on the assumption that the fees will apply to undeveloped land in their cities, and they will work to address their situations through sales or development.
The fees will have a decisive impact on market trends
For his part, economist Essam Al-Zamil emphasized that the decision is one of the most important and influential decisions in the real estate market, particularly regarding land; much debate has surrounded the land valuation mechanism and the expected size of the bills, so I believe the bills will have a decisive impact on market trends, and it will be positive for consumers, manifested in a decline in land prices, because the bills will be much higher than what is being published and circulated among real estate professionals.
It is worth noting that the fee decision aims to encourage real estate developers to build more housing on undeveloped land, and to raise the vacant land utilization rate, which exceeds 50% in many of the Kingdom’s cities, thereby increasing the supply of residential units and achieving balance in the housing market.
