Saudi Arabia land registration sets 100 m² area tolerance, October 2026

Saudi Arabia's official gazette published area-discrepancy limits of up to 100 m² and a duplicate-deed suspension rule for property registration on 30 October 2026.

The facts

The official gazette published an amendment to the implementing regulations of the in-kind real estate registration law on 30 October 2026, carrying decision no. 3/39/m/26 of the Real Estate General Authority board, taken in agreement with the Ministry of Justice and dated 28 September 2026.
Area discrepancies between a title deed and the survey are now capped by category: 1% on lengths and 2% on total area for land inside urban boundaries covered by approved plans, up to 100 m²; 2.3% and 5% for unplanned land inside urban boundaries, up to 300 m²; 3.5% and 7% outside urban boundaries, up to 3,500 m².
Where two deeds conflict over the same plot, the registrar must suspend first registration by reasoned decision rather than reject it, and the application keeps its place in the priority queue.
The authority may correct clerical, arithmetic and technical errors on its own initiative, with electronic notice and a 30-day window for an affected party to object.
Annotations of lawsuits against first registration, and of suits affecting already registered property, must be entered within 3 working days of a complete application or a court request.
Only two grounds remain for refusing a registration application: the submitted deed is not valid or in force, or the property was already registered when the application was filed.

What it means for your money

A deed-versus-survey gap now has a published limit. Up to 100 m² on planned urban land, registration proceeds.
Owners of land caught in a double-deed dispute keep their priority position while the conflict is resolved, which shortens the period in which the plot cannot be sold or mortgaged.
Glopra data records Saudi rental income tax at 5%, with the band running to 20%, and foreign ownership as opening from 2026 in designated zones only, with Mecca and Medina excluded — the registration rules apply to whatever a foreign buyer is permitted to hold in those zones.
The 3-working-day annotation deadline sets how fresh a pre-purchase register check can be, because a new lawsuit now has to appear within three days rather than at an unspecified time.

What to watch

The rollout schedule of the in-kind registry across regions decides when these rules bite on a given plot, because the law applies as each area is converted.
The amendment governs registration procedure, not who may own: it changes nothing about foreign-ownership eligibility or the designated zones.

Sources: Umm Al-Qura https://www.uqn.gov.sa/decisions-and-regulations/4002249; Al-Watan https://www.alwatan.com.sa/article/1188256

Market data: Riyadh · Saudi Arabia · Jeddah