Kuwait · Guide · The vacant land fee

Kuwait's vacant land fee explained: KD 10 per square metre a year on unbuilt private housing land above 1,500 m² since 1 March 2026, rising to KD 100, under Law 126 of 2023 and Finance Decision 11 of 2026

Since 1 March 2026 the annual fee that Law No. 126 of 2023 imposes on unbuilt private housing land has been due to the Ministry of Finance: KD 10 for every square metre an owner holds above 1,500 m², counted across all the owner's plots, rising by KD 30 a year until it reaches KD 100 per square metre. The law was approved by the National Assembly in its first deliberation on 15 November 2023, issued by the Amir on 26 December 2023 and published in the Official Gazette on 31 December 2023; the Constitutional Court rejected the challenges to it on 26 November 2025, and Ministerial Decision No. 11 of 2026, announced on 16 March 2026, set the collection rules. A plot with unpaid fees cannot be transferred, and the fee stops only when the building covers at least half the plot and the electricity is connected. We read the gazette text, the regulation and the press reports of the court's judgment today and set out what the rules mean for an owner, an heir and a buyer of land in Sabah Al Ahmad Sea City.

Al Mithaq news desk · Published 25 October 2026 · Updated 25 October 2026 · Source: Kuwait Al-Yawm (Official Gazette)

The entrance of Kuwait's Constitutional Court, which rejected the challenges to the vacant land fee law on 26 November 2025. Picture: Al Rai

KD 10a year for every square metre above 1,500 m² of unbuilt private housing land an owner holds, Law 126 of 2023, Article 1

KD 100the ceiling the fee reaches after rising by KD 30 a year

1 March 2026the date from which the fee is due under Decision 11 of 2026, Article 2

The law: who pays, how much, and on what

Law No. 126 of 2023 on combating the monopoly of vacant land was approved by the National Assembly in its first deliberation on 15 November 2023 with 60 votes, the second deliberation being set for 28 November, and was issued by the Amir on 26 December 2023 and published in Kuwait Al-Yawm, issue 1668, on 31 December 2023. Article 1 imposes an annual fee of KD 10 on every square metre above 1,500 m² of unbuilt private housing plots owned by any natural or legal person, whether the plots sit in one site or several and in one project or more; the fee rises by KD 30 each year until it reaches KD 100 per square metre per year. The same article says the fee period is not interrupted by transfers of ownership that end with the same owner on the same land within two years, or by the revocation of a waqf. Article 3 bars companies, banks and sole proprietorships from dealing in private housing plots and homes, directly or indirectly, and voids such dealings, while allowing banks to take or hold residential property to finance citizen clients under Central Bank of Kuwait rules. Article 7 told the Minister of Finance to issue the executive regulation within three months.

Transfers blocked, and when the fee stops

Article 2 is the one a buyer feels first: no transfer of ownership may be completed, and no power of attorney to dispose of the land may be issued, for plots whose fees have not been paid, and all government bodies must refuse to deal with an owner in default. An owner who cannot pay may apply to sell all or part of the plot, by private sale or at a public auction run by the Ministry of Justice, with the fees taken out of the price. Article 4 says the fee ends once the building is complete and the electricity is connected, and that a plot counts as built only if the building covers at least 50% of its area. Article 5 fixes the start: the fee runs from the first day of the month after two years from the date the law took effect, and until then the older fee of Law 50 of 1994, as amended by Law 8 of 2008, which charged KD 10 per square metre only above 5,000 m², continued to apply; co-owners of a plot are jointly liable for the fee under Article 1072 of the Civil Code. Article 6 lists what is exempt: plots of the Public Authority for Housing Welfare; housing land for which the Kuwait Municipality has not issued a zoning or subdivision decision, provided a request was filed within two months of publication; land whose Municipality zoning decision is less than two years old; areas without infrastructure or electricity; and every plot not designated for private or model housing.

The Constitutional Court, 26 November 2025

The challenges argued that the rising fees forced owners to sell or build, ate into capital, amounted to expropriation without compensation and worked as a retroactive penalty. On 26 November 2025 the Constitutional Court rejected them, in a judgment Al Rai reported the same evening and Arab Times two days later. The court held that private property is not an absolute right and may be regulated to serve its social function; that the fee is a lawful financial obligation that does not touch the core of ownership and is neither expropriation nor confiscation; that the owner keeps a fee-free area of up to 1,500 m²; that one rule applied to all owners in the same position does not breach equality; that the blocks on transfers and government dealings are meant to make owners pay the fee and not evade it, not to punish; and that the law applies immediately to plots that are unbuilt when it takes effect, which is not retroactivity. The court listed the law's aims as increasing the supply of plots for building, curbing price rises driven by hoarding, and widening housing opportunity.

