Expats can now buy a house in Muscat, here's how

Muscat: Expatriates who have reached the age of 23 can purchase housing units under the usufruct system in multi-storey residential and commercial buildings for a period of 99 years, provided that he has a residence permit of no less than two years when submitting the application.

The purchase control document sets the minimum price for the housing unit so that it not less than 45,000 and in specific locations in the Governorate of Muscat.

According to the document issued by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Planning, the usufruct purchase system includes the right of the expatriate to own the housing unit in person or in partnership with first-degree relatives, the possibility to obtain financing with the guarantee of the real estate unit, the possibility of disposing of the residential real estate unit after the lapse of four years, and the right to transfer the right of usufruct after death to the legal heirs.

As for the conditions of the building to be purchased, the Ministry has clarified that it must be within the site specified for sale and licensed by the Ministry, that it be a residential building of not less than four floors, that it should not have been built for more than four years, and that the number of rooms in the apartment is a two-bedroom unit with all amenities. The owner of the building has the right to apply the system of sale to expatriates with the right to usufruct 40 per cent of the housing unit, provided that buyers of the same nationality do not exceed 20 per cent. 

The price of the residential unit is OMR 45,000 or more in the Governorate of Muscat and OMR 35,000 or more in the rest of the governorates of the Sultanate. The number of housing units in one building should not exceed 40 per cent. 

Muscat Governorate is the only place where the usufruct purchase system for expatriates will be applied at the current stage, and other places will be determined in other governorates later. The specific places in the Governorate of Muscat in the current period are the wilayats of Al-Amerat, Bausher and Al-Seeb, with specific areas identified in them.