MULKIYA · GUIDES
King Abdullah Financial District (KAFD): Who May Own, and at What Cost
King Abdullah Financial District is a designated Riyadh zone open to every foreign buyer class; companies need MISA registration. The legal position, cited.
What KAFD is, and where it sits
King Abdullah Financial District, known as KAFD and named in Arabic as مركز الملك عبدالله المالي, is a purpose-built financial district in northern Riyadh: offices, homes, hotels and retail in one planned district. For a foreign buyer the category that matters is legal, not architectural. KAFD is a named entry in the designated-zones register endorsed by Council of Ministers Decision 43 of 23-06-2026, under the Law of Real Estate Ownership by Non-Saudis, Royal Decree M/14, in force since 22-01-2026. It is one of the 100+ designated zones across the Kingdom. Inside the register boundary, a foreigner may own. Outside any designated zone, a non-resident foreigner may not.
Who may own in KAFD
The register answers per buyer class, and for KAFD the answer is open for every individual class. A non-resident foreign individual may own here. A foreign resident holding an iqama may own here, and may separately apply for approval to own one home outside the zones. A Premium Residency holder may own here under their own regime. A GCC national may own here, broadly as a Saudi does, under the GCC ownership statute that continues alongside M/14. A foreign company may own here only on conditions: registration with the Ministry of Investment through Invest Saudi, a Unified (700) Number, and a representative who holds a Saudi ID, with owners disclosed. KAFD is in Riyadh, not in Makkah or Madinah, so the holy-city restriction does not apply: no Muslim-only rule, and no usufruct alternative is needed here.
The conditions, and the instruments behind them
For a foreign individual, Article 2 of the Implementing Regulations sets three prerequisites before any zone purchase: a digital identity approved by the Ministry of Interior, which non-residents obtain through a Saudi embassy and activate with Absher or Nafath; 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 Real Estate Registry is a validity condition of the purchase, not paperwork after it. For companies, the MISA track adds owner disclosure and a duty to notify MISA within 15 days of any ownership transfer of 5% or more. The citations behind this page: Royal Decree M/14 of 14-07-2025, in force 22-01-2026; Council of Ministers Decision 43 of 23-06-2026; Articles 2 and 9 of the Implementing Regulations.
Verify the parcel before you price it
Zone names in circulation are press-derived. The boundary that counts is the one on the official register, the Saudi Properties portal run by the Real Estate General Authority (REGA). Before you price any unit in KAFD, confirm the specific parcel sits inside the designated boundary on the official register. A tower marketed as part of KAFD is a location claim; the register entry is the legal fact. If the parcel is inside, the zone rules in this article apply to it. If it is outside, they do not, whatever the brochure says.
Costs at purchase, on exit, and the rent freeze
The cost frame is set by law and is the same across Riyadh's zones. At purchase: the 5% real-estate transaction tax, legally the seller's liability and commonly priced into the deal, plus brokerage capped at 2.5% with 15% VAT on the commission, payable only if a broker is engaged. On exit, Riyadh is one of the four cities where the 2% REGA disposal fee applies to a non-Saudi seller, on top of the 5% tax on the transfer; the fee is 0% outside Riyadh, Jeddah, Makkah and Madinah, and the law caps it at 5%. One Riyadh-specific line matters to income buyers: by royal order of 25-09-2025, residential and commercial rents inside Riyadh's urban boundary are frozen for five years, so a KAFD lease cannot rise during the freeze. Gross yields in Riyadh and Jeddah sit in a band of roughly 7-9%, per licensed yield data for Q1 2026; under the freeze, the rent at signing is the rent you hold. And the wider tape is cooling, not booming: the official residential price index recorded -3.6% year on year in Q1 2026.
The honest next step
Whether you may own in KAFD is a legal question, not a sales question, and it turns on your buyer class: nationality, residency, and whether you buy as a person or a company. Mulkiya's eligibility check asks seven questions about your status and your target property, and a deterministic rules engine answers against the law, with citations. Mulkiya is not the seller and not the broker, and it takes no commission or success fee. Run the check first; price the district second.
Can a foreigner buy property in KAFD without living in Saudi Arabia?
Yes. KAFD is a designated zone in Riyadh, and a non-resident foreign individual may own inside it once three prerequisites are in place: a digital identity approved by the Ministry of Interior, a Saudi bank account and a Saudi mobile number. Residency is not required inside the zones.
Can a foreign company own in KAFD?
Yes, on conditions. The company must register with the Ministry of Investment through Invest Saudi, hold a Unified (700) Number, appoint a representative with a Saudi ID and disclose its owners. It must also notify MISA within 15 days of any ownership transfer of 5% or more.
Does the Muslim-only rule apply to KAFD?
No. That rule governs the designated zones in Makkah and Madinah. KAFD is in Riyadh, so all foreign buyer classes may own there, Muslim or not, subject only to the standard zone conditions.
Does the Riyadh rent freeze cover KAFD?
Yes. KAFD sits inside Riyadh's urban boundary, so by the royal order of 25-09-2025 neither residential nor commercial rents there may rise for five years, and every lease must sit on the official leasing register.
What fees apply when I sell a property in KAFD?
On exit you pay the 5% transaction tax as transferor, plus a 2% disposal fee for non-Saudi sellers because Riyadh is one of the four named cities. The disposal fee is 0% elsewhere in the Kingdom and capped at 5% by law.