Riyadh’s skyline may be growing, but behind the scenes, authorities are tightening the screws on rogue landlords and shadow developers. The Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs and Housing has launched a renewed offensive against the unauthorized slicing and dicing of residential properties — a practice that’s quietly transformed entire neighborhoods into mazes of makeshift flats.
The crackdown isn’t just about permits and paperwork. At its core, the ministry argues, it’s a fight for safety, infrastructure, and urban stability. Unauthorized changes — like internal partitions, improvised doorways, and altered exits — aren’t just eyesores. They threaten public safety, overload utility grids, and erode the integrity of planned urban development.
Violators could be slapped with fines reaching SR200,000 (about \$50,000). And it’s not just landlords in the crosshairs. Advertisers, investors, tenants, and anyone profiting from or facilitating illegal conversions will face accountability under municipal law.
Local municipalities, backed by the ministry, are rolling out real-time inspections and deploying a digital dragnet via the “Balady” app — a platform that lets residents tip off authorities with a few taps. The public is also urged to use the national hotline (940) to report suspicious modifications or unlicensed rental activity.
Digital listings for illegal sub-units are especially in focus, with the ministry warning that any online marketing of unapproved spaces is strictly prohibited — and punishable.
In a rapidly expanding urban ecosystem like Saudi Arabia’s, the message is clear: real estate growth must follow the rules, or it comes with a cost.
