The Ministry of Municipalities and Housing has approved the “Guide for Monitoring the Non-compliant Subdivision of Residential Units” as part of its ongoing efforts to strengthen compliance with municipal regulations and requirements and to curb the practice of unregulated subdivision of residential units, thereby helping to preserve the safety of buildings, improve the quality of the residential environment, and raise the efficiency of municipal oversight across the Kingdom’s regions.
The guide aims to provide a unified regulatory and oversight framework for addressing the phenomenon of non-compliant subdivision by defining the roles, responsibilities, and oversight procedures for detecting, verifying, and addressing violations in accordance with the approved municipal regulations and bylaws.
The Ministry explained that the guide defines the non-compliant subdivision of residential units and sets out the regulatory, technical, and oversight requirements and procedures to address these violations, thereby enhancing compliance and preserving the safety of structures and urban organization. It covers all residential and residential-commercial units that have been subdivided in an unregulated manner.
It indicated that the guide identifies the entities responsible for its implementation, including the Ministry of Municipalities and Housing, the regional and local municipalities, and partner entities, in addition to property owners and tenants, thereby enhancing integration among the relevant entities and increasing the effectiveness of oversight and remediation.
The guide includes definitions of the concepts and terms associated with monitoring non-compliant subdivisions, along with an integrated oversight methodology based on proactive detection, through matching data and lease contracts against issued licenses, drawing on community reports, and conducting field visits to verify suspected cases and detect violations.
It also defines the roles and responsibilities among the competent entities: the Ministry of Municipalities and Housing is responsible for developing regulations and organizational guides, preparing oversight plans, and developing reporting mechanisms and technical integration with partner entities to enhance data exchange, while the regional and local municipalities are responsible for conducting oversight rounds, receiving reports, verifying violations, applying regulatory penalties, and following up on the rectification of violators’ status.
The guide also addresses the mechanisms for detecting and identifying non-compliant units, the field verification procedures, and the mechanism for applying violations in accordance with regulatory procedures, contributing to the standardization of enforcement and remediation procedures and raising the efficiency of oversight work.
The Ministry affirmed that the approval of the guide contributes to reducing the negative effects of non-compliant subdivision, including its impact on the safety of buildings and infrastructure and on quality of life in residential neighborhoods, and also supports raising the efficiency of the use of the real estate stock and promoting more organized and sustainable urban environments.
It noted that the approval of the guide comes within the framework of the regulatory and oversight measures implemented by the Ministry to strengthen compliance with municipal regulations, raise the level of safety and reliability in the real estate sector, and improve service quality, in line with the objectives of Saudi Vision 2030.
The guide can be viewed by visiting the following link: https://momah.gov.sa/ar/regulations
