Planned amendments to Jordan’s real estate ownership law have brought into focus limits on foreign land acquisition and the method of compensating property owners when land is expropriated for railway projects. The proposals have reopened debate over the balance between protecting private property and the state’s authority to carry out infrastructure projects.
New amendments to the 2019 law
The Real Estate Ownership Law, which came into force in 2019, regulates the sale, mortgage and leasing of land, real estate and housing units. The law also sought to bring together regulations enacted at different times in previous years under a single framework.
Fayez al-Qudah, the State Minister for Legal Affairs, said implementation between 2019 and 2026 had shown the need for changes in some areas. The proposals include digitizing transactions, regulating co-ownership, calculating expropriation compensation, attracting real estate investment and facilitating infrastructure projects.
A joint committee of the Legal and Economic committees in the Jordanian Senate approved the bill in the form submitted by the House of Representatives. Committee Chairman Raja al-Muasher said the government had not made sufficient preparations before submitting the bill or established the necessary dialogue with society. Muasher said the regulation’s rationale, objectives and possible consequences had not been adequately explained.
Limit on foreign ownership for residential purposes
Abdulmunim al-Awdat, the minister responsible for political and parliamentary affairs, said the proposal on foreign acquisition of land and property outside zoning boundaries did not grant an unlimited right. The amendment would preserve existing restrictions and conditions while allowing foreigners to acquire up to 10 dunums of property for private residential use.
Economic analyst and political activist Muhammad al-Bashir said the debate over foreign property ownership could be influenced by Jordan’s border with Israel and historical concerns about the creation of buffer zones in neighboring countries.
Al-Bashir said attracting foreign investors should be assessed alongside the needs of the Jordanian economy. He said it was necessary to examine which factories or agricultural projects were needed, whether investments would reduce the foreign trade deficit and whether they would limit dependence on imports.
Al-Bashir stressed that citizens’ ownership of their land should be protected and warned that the fragmentation of property in favor of large capital groups could cause serious social harm, particularly to families whose livelihoods depend on agriculture. He said global economic openness could facilitate capital flows, but added that reforms strengthening political participation, oversight and accountability were needed because of regional sensitivities.
Expectations for investment and the real estate market
MP Dima Tahboub said the idea of allowing foreigners to acquire property was initially introduced to encourage investment in Jordan and was later expanded to cover private residences and property outside zoning boundaries.
Tahboub said housing should primarily be directed to areas within zoning boundaries. She said land outside those boundaries could have sensitive security, economic or water-related characteristics and opposed foreign ownership in those areas.
Majid Qusheh, chairman of the Association of Housing Sector Investors, said they supported measured steps that attract investment and revive the real estate market. Qusheh said the sector was connected to construction, building materials, financing, engineering services and employment.
Qusheh stressed that foreign ownership of land outside zoning boundaries was not being opened up without limits and said the proposal allowed ownership of up to 10 dunums solely for residential purposes. He said foreign investments should bring in new capital, establish genuine projects and create jobs, adding that merely purchasing land and holding it without development would not provide the same benefit.
Qusheh also said foreigners’ purchase of homes or property in projects built by licensed housing and real estate development companies could channel external demand into productive economic activity. He said foreign property ownership did not in itself represent either a risk or an investment incentive, adding that the outcome would depend on regulations and implementation mechanisms.
Objection over compensation for railway land
Tahboub said the government had been granted the authority to expropriate one-quarter of the land without compensation for road projects serving the public interest. She warned that adding railways to the definition of roads could increase the risk of taking part of private property without payment and said a railway passing through land could reduce the property’s market value.
Qusheh said the amendment needed to strike a balance between implementing major infrastructure projects, protecting private property and strengthening confidence in the investment climate. He said a railway project could connect development and industrial zones by improving transportation and logistics services, adding that the key issue was the method used to expropriate the land required for the project.
As part of the changes in the area of real estate ownership, the committee proposed improving co-ownership procedures and increasing the capacity of the administrative unit responsible for implementing the law. Other proposals include giving priority to state-owned land in infrastructure projects, expropriating citizens’ land only when necessary and establishing common criteria for calculating fair compensation.
