<The ministry revealed that the number of property owners in the Kingdom among citizens of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries reached 400 Gulf owners last year, where Kuwaitis recorded 316 owners, which is about 95% more than the total number of property owners in other countries, while Qataris recorded 44 owners of Saudi real estate, ranking second, Emiratis came third with 21 properties in the Kingdom, followed by Bahrain with 19 ownership of real estate in the Kingdom, while Oman did not record any ownership of its citizens of real estate in Saudi Arabia.
The Ministry of Justice explained its keenness to finalize all procedures for ownership for citizens of the Gulf Cooperation Council with accuracy and speed in accordance with the regulations followed in the Kingdom to own real estate for Gulf nationals.
She pointed out that the conditions for owning real estate in the Kingdom for Gulf nationals are to allow citizens of the GCC countries from natural or legal persons to rent and own built real estate and land for the purpose of housing and investment in a country through the legally prescribed methods of ownership or by will or inheritance, and if the property is land, its construction or exploitation must be completed within four years with the possibility of extending this period if convinced of the reasons for the owner's delay.
The owner may also dispose of the built property at any time, and if it is land, it may be disposed of from the date of completion of its construction or exploitation or the passage of four years from the date of its registration in his name, and it is also permissible to dispose of it before that, provided that permission is obtained from the competent authority.
Real estate located within Makkah and Madinah may not be owned by non-Saudi GCC nationals, and the ownership of agricultural lands by non-Saudi GCC nationals is prohibited as of 7/4/1436 AH.
It is noteworthy that allowing GCC citizens to own real estate in other member states represents one of the ten tracks of the common Gulf market defined by the 2001 economic agreement if the natural and legal citizens of the GCC countries and in any of the member states are treated the same as their own citizens without discrimination.
The Ministry of Justice explained its keenness to finalize all procedures for ownership for citizens of the Gulf Cooperation Council with accuracy and speed in accordance with the regulations followed in the Kingdom to own real estate for Gulf nationals.
She pointed out that the conditions for owning real estate in the Kingdom for Gulf nationals are to allow citizens of the GCC countries from natural or legal persons to rent and own built real estate and land for the purpose of housing and investment in a country through the legally prescribed methods of ownership or by will or inheritance, and if the property is land, its construction or exploitation must be completed within four years with the possibility of extending this period if convinced of the reasons for the owner's delay.
The owner may also dispose of the built property at any time, and if it is land, it may be disposed of from the date of completion of its construction or exploitation or the passage of four years from the date of its registration in his name, and it is also permissible to dispose of it before that, provided that permission is obtained from the competent authority.
Real estate located within Makkah and Madinah may not be owned by non-Saudi GCC nationals, and the ownership of agricultural lands by non-Saudi GCC nationals is prohibited as of 7/4/1436 AH.
It is noteworthy that allowing GCC citizens to own real estate in other member states represents one of the ten tracks of the common Gulf market defined by the 2001 economic agreement if the natural and legal citizens of the GCC countries and in any of the member states are treated the same as their own citizens without discrimination.
