New Regulations Announced for Building on Agricultural Land in Kuwait

Arab Times

03-07-2025

KUWAIT CITY, July 3: Minister of State for Municipal and Housing Affairs Abdullatif Al-Mishari on Wednesday issued a ministerial decision on regulating construction work and the attached schedules related to Table No. 13, stating the requirements and specifications for buildings in agricultural and livestock development areas. The newspaper obtained a copy of the decision, which sets the permitted building percentages in the agricultural areas (Wafra, Abdali, and Sulaibiya) at 10 percent of the size of the plot, with a maximum of 10,000 square meters. This includes residential buildings and family rest houses for the plot owner, with a total building area not exceeding 1,000 square meters, as well as workers' housing and guard rooms with an area not exceeding 2,000 square meters.
Furthermore, all buildings must be one-storey and made of lightweight materials or reinforced concrete. Residential and family rest houses may only be built on two floors (ground and first), with a maximum height of nine meters. The resolution stipulates that the setback for buildings must not be less than five meters on all sides of the boundaries of the plot, except for the designated area for garbage containers and the guard room and its facilities, which may be attached to one of the facades.
Regarding the building percentages for dairy farms, the decision stipulates that varying building percentages of the plot area are permitted. Five percent of the plot area is allocated for concentrated and bulk feed stores and a feed grinding unit, one percent for a repair shop and spare parts warehouse, three percent for a building for automated milking machines and their accessories, and 10 percent for workers' housing and administrative buildings.
A veterinary clinic and family housing for the plot owner may be built within the plot, provided that the total family housing area does not exceed 1,000 square meters. Buildings must be one-storey, with a maximum building height not exceeding five meters; while the maximum height for barns and related buildings, such as workshops and warehouses, is 10 meters. The decision sets the permissible building percentage for purebred Arabian horse breeding plots at 15 percent, distributed among administrative buildings, workers' housing, an electrical room, a security room, a rest area not exceeding 200 square meters, and a horse showroom with an area not exceeding 500 square meters, which is included in the total building percentage. All buildings shall be one-storey, with the height not exceeding five meters for the administrative buildings, workers' housing, security rooms, and rest areas; not exceeding seven meters for the horse showroom, stables, and feed store; and not exceeding four meters for the circular horse trough.
Regarding the plots for livestock production projects in Kabad, Jahra and Wafra allocated by the Public Authority for Agriculture Affairs and Fish Resources (PAAAFR) for raising cows, livestock and camels; the decision specified the permissible building percentages for residential buildings, warehouses, the veterinary room, the guard room, and their services, at a total of 16 percent of the plot area, with a maximum of 300 square meters. The remaining vacant area of the plot is to be used for the purpose for which the plot is designated. Construction is prohibited. Only shelters for animals are permitted, provided that the shaded area does not exceed 40 percent, while the remaining open areas are permitted for cultivation. The decision states that the building percentages for broiler and layer chicken breeding plots throughout the country are as follows: five percent for workers' housing and services, an egg hatchery building, and five percent of the total area for a warehouse for feed, machinery, and tools.
All buildings shall be one-storey. The maximum height for workers' housing and service buildings shall be five meters, eight meters for feed and equipment warehouses, and not less than 3.5 meters and not more than five meters for production and breeding plots Regarding service plots located in Plot No. 10 in Wafra Agricultural Area -- which range in size from 500 square meters to a maximum of 5,000 square meters; the decision states a building ratio of a maximum of 60 percent of the plot area; out of which an area not exceeding 100 square meters must be used as administrative offices to service the plot. The building should be one-storey and should not exceed 10 meters in height.