Saudi Gazette report RIYADH – The new rent regulations system will go into force after two months, announced Housing Minister Dr. Shwaish Al-Dhwaihi during a forum on construction projects here on Sunday. The system, dubbed “Ejar”, will regulate relationship between tenants and landlords, protecting their rights, Al-Dhwaihi said. “This is an electronic platform consisting of myriad services such as unified lease agreements, e-payment, etc,” he added. Tenants who default on their rent payments can be easily tracked down, since all their information will be fed into the system. To ensure its effectiveness, seven government authorities will participate in enforcing this new system, which the Housing Ministry said would allow all real estate offices to obtain information about the credit history of prospective tenants. Such information will help offices and landlords to decide whether to sign a rent agreement with a tenant or not. A website will be launched for the system to allow the landlord to post rent advertisements and upload pictures of available property. The landlord will also be able to track rent payments and notify tenants of payment dates. Tenants can access the website and search through a variety of properties available for rent and pay rent every month online. Real estate offices will benefit largely from the system, which will allow them to complete rent procedures online while saving a copy of the agreement on the system's website. All real estate offices will be trained on how to use the system. The website consists of many services including an e-portal, a standard electronic rent agreement and payment forms. Citizens who sign up and provide their cell phones online will receive SMS text messages about when rent payments are due and advertisements for available properties. The new system seeks also to put an end to negative practices of some tenants, especially those who default on payments. During the forum organized by the Riyadh Chamber of Commerce and Industry (RCCI), Al-Dhwaihi announced that the ministry is working on putting up 80 plots of land for public tender. The plots of land, the total area of which is 106,534,059 square meters, are located in different parts of the Kingdom. “The ministry has already set transparent standards that will guarantee the fair distribution of residential units to citizens,” he said. The minister stressed the strategic partnership between private sector contracting companies and the ministry. “We view the companies as effective strategic partners. They will help the ministry implement the housing projects.”
