Real estate · REGA
Saudi real estate ads in 2026: what REGA requires in every ad
The Real Estate General Authority replaced its 1442 advertising rules with a new marketing and advertising regulation in 1447 AH (2026). It is short — twelve articles — and unusually concrete: article 5 lists what every ad must contain, article 7 lists what it must not. Most live Saudi property ads on Meta and Snapchat we sample still miss the first item on the list.
Who this applies to
Anyone marketing real estate to people in Saudi Arabia — brokers, developers, listing platforms, and agencies running ads for them. It does not matter whether the property is in Riyadh or abroad, or whether the ad runs on a billboard, Snapchat, Meta, TikTok or WhatsApp broadcast. If the audience is in the Kingdom, the ad needs a REGA advertising licence and must carry the items below.
What every ad must show (article 5.1)
| Item | Clause | What we see in practice |
|---|---|---|
| Advertising licence number | 5.1.و | The most common miss. Platforms often show their licence on the website but not in the ad copy or creative. |
| Licence expiry date | 5.1.ز | Almost never included. |
| Establishment (business) licence number | 5.1.ح | Rare in short-form ads. |
| The right being advertised — sale or rent | 5.1.أ | Usually present (للبيع / للإيجار), but ads that say only “تملك” or “استثمر” leave it unclear. |
| Description, condition and location of the property | 5.1.ب | Usually present at a basic level. |
| Any dispute or mortgage on the property | 5.1.ج | Never volunteered; a disclosure duty rather than a formatting one. |
| Contact details | 5.1.د | Present, but see 7.3 below — they must match the licence application. |
| Advertiser name | 5.1.ه | Often only a brand handle. |
The shortcut (article 5.2): the regulation allows the licence number plus a QR code that resolves to the full details to stand in for the longer list. For a Snapchat or Reels creative this is the practical route — number and QR in the frame, everything else behind the code.
What an ad must not do (article 7)
- 7.1 — disparage other advertisers, directly or indirectly.
- 7.2 — use fabricated listings or data to collect leads.
- 7.3 — show contact details that differ from those on the licence application.
- 7.4 — use government names, logos or identities without permission.
- 7.5 — imply information or a character of the property that differs from reality.
Article 6 adds an operational duty most teams forget: expired listings must be taken down(6.7). A “sold” unit still running as an ad is a violation, not just wasted budget.
Foreign property sold to Saudi audiences
Ads for apartments in Georgia, Turkey, Egypt or Dubai that target users in Saudi Arabia fall under the same regulation. The claims we see most in that segment — “guaranteed 10% annual return”, “no interest”, “price rises next week” — combine a REGA problem (7.5, misleading character) with a general one (guaranteed-outcome promises are treated as misleading across Saudi sector regulators).
Penalties
Violations are classified under the Real Estate Brokerage Law’s implementing rules (article 10 violation table). In practice the first consequence is faster: platforms and the authority’s monitoring take ads down, and the campaign budget already spent is gone.
Three-line self-check for any live property ad: (1) Is a REGA advertising licence number visible in the ad itself — text or creative? (2) Is its expiry date, or a QR code, there too? (3) Do the phone number and advertiser name match the licence? If any answer is no, fix before the next ad set.
Check a live ad in ten seconds
Paste the ad copy (and upload the creative if you have it), pick “real estate”, and FormicGuard runs the article 5 checklist plus the general Saudi rules — with the clause number next to each finding. Free, no card.
- Real Estate General Authority — اللائحة التنظيمية للتسويق والإعلانات العقارية (1447), rega.gov.sa. Clause numbers above refer to this text.
- Real Estate Brokerage Law implementing regulations, article 10 (violation classification).
FormicGuard is a pre-publication risk check, not legal advice or regulatory clearance. Regulations change; confirm against the current text at rega.gov.sa. Guide index: all guides.