By Vinod Nair — MUSCAT: May 15 - The new regulations for expatriates to own properties in Oman will be announced once the subject is discussed in the Majlis Ash’shura and approved by the Cabinet, said a top official from the Ministry of Housing. Siham al Harthy, Director-General of Real Estate development, told the Observer: “We are ready from our side and we support ownership of properties by expatriates outside the Integrated Tourism Complexes (ITCs). The matter must go through the Majlis Ash’shura and approved by the Cabinet before we can go ahead.”
According to Al Harthy, a percentage in certain mixed-use projects will be earmarked for expatriates. There will be no eligibility criteria such as the number of years an expatriate has to spend in Oman for owning a property. The new regulations will also address the concerns vis-à-vis the visa requirements. “We don’t want to introduce any half-hearted measures,” she said. She said there are 500,000 applications for land in Oman. “We hope to accommodate them through affordable housing projects in Muscat and other places, including the project announced in Barka.”
The government is planning affordable housing districts through a public-private partnership. Mohammed bin Salim al Busaidy, Chairman of Oman Real Estate Association and a Majlis Ash’shura member, said the foreign ownership of properties outside the ITCs is necessary and will boost the market in Oman. He said the matter has not yet come before the Majlis Ash’shura, but it will be fast-tracked and received positively. “Several projects, including those in the tourism sector, have been announced but they have not actually taken off. We expect 2017 to remain on the quieter side, but things will improve as work begins on these projects.”
He said there are 116,000 people, including 24,000 Omanis, employed in the real estate sector.
Al Busaidy said that the real estate sector is gaining great importance among the various economic sectors in terms of its contribution to the GDP and the size of the labour force. He added that the real estate sector in Oman witnessed a significant growth in 2016 as the turnover amounted to more than RO 6.6 billion, compared to about RO 5 billion in 2015, an increase of 32 per cent.
He said that the first quarter of 2017 witnessed a trading of about RO 727 million, marking a significant decline compared with the same period last year, which recorded RO 922 million. Mohammed bin Abu Bakr al Ghassani, Deputy Chairman of Majlis Ash’shura, said the government should encourage real estate development outside the cities.
“There are expatriates who have been staying in Oman for many years. They want to feel secure here. They should be encouraged to invest their savings here,” he said.
The conference, which began at the Grand Millennium Hotel, Muscat on Monday reviewed opportunities available in the real estate sector in the Sultanate and the solutions to the challenges facing the sector.
Sultan bin Salim al Habsi, Secretary-General of the Supreme Council for Planning (SCP), who presided over the opening ceremony of the conference, said that the real estate sector is considered as one of the main sectors supporting economic diversification, especially after tourism, as the consulting offices started collecting information by visiting governorates in relation to urban strategy, supervised by the council, to support the real estate sector. Al Habsi said that the rate of citizens owning a house in the Sultanate is about 89 per cent, which is considered one of the highest global indicators.
The first panel discussion of the conference began under the title “Opportunities and Challenges in the Real Estate Sector,” in addition to several working papers dealing with various aspects of the sector.
The conference will include on Tuesday with two panel discussions on “Approving Procedures for Real Estate Development Projects,” which will discuss various types of projects, such as integrated tourism, residential and commercial projects.
(With ONA inputs)
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