Property
Foreign freehold limited to integrated tourism complexes
Non-GCC foreign nationals can own freehold only within Integrated Tourism Complexes. Elsewhere ownership is restricted to Omanis and, more narrowly, GCC nationals.
Key rules
- Jurisdiction — Ministry of Housing and Urban Planning, land registry.
- Deadline — Registration with the Ministry of Housing completes transfer of title
Governing law
- Royal Decree 12 of 2006 on ITC Property Ownership
- Civil Transactions Law, Royal Decree 29 of 2013 — property provisions
- Land Law, Royal Decree 5 of 1980
In practice
The ITC model is the whole of foreign freehold in Oman: designated integrated resort developments such as Al Mouj and Muscat Bay where foreign buyers take freehold and, above a value threshold, residence. Outside them a non-GCC foreign national cannot buy land, and long lease or usufruct is the alternative. GCC nationals have wider but still not equivalent rights. This makes Oman more restrictive than Bahrain and the UAE and less restrictive than Kuwait, and the distinction between an ITC and an ordinary development is the first thing to establish in any transaction.