Incentives to revitalise housing sector go into effect; ‘tangible’ impact expected

AMMAN — The Department of Land and Survey (DLS) on Sunday issued a circular to all land registration departments to start implementing Cabinet decisions regarding a series of procedures to stimulate the real estate market, currently in slowdown.

The Cabinet decision, which included lowering the basic price offering of real estate by 20 per cent to better align it with market value, went into effect on Sunday, Finance Minister Ezzeddine Kanakrieh said.

Amendments also included by-laws for the implementation of e-systems to support the Cabinet’s decision and benefit citizens and stakeholders, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported. 

On Wednesday, the Cabinet endorsed a number of procedures aimed at revitalising the real estate market, as such, fees and taxes pertaining to the sale of real estate will be mitigated due to the decrease in the estimated value of land and the increased number of out-parcelling and ownership-transfer transactions.

Under the new changes, citizens will now be exempted from fees levied on ownership transfer and the consensual parcelling out of land, which would facilitate the process of transferring land ownership from the deceased to their living inheritors, according to Petra.

Kanakrieh, during a meeting with DLS Director General Moeen Sayegh and directors of central directorates, said that the decision, as well as others addressing transgressions against Treasury owned lands and giving Gazans with temporary passports the right to ownership, are aimed at stimulating the real estate sector in the Kingdom. 

The minister also referred to the issuance of the Real Estate Ownership Law, which unified 13 laws governing the real-estate sector and will go into effect 120 days after its publication in the Official Gazette. 

He also pledged to fulfil all of the DLS’ needs to enable it to fulfil its duties, particularly those pertaining to delegating Treasury lands that citizens have built houses on, according to Petra.

On Gazans purchasing real estate, Sayegh said that names of Gazan people can be seen for the first time in the trade report as investors.

Gazans have submitted 370 acquisition applications, of which 240 are pending approval and 130 being processed (see separate story). 

The director expected DLS revenues to drop as a result of applying new incentives, noting, however, that the decision’s positive impacts on overall economic activities will be tangible, as the real estate sector is associated with 40 other economic sectors and sub-sectors, both directly and indirectly.