How Saudi Arabia's Wafi licence protects off-plan buyers

In Saudi Arabia you can only sell a home off-plan with a licence from Wafi, the off-plan programme run by the Real Estate General Authority (REGA). That licence brings escrow, engineering supervision and controlled drawdowns with it.

The Off-Plan Sale and Lease Law took effect on 4 April 2024 (REGA). Its regulations cap reservation fees at 5% of unit value, put buyer money into a separate escrow account for each project, and set a minimum payout for late delivery (REGA Implementing Regulations, April 2024). In 2023, the latest full year with official data, Wafi licensed 101,942 units (REGA, Mar 2024).

Key figures at a glance

What the off-plan sales law actually says

The law was gazetted on 1 October 2023. It has 30 articles, covering licensing, registration, escrow and enforcement (REGA; issuing instrument).

Two deadlines do most of the work. REGA must decide a complete application within 30 days, and if it says nothing the licence counts as approved. The developer then has six months from the licence to start building (REGA, Oct 2023). The second rule stops developers sitting on licences for land they cannot fund.

Why a Wafi licence works like a loan covenant

Each licensed project has one escrow account in riyals, with its own reference number. Article 26 limits withdrawals to project costs, paid by cheque or transfer, with no ATM or credit cards. Under Article 27, every withdrawal needs sign-off from both the supervising consultant and the chartered accountant (REGA Implementing Regulations, Articles 26 and 27).

A company needs a score of at least 35 out of 100 to join the developers' register. An individual needs 35 out of 55, and is limited to 5,000 sqm of built-up area per project, three years to finish, and three projects a year (Implementing Regulations, Articles 3, 5 and 12).

Late delivery has a legal minimum. On developed land the buyer gets at least 2% of the sale value per year. On units it is at least fair market rent, set by an approved valuer (Article 35).

So a lender gets three checks it would otherwise pay for: an engineer on site, an accountant who can block payments, and a regulator that made 1,130 field visits in 2023, 475 of them engineering visits (REGA, Mar 2024). A licensed pipeline has been vetted in a way an announced pipeline, giga-projects included, has not.

The steps a developer goes through

Wafi only accepts an application once the developer's engineering consultant and certified accountant, both registered on the platform, have approved it (REGA e-service). The order is:

1. Get onto the developers' register (the 35-point thresholds above).
2. Choose one of four licence types: Off-Plan Sales, Scope, or Marketing with or without receiving amounts (REGA e-service).
3. Market the project for up to 180 days per licence, renewable, with reservation fees capped at 5% of unit value (Regulations, Articles 8 and 10).
4. Receive a decision within 30 days (or deemed approval), open escrow and start building within six months.

Buyers should ask for three things: the licence type (marketing "without receiving amounts" means no money can change hands), the escrow reference number, and the named consultant and accountant. A seller without them is not selling off-plan legally.

How big are off plan sales in Saudi Arabia?

Wafi's latest full-year figures cover 2023. It licensed 101,942 units for off-plan sale through 434 project licences, and issued 350 developer registration licences. Qualified engineering offices rose 22% on 2022 and accounting offices 26% (REGA, Mar 2024).

The pipeline is widening faster than homes are being finished. Licences for small and medium projects grew 63% in 2023, adding 3,273 units. Another 35 display licences covered more than 42,180 units under construction. Completions rose 650% year on year, but that still meant only 3,640 homes across 42 projects (REGA, Mar 2024).

Our calculation (a flow ratio, not a completion rate). In 2023 Wafi licensed 101,942 units and recorded 3,640 completions. That is 28 units entering the pipeline for every unit delivered (101,942 / 3,640). Units finish years after licensing, so this is not a failure rate. It shows how front-loaded the market is. (Both figures: REGA, Mar 2024.)

Most sales go through state channels. Sakani, the housing ministry's platform, reported more than 580,000 off-plan bookings across 623 projects as of 27 August 2025 (MOMAH).

The National Housing Company (NHC) sold over 13,000 units for SAR 13.5 billion in H1 2024, four times its H1 2023 figure (SPA, 29 Aug 2024). It booked SAR 26 billion of revenue in FY2024 and has a mandate for 600,000 homes by 2030 (AGBI, quoting NHC's CEO, Jan 2025). More in our Saudi residential market review.

Foreign buyers and the January 2026 ownership law

The new law on property ownership by non-Saudis came into force on 22 January 2026. In Makkah and Madinah, only Saudi companies and Muslim individuals may own. REGA said the Geographic Zones Document, which sets out where non-Saudis can buy, "will be announced during the first quarter of 2026" (REGA; SPA, 22 Jan 2026).

The cost is already known. A non-Saudi buyer pays 10% in total: the 5% disposition tax plus a non-Saudi fee of up to 5% (REGA Q&A, Jul 2025). The old and new rules are set out in our foreign property ownership analysis.

What the official data does not tell you

Four things an investor would want are not in the public record. We do not fill the gaps with private survey numbers (methodology):

• No Wafi totals after FY2023. As of 28 July 2026 there is no release for FY2024, FY2025 or H1 2026.
• Off-plan share of all transactions. No Saudi primary source publishes it. The figures in circulation trace back to unnamed aggregators, so we do not use them.
• NHC's share of the off-plan market. Often quoted, never traced to a primary source. NHC's own sales figures above are the verifiable minimum.
• Which banks hold escrow, and the fines. Each project must disclose its escrow bank (Article 24), and Articles 43 to 46 set up a violations committee. But no combined bank list or fine table has been published (REGA Implementing Regulations, April 2024).

Wafi does publish licence-level detail, so the register can be rebuilt project by project. That is what we do. Request the Wafi register dataset or scope a briefing on the licensed pipeline in your city.

FAQ

What is the Wafi programme in Saudi Arabia? REGA's licensing programme for off-plan sale and lease, and the only legal way to sell off-plan. In 2023 it issued 434 project licences covering 101,942 units (REGA).

How does escrow work for off-plan sales in Saudi Arabia? Each project has its own escrow account. Money comes out only for project costs, and each withdrawal needs approval from both the consultant and the accountant (Regulations, Articles 26 and 27).

Can foreigners buy off-plan property in Saudi Arabia? Yes, under the law in force since 22 January 2026, with a 10% total fee. Makkah and Madinah are limited to Saudi companies and Muslim individuals. REGA said the map of permitted zones was due in Q1 2026.

Sources

• REGA, Wafi platform (Resolution 196): link
• REGA, 30-day/6-month rules (Oct 2023): link
• REGA, law in force 4 Apr 2024, 30 articles: link
• REGA, Implementing Regulations (Apr 2024): link
• REGA, licence e-service (approvals, four licence types): link
• REGA / Wafi Committee, 2023 statistics: link
• MOMAH, Sakani statistics (27 Aug 2025): link
• SPA, NHC H1 2024 sales: link
• AGBI, NHC FY2024 revenue and mandate: link
• REGA, non-Saudi law in force (22 Jan 2026): link
• SPA, Geographic Zones Document statement: link
• REGA, non-Saudi ownership Q&A (10% fee): link