The rules for government organizations renting property outside of Saudi Arabia were made public by the State Properties General Authority.
The leasing agreement must comply with the rules and be for a term no longer than five years. It may further specify that the lease agreement may automatically renew for subsequent terms no longer than 10 years.
Any government agency is only allowed to rent out property outside the Kingdom in an emergency and only if doing so complies with the restrictions that have been published. The government organization’s budget should include the necessary funds for renting the land.
In order to ensure that there is no real estate available for the state that satisfies its demands and that the real estate shall be assigned for the purpose for which it was rented, the government agency shall coordinate with the authorities. The real estate area must be rented in accordance with the guidelines approved by the authority.
The regulations state that the government agencies must submit to the authority a request in the prescribed form expressing their desire to rent, specifying the purpose of the rental, the type of property required, the required rental period, as well as the required location, security, and technical requirements, such as the required location’s location, number of employees, and technical requirements, such as the number of parking spaces and warehouses.
The assets contain residences for mission leaders or staff as well as temporary headquarters for the diplomatic mission. If the real estate is furnished and ready for use for a period of no more than six months, the mission may use any of the options offered in the host country, including offices, furnished housing units, hotel apartments, or hotels; this period may be extended for a similar period after submitting a request to the appropriate person in the government agency. This must stay within the parameters of the financial appropriations authorized in the government entity’s budget.
The estimated cost of renting a permanent residence for the head of mission or staff does not exceed $50,000 per site, and the estimated cost of renting a permanent headquarters for mission offices or related technical offices does not exceed $300,000 annually per site. This is within the parameters of the financial appropriations authorized in the government agency’s budget. About the requirements for the rental property, it said that it must be free of structural flaws, be undisputed, not belong to any workers of the authority or the government agency seeking to rent it, or to a first-degree relative.
The government agency must see to it that the lease contains a clause stating that the landlord is responsible for maintaining the fundamental components of the leased property at his own expense throughout the term of the agreement and will not be paid extra or have the rent increased if necessary to perform corrective maintenance that restricts the use of the property.
