Idle Lands Program issues fee bills in 7 new cities

The Idle Lands Program issued 2021/2022 fee bills for idle lands in Madinah, Abha, Khamis Mushait, Taif, Jizan, Samtah and Abu Arish.

The program said in a statement that the payment deadline is one year from the bill issuance date, during which the landowners will have to pay the fees or develop their lands.

The move aims to increase supply of developed lands and reduce monopoly, through stimulating taxpayers to develop their lands during the deadline.

The program recently set new mechanisms, in coordination with Off-plan Sales or Rent Program (Wafi), to accelerate the development of idle lands.

The Idle Lands Program called on taxpayers to pay the fees within one year from the bill issuance date – Dec. 31, 2021 – through its website.

Earlier, the program announced implementing its first phase in Madinah, Abha and Khamis Mushait on Dec. 23, 2020, as the deadline for idle land registration expired on June 21, 2021. Meanwhile, the deadline for land registration in Taif, Jizan, Samtah and Abu Arish expired on July 29, 2021, and the program started implementing the first phase in these cities on Jan. 30, 2021.

Since levying fees on idle lands, the program issued more than 8,000 bills for a total space of over 500 million square meters.