Usufruct
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.
Also called Haq al-intifa and right of use · Updated 23 June 2026
Looking this up because you mean to buy? Your next question is Am I allowed to buy?
Where you meet it
- Two different questionsFreehold or usufruct in Makkah and Madinah
- A long-term usufructHow a non-Saudi can own near the Haram
- What you ownCan foreigners buy property in Makkah and Madinah?
- The holy-city questionPremium Residency and property near the Haram
- Questions to ask a sales centreProjects open to buyers from abroad
- Ownership and usufruct in a zoneWhere foreigners can buy in Makkah and Madinah
- Freehold vs usufruct
Related words
- Zone (geographic scope)
- A mapped area inside which non-Saudis may buy real estate or real rights, and in Makkah and Madinah the only places they can.
- Saudi Properties portal
- 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.
- Freehold vs usufruct
- 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.
- Premium Residency
- A long-term Saudi residency for foreigners, with several tracks, one of them for owners of residential property.
- Waqf
- An Islamic charitable endowment, in which an asset is held permanently for a stated purpose.
Sources
Premium Residency Law (English, MISA) · 1 Nov 2024
Usufruct rights in Makkah and Madinah of up to 99 years remain available (zone cards show 99 years; Premium Residency Law Art. 2(1)(e)).Saudi Properties portal — zone card labels (zones.rules, English)
On the Saudi Properties portal's zone cards, allowed ownership percentage and usufruct duration are two separate labelled fields, each filled from its own value, so the 99 years is the longest usufruct term a card can show and does not limit ownership.
Where each fact above comes from, with the source’s own date where it gives one.