The following words and phrases are defined as follows:

• Minister: Minister of Housing.

• Ministry: Ministry of Housing.

• Committee: Committee for the Sale or Lease of Real Estate Units on the Map.

• Regulations: Regulations related to the Sale or Lease of Real Estate Units on the Map, issued by Council of Ministers Resolution No. (536) dated 4-12-1437.

• Rules: Rules issued by the Committee to organize the work of selling or leasing Real Estate Units on the Map.

• Activity: Selling or leasing any Real Estate Units on the Map, regardless of their purpose, whether residential, commercial, investment, office, service, industrial, tourism, or others, and regardless of the method of their development or construction, in which the developer receives amounts from beneficiaries or project financiers.

• Project: Construction works or land development aimed at selling or leasing Real Estate Units on the Map.

• Real Estate Unit: The portion segregated from the project, including portions of undeveloped land if the project is for establishing infrastructure.

• Developer: The person licensed to sell, lease, purchase, and develop real estate, as the developer and head of the project.

• Sub-developer: The person licensed to sell, lease, purchase, and develop real estate, under an agreement with the developer.

• Beneficiary: Buyer or tenant of the Real Estate Unit.

• Map: A detailed engineering plan for the Real Estate Units subject to sale or lease, approved by the competent authority.

• Financial Consideration: What the Committee charges for the licenses it issues or the services, works, or consultations it provides, which is determined by a decision from the Minister.

• Project Register: The register maintained by the Committee to organize and document contracts for the sale or lease of Real Estate Units on the Map in licensed projects, and the actions related to them.

• Certified Accountant: The person licensed to perform accounting and legal auditing services.

• Consulting Office: The licensed engineering supervision office authorized to provide engineering consultations.

• Guarantee Account: The bank account specific to the project where amounts paid by beneficiaries or project financiers are deposited.

• Account Custodian: The banking institution licensed by the competent authority.

• Disbursement Document: A document designed by the developer in coordination with the Account Custodian, under which disbursement from the Guarantee Account for the project’s construction is made.

1- The purpose of these rules is to regulate the licensing activities in projects for the sale or lease of real estate units off-plan.

2- These rules do not violate the regulations related to the sale or lease of real estate units off-plan.

The Committee reviews the claims submitted by qualified developers registered in the Ministry's real estate developers registry to obtain the necessary license within ten working days from the date the claim is complete. In the event of a license denial, its decision shall be reasoned.

The developer submits a License application for each Project, after paying the financial fee, according to the form prepared for this purpose to the Committee either in paper or electronically, attached with the following:

• 1- A copy of the Commercial Register for individual institutions or companies.

• 2. A copy of the Membership Certificate of participation in the Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

• 3- A certificate indicating the soundness of the developer's credit record from a licensed credit services company, provided that the date of issuance of the certificate does not exceed three months from the date of submitting the application.

• 4- A copy of the electronic deed of ownership of the Project's Real Estate.

• 5- The legal licenses from the relevant authorities approving the establishment of the Project.

• 6- The architectural designs and engineering plans approved by the competent authority.

• 7- A statement of the number of units in the Project, specifying a fixed code for each unit based on the sorting process from the competent authority, which must be consistent in all Contracts and commitments and official documents with the relevant authorities.

• 8- An economic feasibility study for the Project in Arabic, approved by a licensed office for providing economic feasibility studies, including the estimated financial, construction, and marketing data for the Project; including the cost amount, the contracting price per unit, the expected financial and administrative expenses, the time frame for the Project, the duration for delivering the units, the technical implementation stages of the Project, and the expected funding sources for the Project.

• 9- A draft Contract with the beneficiary, attached with a draft system for the Owners' Association according to the Real Estate Unit Ownership and Sorting System.

• 10- A copy of the agreement with the account holder to open an account in the name of the Project.

• 11- A copy of the sub-developer's Contract, if available.

• 12- A copy of the intermediary or intermediaries' Contract - if available - including the following provisions:

  • A. The marketer shall not receive cash payments, checks, or transfers in their name.

  • B. The marketer shall not conclude sale Contracts in their name.

  • C. Depositing amounts or checks or transfers from buyers into the Project's escrow account.

  • D. That the sale Contracts for the units be signed on the sale Contract approved by the Committee for the Project.

• 13- A copy of the consulting office's Contract, including the tasks specified in Article (10) of these regulations.

• 14- A copy of the legal accountant's Contract, including the tasks specified in Article (10) of the Escrow Account Organization Regulations.

• 15- A letter specifying the authorized signatories on the disbursement document, certified by the Chamber of Commerce.
  16- A letter of approval for the annotation on the Project's land deed, certified by the Chamber of Commerce.

• 17- A certificate of passing the Real Estate Developers Qualification Program.

If the developer does not own the land of the project, it is required to provide the committee with the agreement concluded between the developer and the landowner or the owner of its usufruct, provided that the agreement includes the following:

• 1- The owner's approval to marginalize the title deed of the project land in favor of the committee.

• 2- A statement of the responsibilities of the developer and the owner and their commitment - jointly - to the beneficiaries.

• 3- Enabling the developer to establish the real estate units.

• 4- The owner's commitment to sign contracts with the beneficiaries and transfer the title deeds in their names, or to authorize the developer to do so.

• 5- The owner's commitment not to create any actions that may harm the rights of the beneficiaries, including terminating the agreement with the developer, except with the committee's approval.

• 6- The owner's commitment to the provisions of the regulations and rules.

The committee shall issue a decision to determine the bank deposits or financial or in-kind guarantees provided by the developer when applying for the License and to estimate them at a rate of up to 20% of the estimated value of the project, taking into account that their estimation contributes to preserving the rights of the parties involved, enhancing the efficiency of the real estate market, and ensuring its stability.

1- After completing the requirements of the claim submitted by the developer and the issuance of the preliminary approval by the Committee, the Ministry requests the Ministry of Justice to annotate the land title deed of the project with a restriction on any action regarding it except with the permission of the Ministry, and the Committee issues the project license after the annotation.

2- The Committee - based on a reasoned decision approved by the Minister - may issue its license without annotating the land title deed of the project, after ensuring the financial capabilities of the developer, and the provision of alternative guarantees, which are documented in the project register. The alternative guarantees include, but are not limited to: providing in-kind guarantees annotated in favor of the Committee equivalent to the value of the land of the project, or an irrevocable bank guarantee equivalent to the value of the project.
3- The Ministry requests the Ministry of Justice to lift the annotation after the completion of the project and the commencement of the division of the real estate units.

1- The Committee issues a certificate to the developer after the Project License, which includes: the license number, the name of the developer, the name of the project, the duration of the license, the registration number in the project registry, and detailed information about the project.

2- The Project License does not constitute an acknowledgment by the Committee of the content of any contract between the developer and the relevant parties, nor does it confirm the developer's compliance with the provisions of the regulations or rules.

3- The Committee provides a database of the licenses issued by it on its website.