Do the provisions cover both residential and commercial contracts? Answer: Yes, to ensure the comprehensive positive impact of the provisions on the entire sector, they apply to all residential and commercial lease contracts.

Do the changes apply to all durations of residential and commercial contracts? Answer: To accommodate the flexibility of short-term rental transactions, the new regulatory provisions only apply to contracts with a duration of more than three months.

Is it possible to increase the rental value in the city of Riyadh? Answer: To achieve the goal of market stability in the capital, the regulatory provisions have explicitly stated that the lessor may not increase the rental value for residential and commercial contracts located within the specified urban scope of Riyadh, for a period of five years from the date the provisions take effect.

Can the rental value be increased in other cities of the Kingdom? Answer: The basis of the rental relationship is the stability of the agreed-upon value. In other cities of the Kingdom (outside the scope of Riyadh), the provisions have provided a mechanism to request an adjustment of the rental value upon renewal, but this is not done automatically. It requires the submission of a request via the platform and obtaining the explicit approval of the tenant, ensuring that any change is made by mutual consent and achieves a balance that protects the rights of both the tenant and the lessor.

How will the automatic renewal mechanism be applied to new contracts issued after the provisions take effect? Answer: The automatic renewal option will be activated by default in new contracts to enhance their stability. The tenant has the right to cancel it at any time (before the 60-day notice period), while the lessor's right to cancel is subject to specific conditions in Riyadh and without conditions in other cities (while adhering to the notice period).

Is the tenant allowed to cancel the automatic renewal? Answer: Yes, to achieve balance in the contractual relationship, the tenant has the right to cancel the automatic renewal without any conditions, provided that it is done before the notice period begins (60 days before the end of the contract).

What are the possible conditions for the lessor to cancel the automatic renewal? Answer: To enhance contractual stability, automatic renewal has become the standard for contracts in the Kingdom. In general, either party can opt not to renew by notifying the other party 60 days in advance. However, to increase protection and achieve balance in the capital, the lessor's right to request non-renewal in the city of Riyadh has been restricted to specific cases, which are: the tenant's failure to pay rent, the presence of structural issues in the property, or the lessor's desire for personal use for themselves or a first-degree relative.

Who is authorized to submit a request to decrease or increase the rental value? Answer: The provisions have allowed the lessor to notify the tenant with a request to modify the rental value 90 days before the end of the contract, and the tenant then has the right to accept or reject the request.

What is the time frame for accepting or rejecting a request to decrease or increase the rental value? Answer: To ensure sufficient time for both parties, the request period is open from the date of its submission until 60 days before the end of the contract.

What are the consequences for the tenant if they refuse a request to increase or decrease the rental value? Answer: The provisions aim to achieve contractual stability through the automatic renewal feature. Since this renewal depends on the consent of both parties, if the lessor submits a request to modify the rental value and the tenant explicitly refuses it, the basis for automatic renewal is no longer valid, and the contract will therefore end upon its term unless the parties reach a new agreement.

What are the consequences for the tenant if they do not accept or refuse a request to increase or decrease the rental value? Answer: If a request to modify the rental value is submitted and the tenant does not accept or refuse it before the notice period (60 days before the end of the contract), this is considered a rejection of the request. This results in the cancellation of the automatic renewal and the termination of the contract at the end of its term.

Upon accepting a request to decrease or increase the rental value, when is it reflected on the contract? Answer: To ensure the stability of financial obligations during the contract term, any agreed-upon modification to the rental value does not apply to the current active contract but is instead reflected on the new version of the contract upon renewal.

What are the consequences if the lessor fails to pay the contract renewal fees? Answer: To ensure the continuity of the contractual relationship and protect the tenant's rights, the contract and its automatic renewal will proceed even if the lessor does not pay the fees. The fees will be registered as a debt owed by the lessor to ensure the tenant is not affected.

What are the cases in which the lessor can object to the price cap? Answer: To ensure fairness in determining the rental value, the provisions have granted the lessor the right to object to the price cap in two specific cases: first, if the property has undergone major renovations that affected its value, and second, if the last registered lease contract for the property was before 2024.

What are the consequences for the tenant if they refuse a rent increase requested by the lessor, and are there other options for the tenant to remain in the property at the same price? Answer:Outside the city of Riyadh, if the tenant refuses the increase request, the contract will not automatically renew, and the possibility of remaining in the property depends on reaching a new agreement between the two parties. In Riyadh, however, the lessor is not permitted to request an increase in the first place for the entire five-year duration of the provisions, nor can they refuse renewal except in the cases specified by the system.