Decision 11 of 2026: how the Ministry of Finance collects

The Minister of Finance, Yaqoub Al-Rifai, issued Ministerial Decision No. 11 of 2026 with the executive regulation, reported by Al Jarida on 16 March 2026 and in force on publication in the gazette; Al Jarida printed its text on 22 March and Argaam summarised it article by article on 23 March. Article 2 makes the KD 10 fee due from 1 March 2026, or from the first day of the month after two years from the Kuwait Municipality's approval of the subdivision or project, whichever is later, and keeps the 1994 fee above 5,000 m² until that date. The fee is assessed per fiscal year (Article 3), co-owners are jointly liable (Article 4), and an owner in arrears may ask the ministry for permission to sell all or part of the land, privately or at a Ministry of Justice auction; the Real Estate Registration Department does not issue the new owner's original deed until the dues are deposited, and the ministry then issues a payment certificate (Article 5). The registration and notarisation department sends the Municipality lists of owners of unbuilt private housing land above 1,500 m², the Municipality verifies them, the lists come back to the ministry, and the ministry takes the owners' details from the Public Authority for Civil Information (Article 6). The ministry calculates the fee and notifies each owner within the fiscal year by registered letter with acknowledgement of receipt; payment is due within three months of the start of the fiscal year (Article 7), in one sum, in cash, by certified cheque or another approved method, against a receipt (Article 10). An owner may object within 60 days of the notice to a committee formed by ministerial decision, which must decide within 60 days and give reasons for any rejection (Articles 8 and 9). All government bodies must refuse to deal with owners in default (Article 11).

Where the big plots change hands

The fee bites on holdings above 1,500 m², and the Ministry of Justice's own transaction data shows where such land trades. In its report of 13 July 2026 on ministry data for the first half of 2026, Times Kuwait put the ten largest residential land deals of the half-year at about KD 54.4 million in total, and named among them an 8,383 m² coastal plot in Al-Bida'a at KD 15.58 million, a 6,657.5 m² plot in Al-Surra at KD 5.32 million, and four deals in Sabah Al Ahmad Sea City at between KD 2.59 million and KD 2.94 million each. Nine of the ten highest prices per square metre were in the Capital Governorate, led by a 1,000 m² plot in Abdullah Al Salem at KD 3,600 per square metre. Our own 22 October story on the ministry's September 2026 bulletin recorded 25 private housing deals in Sea City in that month alone.

Why it mattersOur view for a Kuwaiti owner or buyer: the threshold is per owner, not per plot. One Sea City plot of 400 to 800 m², the usual size on our list, is below 1,500 m² on its own and carries no fee, but the law counts every unbuilt private housing plot you own, in one site or several, so a second or third plot can push your total over the line, and the excess is charged from the first square metre above it. By our arithmetic from Article 1, an owner holding 2,000 m² unbuilt pays KD 5,000 in the first year, KD 20,000 in the second, KD 35,000 in the third and KD 50,000 a year from the fourth, so the decision to build, sell or hold has a date on it. Before you buy any plot, ask the seller for the Ministry of Finance clearance or the receipt: the Land Registry will not complete the transfer, and will not issue your deed, while dues are outstanding, and the regulation lets a defaulting owner sell only with the ministry's permission. Heirs who hold a plot together are jointly liable for the whole fee, which is one more reason to settle a family plot early, as we explained in our story on Decree-Law 121 of 2026. A plot under construction is still unbuilt for the fee until the building covers half the land and the electricity is connected, so a slow build does not stop the clock. If a notice looks wrong, the objection window is 60 days from the registered letter, and the committee must answer within 60 days with reasons. Which phases of Sea City fall under the infrastructure exemption is a question for the Municipality and the ministry, not for a broker, and we do not assume it for any plot.

What Al Mithaq adds

Our Sea City land page lists the plots and chalets we offer across the five phases of Sabah Al Ahmad Sea City, most of them 400 to 800 m², with larger corner and waterfront plots in some phases. When you ask us about a plot, we tell you its size and phase, and we ask the seller for the Ministry of Finance position on the fee before the deal goes to the Land Registry, so the transfer is not stopped at the last step. If you already own land and want to know whether your total crosses 1,500 m², or whether building or selling is the better answer at today's prices, tell our team in Kuwait what you hold and we will walk through the arithmetic with you by call or WhatsApp on the same working day. Nothing in this guide replaces the ministry's own notice or a lawyer's reading of your deed.

Sources

Key facts

Law: Law No. 126 of 2023 on combating the monopoly of vacant land; issued 26 December 2023; Kuwait Al-Yawm issue 1668, 31 December 2023
Fee: KD 10 per m² a year above 1,500 m² of unbuilt private housing land per owner, across all sites; rises KD 30 a year to a ceiling of KD 100
Worked example (our arithmetic): 2,000 m² unbuilt: 500 m² above the threshold; KD 5,000 in year one, KD 20,000 in year two, KD 35,000 in year three, KD 50,000 a year from year four
Collection start: 1 March 2026, or the first day of the month after two years from the Municipality's subdivision approval, whichever is later (Decision 11 of 2026, Article 2)
When the fee stops: Building complete, covering at least 50% of the plot, and electricity connected (Law, Article 4)
Unpaid fees: No transfer of ownership, no power of attorney, no dealings by government bodies; sale only with the Ministry of Finance's permission, deed withheld until paid (Law, Article 2; Decision, Articles 5 and 11)
Exempt: PAHW plots; land without a Municipality subdivision decision (request within two months of publication); land whose Municipality zoning decision is less than two years old; areas without infrastructure or electricity; non-residential land (Law, Article 6)
Payment and objection: Registered letter; payment within three months of the start of the fiscal year, in one sum; objection within 60 days; committee decides within 60 days (Decision, Articles 7 to 10)
Constitutional Court: Challenges rejected on 26 November 2025; private property not absolute, fee not expropriation, law not retroactive
Old regime: Law 50 of 1994, as amended by Law 8 of 2008: KD 10 per m² only above 5,000 m²