Setting up a real estate brokerage in Saudi Arabia: REGA, the FAL licence and the tools you need (2026)

In Saudi Arabia, the Real Estate General Authority (REGA) regulates brokerage under the Real Estate Brokerage Law, issued by Royal Decree No. M/130 of 30/11/1443H (29 June 2022). Every broker and brokerage needs a FAL licence from REGA, brokerage contracts are written and deposited on REGA's platform, each advert needs its own REGA advertising licence, and residential leases are registered on Ejar. Unless the parties agree otherwise in writing, the commission is 2.5% of the sale price, or of the first year's rent.

Who regulates real estate brokerage

REGA licenses brokers, prepares the uniform contract forms, sets the standards for brokerage and real estate marketing, and inspects the market and records violations. Its powers over brokerage come from the Real Estate Brokerage Law, which took effect 180 days after it was published on 23/12/1443H, and from the law's implementing regulations, issued by REGA's board in Jumada al-Akhirah 1444H. REGA lists both as active, and the Bureau of Experts at the Council of Ministers publishes an official English translation of the law, with the Arabic text as the governing one.

The law applies to anyone who practises, works in or benefits from brokerage and real estate services, and it counts brokerage done through websites and social media. It replaced the Real Estate Agencies Regulations of 1398H. Off-plan sales and leasing have their own law, which REGA also runs through a separate platform.

The FAL licence: who needs it and how to get it

Article 4 of the law is short: no one may practise brokerage or provide real estate services without a licence from REGA. That licence is called FAL. The FAL licence for real estate brokerage and marketing lets the holder bring two parties to a deal for a commission and market property through ads, offices, exhibitions and other channels. REGA's service pages set out two routes:

• An individual broker must be at least 18, hold a valid national ID, complete REGA's courses in real estate brokerage, real estate marketing and e-real estate marketing, have full legal capacity and no conviction for a crime affecting honour or integrity unless their reputation has been restored, and pay a fee REGA lists at SAR 300 a year.
• An establishment applies through its legal representative. It needs a valid commercial registration that includes real estate brokerage (activity code 682010), a responsible manager who has completed the same three courses and meets the same conditions, and a fee REGA lists at SAR 1,000 a year.

The licence lasts a year and can be extended up to five, and a renewal request goes in during the 60 days before it expires. REGA reviews an application within seven business days of it being complete. Inside a licensed establishment, every employee who works on real estate services must complete the qualification programme for their activity and be registered on REGA's platform before they start. Property management, facility management, auctions, consultations and advertising have FAL licences of their own, and anyone can check a broker, an establishment or an advert on REGA's platform.

Brokerage contracts and commission

The law puts the brokerage contract at the centre of the work:

• It must be in writing, and the broker deposits a copy with REGA. A contract that is not deposited cannot be enforced (Article 7).
• It runs for a fixed term. If none is written in, the term is 90 days from signing.
• Brokers use REGA's approved templates. A contract with an owner states the property's registry or deed number, any disputes, mortgages or unrecorded rights that affect it, the term and the commission (implementing regulations, Articles 15 and 16).
• On signing with an owner, the broker obtains a copy of the proof of ownership and must check the information it relies on (Articles 9 and 10).
• Every brokerage contract and transaction is registered on REGA's electronic platform, and the broker closes the contract there within five business days of completing the deal (Article 11; regulations, Article 18).
• A broker may work with other brokers on the same property unless the contract says otherwise (Article 8).

The commission is 2.5% of the price on a sale and 2.5% of the first year's rent on a lease, unless the parties agree otherwise in writing, and the party who signed the brokerage contract pays it (Article 14). A broker who signs with both sides of one deal cannot take more than 2.5% in total. The broker earns the commission if the deal closes within the contract's term, or within two months after it ends, as long as they can prove they brokered it (Article 15).

Money is tightly controlled. A down payment agreed through a broker is capped at 5% of the deal, with anything above that treated as an advance payment, and the broker may not hold it as security for the commission (Article 13). Before taking any money from a party, a broker fills in REGA's form with the amount and its purpose, gets written consent on how it will be handled, gives a receipt and returns any balance once the purpose is met. A cash security deposit from a tenant goes to REGA, or someone it authorises, within two business days of signing the unified lease contract. Breaches can bring a warning, a suspension of up to a year, revocation of the licence or a fine of up to SAR 200,000, which may be doubled for a repeat within three years (Article 19).