If I have a registered lease contract from before 2023 with a value lower than the current market value, can the rent cap be raised? Answer: Yes, if the last lease contract for the property was concluded before 2024, the lessor has the right to object to the specified rental value before the Real Estate General Authority. (The contract's starting date must be before 1-1-2024).

What is the rent cap if the property is registered in Ejar but does not currently have an active contract? Answer: If the vacant property—in the city of Riyadh—has been previously leased, its total rental value must not exceed the value of its last registered lease contract.

If the property is new and has not been previously registered in Ejar, how is the rent cap determined? Answer: The total rental value for a property that has not been previously leased is calculated based on the agreement between the lessor and the tenant, and this value is then established as the rent cap in the city of Riyadh.

If the lessor refuses to register the contract on the Ejar platform, what can the tenant do? Answer:The lessor must register the contract. If they fail to do so, the tenant has the right to request the registration of the contract in the network. The tenant can also file a complaint with the Real Estate General Authority.

Are all lease contracts automatically renewed? Answer: Yes, all residential and commercial contracts with a duration exceeding 3 months and concluded after the issuance of the provisions are deemed automatically renewed unless one of the parties notifies the other of their intent not to renew 60 days before the contract ends.

If the tenant wishes to cancel the automatic renewal, what is the procedure? Answer: The basis of the rental relationship is clarity and stability; therefore, the new Provisions have guaranteed the tenant's right to non-renewal without any conditions, provided that they submit the request for non-renewal (before the 60-day period prior to the contract's end).

What is the procedure for canceling contracts, whether by mutual consent or by a judicial ruling?Answer: The procedure for canceling contracts has not changed and will follow the current mechanism used in the platform.

If a contract is created after the regulation provisions are launched for a period of 10 years with an incremental rent increase activated each year by agreement, what is the procedure? Answer: In the city of Riyadh, the unit price will be fixed based on the first agreed-upon value for a period of 5 years from the date the provisions is applied, and the incremental rent will not be calculated until after this period has ended.

If the Ejar platform fees are paid by the brokerage office, is the debt applied to the real estate broker or the lessor? Answer: The debt related to the platform's fees is applied to the lessor.

What are the basic documents required when submitting any objection, regardless of its type?Answer: The primary document required for an objection is a report from an accredited appraiser. If the objection is due to renovations, a building or renovation permit must also be submitted.

Is a report from a private real estate office acceptable, or must it be from the Saudi Authority for Accredited Valuers? Answer: The valuation report must be issued by an appraiser accredited by the Saudi Authority for Accredited Valuers (Taqyeem).

If the ownership of the property is transferred to a new person (sale or gift), does the previous rent cap remain, or is it reassessed? Answer: The previous registered rent cap for the unit remains and is not affected by the transfer of ownership.

In the city of Jeddah (or any city outside Riyadh), why isn't the rent cap applied like in Riyadh, and when might it include other regions? Answer: The application of the regulatory provisions in the city of Riyadh comes as a first phase, based on the study of its real estate market indicators and the need to implement measures aimed at enhancing balance. As for including other cities, the legal provisions have allowed for the possibility of future expansion by a decision from the Board of Directors of the Real Estate General Authority after the approval of the Council of Economic and Development Affairs, based on indicators that are continuously monitored.

I agreed with the tenant on a rent increase, and then the controls were issued. Do we put the agreed-upon rent value in the contract for a property in Riyadh? Answer: After the new regulatory controls for the rental market were launched, increasing the rental value is prohibited in all cases in the city of Riyadh, and the officially registered rent cap must be adhered to.

If the lessor lists the property as being outside Riyadh to evade the controls, what are the procedures? Answer: There is governance over property addresses according to ownership documents. Should this occur, the lessor bears the legal consequences for attesting to the validity of the property data.

The lessor is asking me for additional fees such as parking fees, cleaning fees, and homeowners' association fees. Is this his right, and what is the procedure? Answer: Any agreed-upon additional fees (such as parking or cleaning) are to be documented in the contract as a fixed value for services. As for homeowners' association fees, they are not documented within the lease contract but are determined by the association's manager on the "Mullak" platform.