A Pilot Project for Land Registration

Project Narrative

The legal basis for this work was the Royal Decree on Property Registration of 2002. Vision 2030 set a target of registering 50 percent of all real estate by 2030. This target was very conservative, and it was believed that the program could achieve faster results based on international best practices.

There were five entities with direct or potential involvement in the registration process: (i) Ministry of Justice, (ii) Ministry for Municipal and Rural Affairs (iii) Public Investment Fund (iv) a company to be formed pursuant to the Royal order and owned by the PIF; and (v) Real Estate General Authority.

The key issue facing the Government of KSA was institutional coordination of the land registration process. Other outstanding issues concerned: (i) the methods to be used in first registration; (ii) the priority areas to be registered; (iii) sources of funding, how much to charge citizens and how much will come from government; (iv) technical capacity of entities to conduct registration; (v) outsourcing of operations to the private sector; (vi) access to information; (vii) communications and outreach; and (viii) capacity building and training.

KSA and the World Bank have engaged LEI to provide technical support to develop a draft national rollout plan for completing national systematic registration of titles by 2030.

Key services provided

During two, two-week visits to Saudi Arabia in April and June 2019 , LEI provided the following specific services:

• Reviewed laws and contextual documents in relation to land policy and land registration in KSA;
• Led discussions and meetings with relevant stakeholders to clarify requirements, past experiences and prepare for organizational restructuring to support the process for land registration;
• Designed and consulted a National Plan for completing systematic registration of property rights throughout the Kingdom.