The General Authority for Real Estate in Saudi Arabia is responsible for regulating the real estate market, ensuring transparency, and protecting the rights of investors and consumers. With the increasing economic developments and major real estate projects, enhancing the legal and legislative aspects of the Authority becomes an urgent necessity to ensure a more regulated and sustainable real estate market. Below are some legal aspects that can be developed to achieve this goal.

First: Developing Real Estate Regulations and Legislation

Updating the Saudi Real Estate System and Issuing a “Unified Real Estate Law”

• Enacting a comprehensive law that regulates all aspects of the real estate market, including ownership, leasing, development, financing, and real estate disputes.
• Unifying existing regulations under a single legal framework to facilitate understanding and application.
• Establishing clear legal procedures for resolving real estate disputes and protecting the rights of all market participants.

Mandatory Registration of All Properties and Plans in a Unified Electronic Platform:

• Amending real estate regulations to require all property owners and developers to register their properties electronically, enhancing transparency and preventing ownership fraud.
• Imposing fines on those who fail to comply with registration requirements to ensure full adherence.
• Amending the Joint Ownership System for Towers and Residential Complexes
• Establishing a comprehensive legal framework that governs the relationship between unit owners in residential complexes and towers.
• Defining the responsibilities of property management companies and protecting owners’ rights against any violations or unfair charges.

Second: Regulating the Real Estate Brokerage Market and Setting New Standards

Issuing a New Law to Regulate Real Estate Brokerage:

• Requiring all real estate brokers to obtain a professional license from the General Authority for Real Estate after passing legal and training exams.
• Establishing a code of conduct for real estate brokers that sets ethical and professional standards and prevents illegal practices such as price manipulation or providing misleading information.
• Imposing penalties on violators, including license revocation and substantial financial fines.

Launching a National Registry of Licensed Real Estate Brokers

• This registry should be publicly accessible, allowing individuals and investors to verify the identity and reliability of brokers before engaging with them.
• Activating a broker rating system, where each broker has a documented record based on their reputation and professional performance.

Third: Enhancing Transparency and Preventing Monopoly in the Real Estate Market

Issuing Legislation to Prevent Monopoly and Unlawful Real Estate Speculation:

• Enacting laws that prevent individuals or companies from controlling land prices and real estate projects through excessive acquisitions or sales delays for speculative purposes.
• Imposing taxes or fees on undeveloped lands to discourage land hoarding without development.

Implementing a Mandatory Disclosure System for Real Estate Prices:

• Requiring all sales and rental transactions to disclose actual prices and document them electronically.
• Prohibiting brokers and developers from manipulating prices through misleading advertisements.
• Activating an electronic monitoring mechanism to track price fluctuations and ensure there are no unjustified market inflations.

Fourth: Reforming the Judiciary System and Accelerating Real Estate Dispute Resolution

Establishing Specialized Real Estate Courts

• Enacting a special law to establish independent real estate courts that handle all disputes related to ownership, leasing, real estate contracts, and disputes between investors and developers.
• Accelerating judicial procedures in real estate courts, ensuring that cases do not take more than six months to resolve.
• Activating “Real Estate Arbitration” as an Alternative Dispute Resolution Method
• Issuing a specialized law regulating real estate arbitration, allowing parties to resolve disputes outside of courts through expert arbitrators.
• Establishing an accredited Real Estate Arbitration Center under the General Authority for Real Estate, comprising legal experts and professionals in the real estate sector.

Fifth: Supporting Property Ownership and Facilitating Financing Procedures

Restructuring Real Estate Financing Laws

• Offering tax exemptions on real estate financing to ease financial burdens on citizens.
• Establishing a legal mechanism to protect borrowers from high interest rates or unfair conditions in financing contracts.
• Enacting laws that require banks to transparently and clearly disclose all details of financing contracts.

Launching a Government-Supported “Lease-to-Own” Program

Issuing new legislation allowing citizens to own properties through a lease-to-own system, where rent payments are made for a specified period before transferring full ownership of the unit.

Sixth: Improving the Legal Environment for Real Estate Investment

Amending Laws on Foreign Ownership of Real Estate in Saudi Arabia:

• Allowing non-Saudis to own properties under specific conditions and clear legal regulations, promoting foreign investment inflows.
• Setting limits on foreign ownership of residential lands to ensure that property availability for citizens is not affected.

Issuing New Laws to Encourage Sustainable Real Estate Development

• Providing legal incentives for developers who adhere to sustainable building standards and clean energy regulations.
• Establishing legal requirements that mandate developers to use environmentally friendly building materials and modern technologies in new projects.

Conclusion:

The Saudi real estate sector requires an updated legal framework to keep pace with economic developments, protect investors and consumers, and ensure market stability. By reforming real estate regulations, enhancing transparency, developing the real estate judiciary, and supporting property financing, the General Authority for Real Estate can become a more effective institution in achieving Vision 2030 goals and driving the real estate sector to new levels of growth and prosperity.