Red Sea governor sets new rules for transferring housing land, with a 1% fee

The Red Sea governor has issued a decision setting out the rules under which the governorate will accept applications to transfer plots allocated for housing projects, Sada El Balad reports.

The decision keeps the final say with the governorate. Clause 9 states that transferring a plot is a discretionary power exercised as the governorate sees fit and in line with the public interest, and that it is not bound to follow a set procedure ending in a completed transfer, whether by approval or refusal. Each application is decided on its own circumstances.

What an application has to show

• A preliminary contract of sale in force until 5 October 2026
• The full price of the land paid
• A transfer fee of 1% of the land's current market price

Registered contracts whose assignment has already been moved to another party are treated as a transfer transaction and carry the same 1% fee, calculated on the land's current market value.

The decision also covers changes to a company's commercial register — an addition, a merger, an amendment, or one partner leaving and another joining — in cases that require the competent authority to act.

Transfer applications that were approved earlier but never completed are to be finished under these new rules.

Where a plot carries buildings with construction violations, reconciliation applications are submitted and the case waits until the reconciliation procedures are complete and all fees due have been paid.

The decision takes effect from the day after the date it was issued and cancels Decision No. 223 of 2009. Local units in the governorate's cities and the bodies concerned are instructed to carry it out. The report does not give the date of issue, so the day the new rules began to apply is not stated in it.