We officially have fresh amendments to taxes on White Lands: The Cabinet approved an anticipated series of amendments to the White Land Tax law last Tuesday, in a bid to tackle land hoarding and improve housing supply in high-demand areas across the Kingdom, the Municipal and Rural Affairs and Housing Ministry said in a post on X.

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Fresh tax on vacant properties: New taxes will be applied on vacant but ready-for-use properties — a category previously excluded — based on comparable annual rent, but capped at 5% of the property’s market value, AlArabiya reported, citing the Housing Minister Majid Al Hoqail.

Higher white land tax: The annual fee on undeveloped land plots now can reach up to 10% of the property’s value, up from the previous 2.5% fixed rate. Also, any undeveloped land plot — or combined plots — totaling 5k sqm or more and located within designated zones, will be subject to the white land tax. This simplifies and unifies the previous multi-staged criteria for land plots subject to the tax.

Timeline: Regulations for the amended law are set to be published within 90 days of the law’s appearance in the Official Gazette, with rules governing vacant property fees following within one year.

The amendments come as part of wider real estate reforms launched early March, including lifting land freezes in the north of the capital, and new rental regulations aimed at balancing the landlord-tenant relationship. The refoms aim to expand land availability, improving rental regulations, and reining in soaring property prices in Riyadh.

IN CONTEXT- Although more than 70k new units are expected to be delivered in Riyadh, demand continues to outpace supply, pushing prices up. The capital is estimated to require 120k-130 new units annually, while the private sector only meets 40-45% of that demand, Al Hogail said last Monday. NHC will partner with local and international developers to fulfill about 38% of the gap, he added.

A snapshot of the market: Riyadh saw the highest increase in its real estate prices in 1Q 2025, up 10.7% y-o-y. Last year, apartment prices in Riyadh rose 10.6% y-o-y, while villa prices increased 6.3%. Overall, the real estate price index rose 4.3% y-o-y over the same period, driven primarily by a 5.1% rise in residential property prices and a 2.5% uptick in commercial real estate prices.

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