Saudi: Real Estate Brokerage Law Comes into Force

The new brokerage law enables the current practitioners who are rendering brokerage and real estate services to organize and correct their situation within 6 months

A new real estate brokerage law, which the Cabinet approved recently, came into force along with its executive regulations on Wednesday. With this, the regulation for organizing real estate offices issued in 1398AH has been nullified.

The CEO of the Real Estate General Authority, Abdullah Al-Hammad, said the real estate brokerage law enables the current practitioners who are rendering brokerage and real estate services to organize and correct their situation within 6 months (180 days), which will end on the 30th of Dhul Al-Hijjah 1444AH.

Al-Hammad said the services related to the issuance of mandatory licenses to practice the activities of brokerage and real estate marketing are available without any fees throughout the correction period. This came within the authority's role in stimulating the real estate brokerage activity and enabling the real estate practitioners to continue providing their services in accordance with the new law.

The law will contribute to achieving the reliability of real estate transactions, raise the level of services, and preserve the rights of dealers in the real estate sector in accordance with specified specifications, procedures, and licenses to practice the activity, Al-Hammad pointed out.

He stated that the law covers all real estate activities and services, including the brokerage work for completing the real estate deals as well as e-brokerage services through modern technological means such as websites and social media platforms.

The authority has prepared several programs and mechanisms to stimulate real estate brokerage services. These include mandating contract forms, specifying conditions and specifications for real estate marketing, preparing mandatory standards and controls to practice real estate brokerage, preparing the procedures of arresting real estate violators and receiving reports and complaints.

The law aims to organize real estate brokerage activity by providing innovative real estate services, raising the quality of transactions, in addition to contributing to the sustainability of real estate assets, reducing disputes and raising the transparency of real estate deals.

Among the most prominent features of the law include limiting the practice of real estate brokerage activity to the licensee from the authority, determining a real estate deal's deposit percentage, setting controls for practicing the activity, and placing compliance legislation in the real estate market.