Article 19 of the Saudi Eminent Domain Implementing Regulations

This article provides an alternative to cash compensation: a substitute government property. The project owner may offer it to the owner after completing the necessary procedures and obtaining the approval of the body competent by law, under the following controls:

1. The owner's consent: obtaining his initial consent to in-kind rather than cash compensation. It is thus an offer, not an obligation.
2. The substitute property: in accordance with an approved plan, free of encumbrances and claims, and not invested or leased.
3. Simultaneous valuation: the assessment committee values the expropriated property and the substitute property together, within a period not exceeding 90 days.
4. Limit on the difference: the difference between the two values must not exceed 30% if the difference is in favor of the project owner.
5. Concluding the procedures: after the owner's written consent to the assessment committee's decision, the competent authority issues the decision approving the conclusion of the procedures, and the body takes the procedures to transfer ownership of the substitute property in the owner's name, which is conveyed to him only after he conveys his expropriated property through a notary public or the court.

In practical terms the owner has two stages of consent: initial consent to the principle of in-kind compensation, then written consent to the valuation decision. The 30% limit relates to the case where the difference is in favor of the body, and the article does not state how the difference itself is dealt with. Anyone offered in-kind compensation should consult a lawyer specializing in real estate cases before giving written consent.