The Ministry of Housing has won 200 lawsuits filed against the “white land” fee program by landowners who objected to the ministry’s procedures, while 573 landowners in Dammam are expected to pay fees for the 112.9 million square meters of undeveloped land they own, as they are required to develop it and have been given until the 20th of Sha’ban to do so.
The Ministry noted that there is a dedicated review committee for violations of the White Land Fees Regulation that examines all objections, and for the convenience of the taxpayers, all procedures related to white land fees—from submission through objection to the relevant committee’s electronic response—are being handled electronically. The Ministry is working to ensure there are no undeveloped raw white land plots, and the committee will establish specific timelines.
It should be noted that the vacant land fee system came into effect on the 3rd of Ramadan 1437 AH, corresponding to June 8, 2016, and was implemented in the cities of Riyadh, Jeddah, Dammam, and Makkah.
The total area for which fees were billed under the vacant land fee program in the four cities amounted to approximately 411.5 million square meters.
