MULKIYA · GUIDES
The Diriyah Project: What a Foreign Buyer May Own
Diriyah is the heritage-led giga project on Riyadh's northwest edge, built around historic At-Turaif. Foreign buyers may own inside its designated zone, Diriyah Gate.
What the Diriyah project is
Diriyah is a giga project on the northwest edge of Riyadh, built around At-Turaif, the historic seat of the first Saudi state. The project's own published materials describe a heritage-led district of homes, hotels, cultural venues and public space, built in phases. We print no budget, completion date or unit count for it, because the verified record Mulkiya publishes from carries none. Treat any such figure in a brochure as the developer's statement, not market data. The legal fact that matters to a foreign buyer is simpler: Diriyah is a development, and a development is not a legal perimeter.
The designated zone inside the project
Inside the project footprint sits Diriyah Gate, a designated zone named on the register endorsed by Council of Ministers Decision 43 of 23-06-2026, one of the 100+ zones under Royal Decree M/14, in force 22-01-2026. Inside a designated zone a non-Saudi may own. The register reads Diriyah Gate as open to every individual buyer class: the non-resident foreigner, the iqama holder, the Premium Residency holder and the GCC national. It carries no religion condition, unlike the Makkah and Madinah zones. A foreign company may own only after registering with the Ministry of Investment and appointing a representative with a Saudi ID.
The project is wider than the zone
The project's boundary and the zone's boundary are not the same line. A designated zone is a legal perimeter on the official register. A giga project is a development whose marketing map can run wider, and zone names in circulation come from press coverage rather than the legal document. A boundary can cut through a single district, so two adjacent plots can carry different status. The authoritative check is parcel by parcel on the official register, REGA's Saudi Properties portal. Confirm the exact plot before you sign a contract or move a deposit. Registration in the registry is the validity condition of a foreign acquisition: it is what makes the purchase valid.
Prerequisites, and cash-first funding
Three prerequisites come before any purchase by a non-resident foreign individual, under Article 2 of the Implementing Regulations: a digital identity approved by the Ministry of Interior, obtained through Saudi embassies abroad; a Saudi bank account in the buyer's name; and a Saudi mobile number in the buyer's name, linked to that identity. Fund the purchase as cash. Bank lending is structurally closed to non-residents today, and a developer's staged payment plan on an unfinished unit is a schedule of payments, not credit. A cross-border mortgage against property at home is not a substitute inside this system.
Costs, and the market around the project
Zone status does not change the national cost stack. The real-estate transaction tax is 5% of the price, legally the seller's liability and commonly priced into the deal. A developer-direct purchase carries no brokerage line; where a broker is engaged, the commission is capped at 2.5% plus VAT on the commission. On exit, a non-Saudi seller in Riyadh pays a 2% disposal fee, Riyadh being one of the four cities where it applies. The market around the project is cooling. The official residential price index recorded -3.6% year on year for Q1 2026, which can help an entry price but guarantees nothing on exit. Gross residential yields in Riyadh sit in a band of roughly 7-9%, per licensed yield data, a range to verify per asset. Rents inside Riyadh's urban boundary are frozen for five years; confirm whether a Diriyah parcel falls inside that boundary before underwriting income.
The honest next step
Mulkiya is not the seller of any Diriyah unit, not the broker, and takes no commission. A giga project's materials describe intent; the register describes law. The honest first step is the eligibility check: seven questions about your status and your target property, answered by a deterministic rules engine against the law, so you know your buyer class before you price a parcel.
Can a foreigner buy property inside the Diriyah project?
Yes, inside Diriyah Gate, the designated zone within the project footprint. A non-resident foreign individual first needs three prerequisites: a digital identity approved by the Ministry of Interior, a Saudi bank account and a Saudi mobile number. Whether a specific plot sits inside the zone is confirmed parcel by parcel on the official register.
Is the whole Diriyah project open to foreign buyers?
No. The legal perimeter is the designated zone, not the development's marketing boundary, which can run wider. Verify the exact parcel on REGA's Saudi Properties portal before paying anything.
Can a non-resident finance a Diriyah purchase?
Not through a Saudi bank today; lending is structurally closed to non-residents. A developer's staged payment plan is a payment schedule, not credit. Plan the purchase cash-first.
What does it cost to buy, and later to sell, in Diriyah?
At purchase, the 5% transaction tax, legally the seller's liability and commonly priced into the deal, plus brokerage of up to 2.5% only if a broker is engaged. On exit in Riyadh, the 5% tax applies again, plus a 2% disposal fee, because Riyadh is one of the four cities where the fee applies.
Is Diriyah the same thing as Diriyah Gate?
No. Diriyah is the giga project, a development on Riyadh's northwest edge. Diriyah Gate is the designated zone inside its footprint, the legal perimeter a foreign buyer's ownership depends on. The register, not the project map, decides what a non-Saudi may buy.