Idle lands of over 117 mln sqm developed or sold: Official

Abdulhamid Al Hammad, Chief Idle Lands Program Officer

More than 117 million square meters (sqm) of taxable idle lands across 17 cities were developed, or sold and had their ownership transferred, or under development, Saudi Press Agency reported, citing Abdulhamid Al Hammad, Chief Idle Lands Program Officer.

Invoices were issued for land plots on over 550 million sqm in the first phase across the Kingdom, while more than 25 million sqm-land plots were invoiced in the second phase in Riyadh.

The remaining registration period under the second phase of idle land fees in Makkah and Jeddah is 68 days only. Failure to register will result in a fine of up to 100% of the fee value, Al Hammad said, noting that the taxes on idle lands owned by several persons under a single deed apply to every partner based on ownership percentage.  

The fees allocated for increased housing supply exceeded SAR 2.2 billion. These fees were spent on infrastructure development and provision of services for more than 85 residential projects in the Kingdom, he added during a workshop at Restatex Jeddah Exhibition 2022.