MULKIYA · GUIDES
Jabal Omar, Makkah: Who May Own in the Holy-City Zone
Jabal Omar is a designated zone in Makkah, open to Muslim individual buyers. Here is who qualifies, the conditions, and how to verify a parcel on the official register.
What and where Jabal Omar is
Jabal Omar is a district of Makkah next to the Grand Mosque, developed as a mixed-use zone of hotels, residential towers and retail. The zones document endorsed by Council of Ministers Decision 43 on 23-06-2026 lists it among the 100+ designated zones where non-Saudis may own under the Law of Real Estate Ownership by Non-Saudis, in force since 22-01-2026. It carries a status the Riyadh and Jeddah zones do not: Jabal Omar sits inside the holy city, so ownership here is limited to Saudi companies and Muslim individuals. Nothing in this article describes live stock; it is the legal frame of a district, not a sales listing.
Who may own here
The register answers by buyer class. A Muslim individual may own in Jabal Omar, whether resident in Saudi Arabia or not and whatever their nationality; non-residents meet the same prerequisites as in any designated zone. A Muslim GCC national buys under the GCC ownership statute, which continues alongside the new law. A Muslim Premium Residency holder may own here, and under Premium Residency the holding runs as usufruct for up to 99 years. Two classes are closed outright: a non-Muslim individual cannot own in the designated Makkah zones, whatever their wealth or residency, and a foreign company cannot own in Makkah or Madinah under any structure, since only Saudi companies may hold here. For individual buyers, Muslim status is confirmed at purchase.
The conditions that come with the zone
Three prerequisites from Article 2 of the Implementing Regulations apply to a foreign individual here as elsewhere: a digital identity approved by the Ministry of Interior, which non-residents obtain through Saudi embassies; a Saudi bank account in the buyer's name; and a Saudi mobile number in the buyer's name, linked to that identity. Registration in the official real-estate registry is a validity condition of the purchase, not paperwork after it. Bank lending is structurally closed to non-residents today, so plan a cash-first purchase.
Verify the parcel, not the brochure
Zone names in circulation are press-derived, and a tower that markets itself as Jabal Omar may sit inside or outside the designated boundary. Before you price any unit, confirm the specific parcel on the Kingdom's official register, REGA's Saudi Properties portal, which publishes the designated zones. If the parcel is not in the register entry, the holy-city zone rights do not attach to it. And price against a cooling market: the official residential price index recorded -3.6% year on year for Q1 2026, so verify value per asset rather than paying a premium for proximity alone.
Costs at purchase and on exit
The cost frame is the national one. At purchase, the real-estate transaction tax is 5% of the price, legally the seller's liability and commonly priced into the deal. Brokerage is capped at 2.5%, plus 15% VAT on the commission, payable only if a broker is engaged. On exit the seller pays 5% again, and because Jabal Omar sits in Makkah, one of the four designated cities alongside Riyadh, Jeddah and Madinah, a foreign seller also pays the 2% REGA disposal fee; the statutory cap on that fee is 5% and it is 0% outside the four cities. No other government fee is verified; question any extra line item.
The honest next step
Eligibility here turns on one question more than the other zones: whether you are a Muslim buyer. Mulkiya's eligibility check asks seven questions about your status and your target property, and a deterministic rules engine answers with citations to the law, including the holy-city rule that governs Jabal Omar. Mulkiya is not the seller and not the broker, and it takes no commission. Run the check before you price a unit.
Can a non-Muslim foreigner buy in Jabal Omar?
No. Ownership in the designated Makkah and Madinah zones is limited to Muslim individuals and Saudi companies. A non-Muslim buyer cannot own there under the current rules, whatever their residency status.
Can a foreign company buy in Jabal Omar?
No. Companies are excluded from the designated Makkah and Madinah zones whatever their ownership structure. Foreign companies may buy in the other designated zones after registering with the Ministry of Investment, but Makkah and Madinah are closed to them.
What does a Premium Residency holder get in Jabal Omar?
Under the Premium Residency law, holy-city property is held as usufruct for up to 99 years. That is the route Premium Residency opens in Makkah and Madinah; the designated zone itself is open to Muslim individual buyers.
Does the 2% disposal fee apply when I sell in Jabal Omar?
Yes. The 2% REGA disposal fee for non-Saudi sellers applies only in Riyadh, Jeddah, Makkah and Madinah, and Jabal Omar is in Makkah. Elsewhere the fee is 0%, and the statutory cap is 5%.
How do I confirm a specific unit is inside the zone?
Check the parcel on the official register, REGA's Saudi Properties portal, which publishes the designated zones. Zone names in the market are press-derived, so the register entry decides, not the marketing.