Foreign investors free to own real estate outside Makkah, Madinah
Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Investment has announced that foreign investors will be permitted to own and sell real estate outside Makkah and Madinah for the purpose of carrying out their investment activities, reported the Saudi Gazette.
For this, the ministry has cited some conditions for foreign investors to obtain permission to engage in such business.
Most notable among these conditions is that the property is located outside the boundaries of these holy cities and that the purpose of selling the real estate is not for commercial speculation, which refers to buying and selling assets such as stocks, commodities, or real estate with the expectation of profiting from price fluctuations, stated the report citing the ministry.
As per a recent report, foreign investor firms are required to obtain the ministry's approval to own real estate in terms of personal residences, industrial facility headquarters, company administrative headquarters, residential facilities for employees, and warehouses.
The ministry pointed out that there will be no financial fee for this service, and that the service is provided by the ministry to beneficiaries through the ministry's e-services portal within five business days.
The only documents required will be the municipality's building permit or a letter of approval from the municipality, or a statement indicating the type of use of the land to be acquired issued by an official authority, and a copy of the deed to be acquired.
Real estate development establishments seeking to implement a real estate project or sell it are required to submit a report from an engineering office accredited by the Saudi Council of Engineers detailing the total cost of the project, as well as a copy of the deed to be acquired or sold, said the Saudi Gazette report.
The project cost must be no less than SR30 million for land and construction, and must be located outside the boundaries of Makkah and Madinah stated the report.
The establishment must also commit to utilise the land to be acquired within five years, it added.
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