By Fatima Muhammad
JEDDAH — The Ministry of Housing announced here on Monday the creation of a national e-network (Ejar or Rent) to regulate the real estate rental market.
Real estate brokers will be required to register in the coming two weeks with the national e-network which will be operative from next month. Registration will be open for up to three months.
The second stage will be to legalize and standardize contracts between tenants and landlords through registration to prevent any manipulation in rent prices and ease transactions which will be made only through the Sadad payment system.
The Ejar project will regulate rent prices and support the Saudis who are not able to pay rents, said head of the project Abdul Rahman Al-Samari.
The online portal will provide a database and a platform where landlords, brokers and tenants can meet and finalize deals.
The system, he said, will regulate and monitor the relation between the three parties involved.
Ahand Al-Hamad, a legal consultant, said that the program will give enough time to real estate offices to correct their status and register.
Investors speaking at a workshop on the new system at the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI) demanded measures to overcome the increasing number of cases that are filed in courts and which take up to a year to get resolved.
The ministry said that it will create a new center for real estate dispute redressal that will try to find solutions through reconciliation between the parties involved to reduce pressure on courts.
According to the head of the housing committee at the JCCI Khalid Bashuwair, up to 50% of Saudis live in rented units and there is a pressing demand to regulate the relation between landlords and tenants.
The workshop also discussed draft rules to moderate the relation between landlords and tenants. The draft will be sent to the Shoura Council and the Council of Ministers for approval.