Advertising rules

Ads are licensed one by one. The implementing regulations require a REGA advertising licence for each advertisement, issued once the fee is paid, and the law requires the broker's name and licence number on any ad or publication about a property. The ad licence is issued on REGA's platform from a brokerage contract that includes a marketing scope: the broker picks the contract and the ownership document, the purpose of the ad, the channels and the price, and names the responsible employee when the establishment's manager is the advertiser.

Since May 2024, brokers, owners and property seekers can check an ad on REGA's inquiry service with the licence number, the brokerage contract number or the ownership document, and see whether its licence is active, expired or cancelled. The law also bans misleading information and hiding material facts about a property.

Rentals: Ejar

Ejar is REGA's electronic network for the rental sector. To work on it, a brokerage establishment joins the network: its manager logs in with Nafath, the commercial registration must include real estate brokerage (activity 682010), and the brokerage accepts Ejar's network agreement and completes its joining course. To register a residential lease, REGA's service page asks the broker for a valid Saudi national ID, a commercial registration that includes brokerage, a head office address registered with Saudi Post's National Address and Ejar's broker training. Landlords and tenants confirm with Absher-registered mobile numbers, and the contract is notarised electronically.

REGA's Ejar guidance adds rules every rental team needs. Rents for residential and commercial property inside Riyadh's urban boundaries will not rise for five years from 25 September 2025, and a vacant Riyadh unit with a lease history cannot be relet for more than its last contract, with limited exceptions. Automatic renewal applies to existing and new leases, except fixed-term leases that had 90 days or less to run when the rule took effect. A landlord who does not want to renew must tell the tenant at least 60 days before the term ends, and in Riyadh the reason must be on a set list, such as unpaid rent or the owner's own use. If a landlord refuses to register a lease, the tenant can ask Ejar to register it, and the landlord then has 60 days to object to the details.

What changes when a UAE brokerage opens in Riyadh

Much of the work will feel familiar to a team from Dubai, but the systems, the licences and some defaults differ:

• Set up the company first. REGA licenses an establishment that already holds a valid commercial registration with the brokerage activity, so the Saudi company comes before the FAL licence. Check the structure with a Saudi adviser.
• Plan the accounts. Ejar log-ins use Nafath, and landlords and tenants confirm leases with Absher-registered mobiles, so decide early who on the team holds which account.
• Expect non-Saudi buyers. REGA announced that the law on property ownership by non-Saudis came into force on 22 January 2026, with applications through its Saudi Properties portal, ownership zones set out in a separate geographical document, and ownership in Makkah and Madinah limited to Saudi companies and Muslim individuals.

Running the team on a CRM

REGA's systems don't run a sales team's day: enquiries, follow-ups, listings, commission splits and targets. That is the CRM's job. Propfusion's Saudi sign-up starts the workspace in Saudi riyals with +966 phone numbers. The screens are in English, and PropFusion AI, the assistant inside the CRM, understands and answers in Arabic as well as English, French and Russian.

• Leads from Facebook and Instagram lead forms, your website and walk-ins land in one list, each assigned to an agent, with due, overdue and upcoming follow-ups for every agent.
• The company's WhatsApp Business number and each agent's own number connect through Meta's official sign-up, in one inbox where chats stay with the company. See WhatsApp in the CRM.
• Listings go to clients as a branded brochure link or a PDF, deals carry each agent's commission split, and targets come with a live leaderboard and a monthly close. See deals and commissions and KPIs and targets.
• The iPhone and Android app is on the App Store and Google Play in Saudi Arabia, and it is included in every plan. See the mobile app.
• Agents ask PropFusion AI about their own leads and listings by text or voice; it opens screens, fills in forms and saves nothing until they say yes.

Some tools are built on UAE rules and don't apply in Saudi Arabia: Ejari and Dubai tenancy contracts, DEWA bills and listing permit checks. Propfusion does not connect to REGA's platform or Ejar either, so FAL licences, contracts, ad licences and leases stay there, and the CRM is where the team works the leads and deals around them. Our Saudi Arabia page shows whether new projects in Saudi Arabia are in the CRM yet; it reads the CRM's own list.

Plans are priced in UAE dirhams, from AED 700 a month for up to 6 users, with 20% off when you pay yearly, and the 7-day free trial needs no card. See pricing, every country Propfusion serves, and Propfusion in the UAE if your team sells there too.