Glossary

The Ministry of Interior’s online services platform for citizens and residents, used for identity documents, visas, vehicles and similar business. Residents often start property services here or in Nafath, while a buyer living abroad seldom needs to use it at all.

Also Capital Market Authority

The Capital Market Authority, Saudi Arabia’s securities regulator. It licenses investment funds, REITs and special-purpose vehicles, and its rules set the terms on which listed companies and funds may hold real estate, including in Makkah and Madinah. You meet it when you look at a REIT or a fund as an indirect route.

An identity number issued to someone without a Saudi ID or iqama, so that they can deal with government systems. A buyer from abroad needs one to apply to own, and for property it must be issued for that purpose through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, usually at a Saudi embassy or consulate.

See Eligibility checker

REGA’s national platform for rental contracts. Every lease in Saudi Arabia must be registered on Ejar or it cannot be enforced, so you meet it if you plan to let your unit between visits, and when you check a property’s rental history.

The licence REGA issues for real-estate work, from brokerage and marketing to property management. Anyone brokering a sale in Saudi Arabia must hold one, so you meet it as soon as an agent offers you a unit. Check it on REGA’s public enquiry with the holder’s ID number or establishment number, and walk away from anyone who will not give you either.

Freehold means your name is on the title deed in the Real Estate Registry with no time limit, while usufruct is a right of use for a fixed term, registered against someone else’s title. The zone cards on the Saudi Properties portal show which of the two each zone offers. Both can be bought, sold and inherited, but a usufruct loses value as its term runs down, and lenders treat the two differently.

Also the Grand Mosque

The Grand Mosque (Al-Masjid al-Haram), which surrounds the Kaaba in Makkah. The walk to it drives prices in the city more than anything else, and several designated zones sit right around it. The same word also names the sacred precinct around the city, whose edge is the Haram boundary. Keep the two apart when you read a listing, because a home can be inside the precinct and still an hour’s walk from the mosque.

See Makkah and Haram boundary

Also the sacred precinct, Haram limits

The edge of the sacred precinct around Makkah, marked on the ground by boundary markers, which the ihram rules and the restriction of entry to Muslims both follow. Madinah has its own Haram with its own boundary. The line is religious and geographic and says nothing about who may own property, because the ownership zones are drawn separately by Cabinet decision. Several projects on this site are inside the precinct and outside every zone.

See Zone (geographic scope) and Every project, in and out of the zones

Also residence permit

The residence permit held by foreign nationals who live and work in Saudi Arabia. Holders count as residents under the ownership law, which gives them some rights elsewhere in the Kingdom that non-residents lack, such as one home outside the zones. Inside Makkah and Madinah the same zone rules apply to everyone.

Also public consultation platform

The government platform where draft laws and regulations are published for public comment before they are finalised. A draft seen there can still change or be dropped, so treat it as a proposal until the final text appears in the Umm Al-Qura gazette.

Also the Prophet’s Mosque, Masjid al-Nabawi

The Prophet’s Mosque in Madinah, built by the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). The central district around it is Madinah’s equivalent of “near the Haram”, and the walk to its gates is the distance to ask for with any Madinah listing.

See Madinah

Also Ministry of Investment

The Ministry of Investment, which licenses foreign investors and foreign-owned companies in Saudi Arabia. A company set up through MISA is incorporated in Saudi Arabia, and that is what opens the company route to owning inside the zones, which foreign-incorporated companies cannot use in Makkah and Madinah.

Also National Single Sign-On

The Saudi government’s single sign-on service. Citizens and residents use it to reach government portals and to prove who they are on licensed property platforms, which must also verify every advertiser through it. Buyers living abroad use the digital ID issued through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs instead.

Also foreign ownership fee

A fee charged when a non-Saudi acquires real estate or a real right in one of the designated cities, introduced by the Law of Real Estate Ownership by Non-Saudis. The Executive Regulations set the rate within a ceiling fixed in the law, and some transfers are zero-rated. The published rules do not say whether the buyer or the seller bears it, so write that into the contract.

Buying a unit before it is built and paying in instalments as construction reaches agreed stages. Off-plan sales in Saudi Arabia must be licensed under the Wafi programme, and your payments should go only into the project’s escrow account. Ask for the Wafi licence number before the first payment.

See Wafi

Also Saudi green card

A long-term Saudi residency for foreigners, with several tracks, one of them for owners of residential property. Under the 2026 ownership law a holder who is a Muslim individual may own inside the designated zones of Makkah and Madinah, because that law keeps Premium Residency rights intact. The older wording, ownership only outside the two cities and usufruct inside them, no longer states the rule for such a buyer.

