Okaz/Saudi Gazette

JEDDAH — The Rental Services E-Network (Ejar) platform, under the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs and Housing, announced that the period allowed for the renewal of rental contracts is 180 days, and it begins 60 days before the end of the contract period, and continues until 120 days after the end of its term.

Ejar, which aims to regulate the real estate rental sector in Saudi Arabia, revealed that the cancellation of the contract would take place by an agreement between the parties involved in the contract such as tenant, landlord and real estate broker, or by a court order. However, if the tenant refuses to accept the renewal of the contract and is not ready to vacate the property, then the landlord can approach the execution court for an eviction order and that is only if the expired contract is an executive document.

Ejar confirmed that it is neither possible to modify the active contract through the portal nor to amend the automatically renewed contract. The rental payment shall be made in the beginning of the contract period, while the financial expense for concluding the contract is to be met by the landlord. Also, the real estate broker is entitled to have a 2.5 percent rate from the value of the contract for the first year when a new contract is concluded or when the contract is renewed.

In the event that the contract expires and does not wish to renew it, the tenant must hand over the real estate unit to the landlord in the same form as when it was received by him, and in the event of any disputes, they can approach the court.

It is noteworthy that Ejar is a comprehensive system that aims to develop the housing and real estate sector in Saudi Arabia in a balanced way, by creating sustainable solutions for the challenges of the real estate market that preserve the rights of all parties concerned with the lease. Ejar is considered as one of the most important solutions that aim to regulate the relationship between the parties involved in the rental process, and this includes a set of integrated e-services that will contribute to creating a tenancy sector characterized by transparency, trust and neutrality