Rent or buy a home in Saudi Arabia?
Updated
How do I register a lease on Ejar?
Every lease must be registered on the Ejar platform: the landlord must register it, and the tenant may register it too. Registering a home lease costs SAR 125 a year; a commercial lease costs SAR 200 for the first year and SAR 400 for each further year. Ejar's pages do not say who pays the fee, so agree it in the lease.
| Lease | Fee | A 3-year lease |
|---|---|---|
| Home (residential) lease | SAR 125 a year | SAR 375 |
| Commercial lease | SAR 200 first year, SAR 400 each further year | SAR 1,000 |
Register or check a lease on the Ejar platform. Residential rent carries no VAT.
Official rule: A landlord must register an unregistered lease on Ejar; the tenant may register it too. (source, checked 2026-10-19)
Example, Riyadh: a SAR 1,500,000 first home of a Saudi citizen with 10% down at an example 5.5% term cost over 25 years (SAR 200,475 cash on the day), against SAR 60,000 a year in rent, over 7 years. The Riyadh rent freeze keeps the rent flat for the first 3 renewals. With round test numbers of 0%, 3% and 6% for all three guesses, the result is renting ahead by SAR 290,525, renting ahead by SAR 39,415 and buying ahead by SAR 261,151. Those are test numbers, not a forecast: the answer turns on your own guesses, so put in yours.
Fill in at least one guess (all three boxes) to see the result, or press "Try with simple round numbers".
Cash on the day if you buy
Not a valid document. Estimate for information only — not financial advice, not an offer of credit and not a bank document. Errors are possible. Only your bank's or finance company's official offer letter, contract and statements are binding.
What the law says about rent rises
How the comparison works
If you buy, you pay the down payment and the buying costs on the day, then the home finance and the owner costs every year. If you rent, you keep that cash on the day and pay rent instead. Each year, whoever pays less puts the difference aside, and it grows at your "money earns elsewhere" guess. At the end, the buyer sells the home, pays the 5% transaction tax the seller owes, the broker and what is still owed; the renter has their savings. The calculator compares the two.
What decides the answer
- How long you stay. Buying and selling cost several percent of the price each; it takes years before the home earns that back.
- Rent against finance and owner costs. The gap each year is money one side can put aside.
- Home prices. They decide what the buyer has at the end.
- What your money earns elsewhere. That is what the renter's cash on the day and yearly savings grow at.
The last three are guesses. That is why the page shows up to three sets side by side instead of one answer.
Renting in Saudi Arabia: the official rules
- Riyadh rent freeze: in the city of Riyadh the total rent of existing and new leases may not be raised for 5 years from 25 September 2025, and a vacant home let before may not be re-let above its last rent.
- Elsewhere: no official rule limits rent rises; your guess is your estimate.
- Renewal: a lease renews automatically unless one side gives at least 60 days' notice. Under the Riyadh lease provisions a landlord who wants the home for his own use must give 365 days' notice; whether that notice period applies outside Riyadh is not stated. Breaking the rent rules can cost a fine of up to 12 months' rent.
- Ejar: every lease must be registered on Ejar; a home lease costs SAR 125 a year (who pays it is not stated; the pages count it on the tenant's side when renting and on the landlord's side when letting). Rent for a home carries no VAT.
- Broker: 2.5% of the first year's rent unless agreed otherwise in writing, paid by whoever signed with the broker.
For the cash you need on the day, see costs of buying a home; for the monthly payment and supported finance, the home finance calculator.
Where you buy matters
- Rent (Riyadh city only): the total rent of existing and new leases may not be raised for 5 years from 25 September 2025, and a vacant home may not be re-let above its last rent. Makkah, Madinah, Jeddah and everywhere else: no official rule on rent increases.
- Non-Saudi buyer fee: 2% of the value in Riyadh, Makkah and Madinah cities and Jeddah governorate, 0% elsewhere. GCC nationals pay it only in Makkah and Madinah.
- Where non-Saudis may own: only inside the zones REGA maps on its Saudi Properties portal: named development projects in Riyadh, Makkah, Madinah, Jeddah and AlUla; NEOM, AMAALA and the Red Sea; the economic cities and special economic zones; and towns and governorates in all 13 regions. In Riyadh and Jeddah city the zone is development projects on land within the urban boundary — not the city as a whole.
- A resident's own home: a legally resident non-Saudi may own one home for housing outside the zones (not in Makkah or Madinah); inside Riyadh or Jeddah's urban boundary that home may not be let out.
- Makkah and Madinah: as non-Saudis only Muslim individuals may own (a Saudi company with non-Saudi partners may), and only inside the zones.
- The same everywhere: SAMA's finance rules, the 5% transaction tax and first-home relief, VAT, Ejar registration and Sakani — none of them change with the city.
Details and the official sources: can foreigners buy property in Saudi Arabia?
Questions people ask
Can my landlord raise the rent in Riyadh?
Not for 5 years from 25 September 2025: in the city of Riyadh the total rent of existing and new leases may not be raised, and a vacant home let before may not be re-let above its last rent.
Are there rent increase limits outside Riyadh?
We found no official rule limiting rent rises outside Riyadh. The calculator uses your own guess.
Does a Saudi lease renew automatically?
Yes, unless one side gives at least 60 days' notice before it ends. Under the Riyadh lease provisions a landlord who wants the home for his own use must give 365 days' notice; whether that applies outside Riyadh is not stated.
What does a tenant pay on top of the rent?
In Saudi Arabia, registering the lease on Ejar costs SAR 125 a year for a home (who pays it is not stated; this page counts it on the tenant's side), and a broker may charge 2.5% of the first year's rent, paid by whoever signed with the broker. Rent for a home carries no VAT.
What does it cost to sell a home?
In Saudi Arabia, by law the seller owes the 5% real estate transaction tax, plus the broker's commission (2.5% unless agreed otherwise).
What is an Ejar contract?
In Saudi Arabia, a lease registered on the Ejar platform. Every lease must be registered there — the landlord must register it and the tenant may — and a home lease costs SAR 125 a year to register.