His Excellency Shaikh Mohammed bin Khalifa Al Khalifa, Chief Executive Officer of the Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA), said that work is under way to prepare all that RERA needs to start its work in an organized manner when the Law No. 27 of 2017 with respect to the promulgation of the Real Estate Sector Regulation Law comes into effect in March next year 2018. He added that an international consultancy firm will be contracted in the next few days to undertake the process of preparing the legal structures and procedures for the implementation of Law No. 27, including the implementation regulations, procedures for the issuance of all kinds of licenses, the organization structure of RERA, administrative and financial rules and procedures and all the IT and electronic systems of RERA. The work of the consultancy firm will extend over a span of three years of the operational phase. Work is progressing well in this direction and in accordance with the implementation plan.

Shaikh Mohammed affirmed that the Real Estate Sector Regulation Law represents a qualitative leap that reflects the high priority that the government gives to this sector. It is one of the most important non-oil sectors in terms of contribution to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), which is estimated to be about 5%. The law comes in line with keeping up with the steady and high growth and development that the real estate sector witnessed as a result of the comprehensive reform scheme initiated His Majesty the King.

His Excellency stressed that promoting the real estate sector will take place through the development and implementation of a national plan for the organization of the sector and through the development of a general strategy and policy to achieve the objectives of RERA. These objectives include implementation of the development policies of the government headed by His Royal Highness the Prime Minister and achieve the goals of Bahrain Economic Vision 2030 laid down by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, First Deputy Prime Minister.

He said that RERA, with the support and guidance of the Board of Directors under the chairmanship of His Excellency Shaikh Salman bin Abdullah Al Khalifa, President of the Survey and Land Registration Bureau (SLRB), will strive hard to achieve the objectives set for it for enhancing the efficiency of the market and the real estate services in order to safeguard the interests of consumers, investors and all stakeholders in the real estate market, which in turn will lead to growing the local economy by attracting foreign investment. RERA will work on establishing owners’ associations for jointly owned properties to assume administrative and legal responsibility for such properties and regulate the relationship between the owners of units and the property developer, as well as between the owners themselves. The owners’ associations will work to protect the rights of all these parties and ensure that they perform their duties in accordance with the laws and regulations.

His Excellency pointed out that the establishment of RERA comes as part of the of government’s policy for the diversification of financial resources of the national economy by enhancing the role and contribution of the non-oil sectors, especially the real estate sector, to the gross domestic product (GDP), as stressed by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, First Deputy Prime Minister in his speech at the recent Government Forum.

His Excellency added that "We, at RERA, will work on creating an accurate and detailed database for the real estate sector. The database which will be available to all property developers will serve as a platform that provides all the information that property developers require to help them with their real estate projects in the best possible and most efficient manner".  Property development plays a key role in growing this important economic sector and, for this reason, RERA will work on raising the competency and efficiency of real estate professionals, property developers, brokers, property valuers/ appraisers and property managers.

His Excellency said that the Real Estate Sector Regulation Law which will come into full effect in March next year represents an important development in the laws that govern the real estate sector. As from next March, property developers, brokers, valuers/ appraisers and those licensed to manage and operate the properties will be required to adjust their position to be in line with the requirements of the provisions of this law. He added that the real estate sector comes on the top the list of the main contributors to GDP as it was estimated to have contributed about 5% to GDP last year.   

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