See Premium Residency and property

Also rer.sa

The national register of property titles, at rer.sa. Registration is what makes a title definitive, and the property you buy must be registered there. A deed that is not yet in the registry is looked up through the Ministry of Justice.

Also Real Estate General Authority

The Real Estate General Authority, Saudi Arabia’s regulator for the property sector. It licenses brokers, developers’ marketing and property platforms, and a buyer from abroad deals with it through the Saudi Properties portal, which takes non-Saudi ownership applications and publishes the zone maps.

See Law tracker

Also real estate investment trust

A listed fund that owns income-producing property and pays most of its rental income out to unitholders. Buying units in a REIT with hotels or other assets in Makkah or Madinah gives you a stake in holy-city property without buying a home there, and you can sell the units on the exchange.

See Indirect routes

Also Real Estate Transaction Tax

RETT is the Real Estate Transaction Tax, which ZATCA collects on a transfer of real estate or of a right in it, calculated on the transaction value. It is paid before the deed is transferred, so it is one of the costs to settle before you complete. It replaced VAT on property sales, and the RETT Law and its regulations set the rate and the exemptions.

See Cost calculator

Transactions the RETT Law leaves out of the tax, such as certain transfers between close relatives, to a waqf, or as part of an inheritance. Whether a given purchase is exempt depends on the parties and the purpose, and ZATCA decides. If you are buying from abroad, get written confirmation before you count on an exemption.

Also Saudi Central Bank

The Saudi Central Bank. Every payment through the Saudi Properties portal runs over SAMA’s systems, which is why applicants need a Saudi bank account, and its rules now let Saudi banks open a restricted account for a buyer who lives abroad.

Also saudiproperties.rega.gov.sa

REGA’s online service for non-Saudi ownership, covering the eligibility enquiry, the zone check, the application, fee payment and the progress of a request. It is where a buyer from abroad applies to own, signing in with the digital ID issued for real-estate ownership.

Also special purpose vehicle

A company created for one defined purpose, such as holding a single asset. Under CMA rules a licensed SPV can hold real estate, including in Makkah and Madinah. Funds and institutions use SPVs, and a family buying a home will not normally meet one.

Also Saudi Exchange

The Saudi stock exchange, also called the Saudi Exchange. Several of the master developers in Makkah and Madinah are listed on it, and listed companies and funds have their own route to owning property in the two cities under CMA rules. Buying their shares or units is one way to hold a stake in holy-city property without buying a home.

Also Saudi Authority for Accredited Valuers

The Saudi Authority for Accredited Valuers, which accredits the professionals who value property in Saudi Arabia. Some government processes need a valuation by one of its accredited valuers, including the Premium Residency track for property owners. Ask the valuer for the fee before you commission a report.

The document that proves ownership of a property or of a registered right in it. Electronic deeds are issued by the Ministry of Justice and mirrored in the Real Estate Registry. When a seller shows you a deed, check its number with the registry instead of relying on a photocopy.

Also official gazette

The official gazette of Saudi Arabia, where laws and regulations are published. They take legal effect on publication there, so when a new rule is announced, the date it appears in Umm Al-Qura is the one that counts for your purchase.

See Law tracker

Also Haq al-intifa, right of use

A right to use a property for a fixed term (to live in it, let it or sell the right on) while the title stays with its owner. In Makkah and Madinah you meet it on the zone cards of the Saudi Properties portal, which show the longest usufruct term each zone allows, separately from its ownership terms. When the term ends, the right returns to the owner.

See Freehold vs usufruct

An annual charge on buildings left unused for a sustained period, meant to bring empty units onto the market. It applies only in areas still to be announced, so if your unit will stand empty between visits, ask whether its area has been named.

Also off-plan sales licence

The programme that licenses off-plan sales in Saudi Arabia. A developer needs a Wafi licence for the specific project before marketing or selling units that are not yet built, and buyers’ payments go into the project’s escrow account at a licensed bank. You meet it when a developer asks for a deposit, which is the moment to ask for the licence number and check it.

See Verify before you pay

Also endowment

An Islamic charitable endowment, in which an asset is held permanently for a stated purpose. Much of the land near the two mosques is waqf and cannot be sold, which is why some towers there offer a right of use for a term instead of ownership. Transfers to the state or to a waqf are zero-rated for the non-Saudi fee.

Also designated area, ownership zone

A mapped area inside which non-Saudis may buy real estate or real rights, and in Makkah and Madinah the only places they can. The Cabinet approves the list and REGA publishes the boundaries on the Saudi Properties portal, where each zone has a card giving eligible buyers, tenure and term. Zones govern ownership and are drawn separately from the Haram boundary, so a building inside the sacred precinct can be outside every zone.

See Makkah zones, Madinah zones and Haram boundary