Wednesday, April 16, 2014

Kuwait Government Approves Expat Property Ownership

This just in from today's Kuwait Times:


KUWAIT: The Cabinet has granted expatriates permission to own property in Kuwait, including apartments, houses and lands, during its weekly meeting Monday. Foreigners are still required to meet several conditions in order to register property under their ownership, including a clean criminal record and a history of good behavior, source of income certificates as well as a minimum salary cap that was not specified in an Anbaa newspaper report yesterday.

The Interior Ministry’s approval is also required to purchase properties, the report reads. It does not explain however whether the decision has gone into effect immediately or still requires the parliament’s approval. “The decision would boost activity in the economic, investment and real estate fields in the country,” the report reads. No other details are mentioned.


It is believed that the decision targets foreign investors by attracting them to build projects in Kuwait and bypass the Kuwaiti partnership condition that was seen as a main obstacle in the past years.

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Mabrook, Kuwait!  Game changer.

2 comments:

Chirp said...

Would they give them permanent residency if they own land or an apartment?? I can't imagine anyone in their right mind buying in a place they can't guarantee how long they can stay.
And I think that maybe they are doing this because most Kuwaitis can't afford to buy land or an apartment in their own country.
Seriously a 2-bedroom apartment in Sabah Al-Salem is 100,000 KD. SERIOUSLY!?!?! I would rather take my money and spend it on a nice summer home in Europe or the States.

Desert Girl said...

Chirp -

I think the decision was made to appeal to international companies moving into Kuwait. Currently, most international companies would rather set up regional presence in Dubai because they can own (and MANAGE) their own offices/businesses.

For example, has been tremendous difficulty for hotels; with 51% Kuwaiti ownership goes 51% decision-making capability. Add that to greed and you get corner-cutting and lowered quality/standards, eventually leading to major brand pull-outs.

I completely agree with you about the residency!

And the property ownership in other countries. How many Kuwaitis own property in the States or Europe? I'm guessing a LOT.