jordan pulse -

The House of Representatives on Tuesday continues the discussion of the draft amended Real Estate Property Law for the year 2026, starting from Article 28, while the Administrative Committee continues discussing and passing the articles of the draft Local Administration Law for the year 2026 following the session.
​On Monday, the House of Representatives passed by majority vote 20 new articles of the draft amended Real Estate Property Law for 2026, which comprises 37 articles in total.
​The House had previously passed, by majority vote, 6 articles out of the 37 articles contained in the draft amended Real Estate Property Law for 2026, after the Parliamentary Legal Committee approved the draft law on July 19.
​It is worth noting that the Cabinet approved, on July 13, 2023, a draft amended Real Estate Property Law for the year 2023 and referred it to the House of Representatives.
​The draft law aims to enable the Department of Lands and Survey to receive and approve applications for all its transactions and services electronically, excluding disposition contracts, and to grant estimation committees the authority to estimate real estate values according to specified bases and standards.
​Under the draft law, the Cabinet will be granted the authority to transfer ownership of land plots from state property to public investment funds or government-owned companies to enable them to perform their duties or present some of them as in-kind shares in investment projects.
​The draft law also includes clauses aimed at encouraging investment, such as easing restrictions on real estate ownership, and taking into account the rights of certain parties in judicial partition, such as the right to participate in auctions.
​During Monday's session, Minister of State for Political and Parliamentary Affairs, Abdul Monem Al-Oudat, confirmed that the proposed amendments to the draft law do not contain any new text, but are limited to a specific portion allowing non-Jordanians to own land outside zoning boundaries for residential purposes only, not exceeding 10 dunams.
​He explained that legal texts are read collectively with one another, noting that the comprehensive amendment consisted of adding a specific clause regulating non-Jordanian residential land ownership outside zoning, along with renumbering the remaining clauses of the original paragraph.
​Regarding concerns and remarks raised by a number of MPs about the possibility of foreigners owning land in border, archaeological, or historical areas, Al-Oudat said that the existing original law prohibits ownership in these areas, adding that such sites are exempted under the provisions of the law and are not covered by the amendment, which focuses purely on residential purposes.
​For his part, Minister of Local Administration, Walid Al-Masri, affirmed that the recent amendments and additions regarding foreign ownership of real estate came to address existing organizational distortions and problems, and to stimulate residential investment while preserving agricultural land and real estate holdings.
​He stated that previously approved legislation prevented foreigners from owning independent residential units in gated residential complexes (compounds) spread around Amman and other governorates, such as the Al-Jiza and Nadhur projects, restricting purchase purposes to investment or industrial projects.
​Al-Masri explained that setting a maximum limit of 10 dunams for foreign ownership for personal residential purposes aims to curb the depletion of large land areas, as foreign investors previously had to apply to the Cabinet for an exception to own areas that could reach 100 or 200 dunams merely to build a rural home.
​He added that this amendment aligns with allowing land subdivision outside zoning in areas like Jerash and Ajloun with a minimum of two dunams, enabling foreigners to buy up to 10 dunams to build a private home for their families and utilize the surrounding area agriculturally, without harming agricultural resources or fragmenting ownership in agricultural and forested areas (such as Zai, Jalaad, Barqash, and the governorates of Balqa, Jerash, and Ajloun).
​He stressed that these measures achieve two main objectives: regulating ownership in rural residential complexes, and protecting agricultural land from excessive ownership for non-productive investment purposes.
​Local Administration Law
​Following the session, the Administrative Committee will complete the approval of articles of the draft Local Administration Law for 2026, which aims to enhance local administration governance, improve service quality, expand community participation, and enable municipalities to perform a developmental and investment role that contributes to stimulating the local economy in the governorates.
​The draft also defines roles and responsibilities between the municipal council and the executive body to prevent overlapping powers and enhance accountability and oversight, while maintaining direct and secret voting for the head and members of the municipal council.
​The draft contributes to enhancing developmental and investment planning through the representation of elected bodies and less developed areas, and ensuring the representation of various geographical areas to achieve a fairer distribution of projects and developmental opportunities.
​Furthermore, the draft includes enhancing automation and digital transformation, and obligating executive administration to submit periodic reports on financial and administrative performance and projects and publish them on official platforms to enhance transparency and citizen trust.
​Source: Rum Online News Agency