Monthly Rent for Expats in Saudi Arabia (2026): How a Resident Rents an Apartment and Pays Monthly Instead of a Year Upfront

A legal resident of Saudi Arabia can rent a home through the same official route as a citizen: the lease is documented on the Ejar platform under your Iqama number, you log in to your Ejar account through Nafath to review it, and the rent on new residential leases is paid through Ejar's digital channels. For many newcomers the obstacle is not the right to rent. It is the timing of the payment: your salary arrives monthly, while many landlords ask for the year's rent upfront or in a few large payments.

This guide takes a resident through it in order: what to set up before you search, how to agree the payment cycle in the lease, how much cash you need at the start, what to check about the lease term against your residency, and then the ways to pay monthly, including Dlight and its limits. For the general steps that apply to any tenant, start with the guide to renting an apartment in Saudi Arabia.

The short answer

• A residential lease is documented on Ejar, and a resident tenant logs in to their Ejar account through Nafath with their Iqama number.
• The payment cycle is agreed by the two parties and written into the lease: annual, semi-annual, quarterly or monthly. Paying the year upfront is a common market practice, not a condition the platform imposes.
• On new residential leases, rent is paid through Ejar's digital channels, such as mada and SADAD (biller number 153), so you need a local account or card that supports one of the two.
• If the landlord asks for the year upfront, your options are to negotiate the payment cycle, to save, to use your housing allowance if your employer pays it in advance, or to use a provider that pays the landlord while you repay it in instalments.

Before you start searching: set up these five things

Besides finding the apartment, small administrative gaps that come to light on documentation day often hold a new resident up. Sort them out early:

1. A valid Iqama and correct details. The lease is registered on Ejar under your Iqama number, so make sure your Iqama is valid and your details are correct before documentation, not after it.
2. A Saudi mobile number. Many services send their verification codes to it, and you will also need it if you apply through Dlight.
3. A Nafath account. You log in to Ejar through the National Single Sign-On (Nafath) with your national ID or Iqama number, then choose the number shown in the Nafath app. We cover the steps in the guide to logging in to Ejar through Nafath.
4. A local account or card that supports mada or SADAD. The two channels the Real Estate General Authority named for rent on new residential leases are mada, and SADAD with biller number 153, so arrange this before your first payment is due.
5. When your housing allowance is paid. If your employment contract includes a housing allowance, ask your employer when it is paid: monthly with your salary, or whether it can be paid several months in advance. That alone can decide which payment cycle suits you.

Some landlords or agencies may ask for something that reassures them you can pay, such as a salary letter from your employer. That is their request, which you can meet or negotiate, not a condition of the Ejar platform.

Renting an apartment as a resident, step by step

1. Work out your monthly rent ceiling and the cash you need at the start (see the example below).
2. Choose a district near your work, and view the unit yourself before you commit to anything.
3. Agree with the landlord on the rent, the lease term, the payment cycle, any security deposit, and who pays the electricity and water bills.
4. The landlord or the broker prepares the lease on Ejar with your details and the unit's details.
5. You log in to your Ejar account through Nafath and review the details, the payment schedule and the clauses before you approve the lease.
6. You pay each instalment on time as the lease schedule sets and keep proof of every payment.

The payment cycle: what Ejar records

Ejar does not require the year to be paid upfront. Electronic rent payments on the platform vary between annual, semi-annual, quarterly and monthly, according to what the two parties agree and write into the lease's schedule. Paying the full year upfront, or in two to four large payments, is a common market practice, and no rule obliges a landlord to accept any particular cycle.

So ask the landlord, before documentation, which cycle they accept, and make sure what you agree is written into the lease's own schedule: the payments written in the lease are the ones that appear in your Ejar account.

On new residential leases, rent is paid through Ejar's digital channels, such as mada and SADAD with biller number 153, and reaches the lessor's bank account within 5 working days, according to the Real Estate General Authority's announcement of January 2024. The step-by-step details are in the guide to paying rent through the Ejar platform. Keep proof of every payment, and never pay any part of the rent in cash.

Be careful with listings that show a monthly amount on a unit let on an annual lease: confirm that the landlord itself takes the monthly payments under the lease, not a payment provider's instalment offer.

How much cash do you need at the start? A worked example

Take an apartment with an annual rent of 36,000 SAR. What you pay at the start depends heavily on the payment cycle written into the lease:

• One annual payment: 36,000 SAR.
• Two semi-annual payments: 18,000 SAR each.
• Four quarterly payments: 9,000 SAR each.
• Twelve monthly payments: 3,000 SAR each.

The first payment usually comes with:

• A broker's commission, if you rent through an office: the Real Estate Brokerage Law sets it at 2.5% of the first year's rent, unless the parties to the brokerage contract agree otherwise in writing, and it is paid by the party that contracted the broker. In our example that is 900 SAR, and 15% VAT may be added, making 1,035 SAR.
• The Ejar documentation fee, if you are asked to pay it, although by default it falls to the landlord.
• A security deposit: some landlords ask for one at the start of the lease; it is usually refunded at the end according to its clause, so read that clause before documentation.
• Moving costs: furniture if the unit is unfurnished, transport, and getting the utilities set up.

In the same example, a resident may need more than 37,000 SAR at the start of the lease with an annual payment, or about 4,000 SAR with a monthly one, before the deposit and moving costs. These figures are for illustration only; real amounts vary by city, district and unit. To work out the rent ceiling that suits your income step by step, see the guide to the minimum salary for renting an apartment monthly.

The lease term against your residency

A residential lease is usually written for a year, while your Iqama and your employment contract renew on their own dates. Check these points before documentation, not after it:

• The three dates. Compare the lease's end date with your Iqama's expiry date and the end date of your employment contract. If one of them comes before the others, ask the landlord before documentation how that would be handled, and ask for the answer to be written into the lease.
• The end of the lease and its renewal. Read what the lease says about its end and its renewal, and from day one put in your calendar the end date and any notice deadline before it that your lease or the rules in force set. Those rules have been updated in recent years, and the official details are with the Real Estate General Authority and Ejar.
• Early termination. If a move to a job in another city, or leaving the Kingdom for good, is a real possibility, read the early-termination clause: what notice it requires, and what rent you would still owe if you left before the end of the term. Do not rely on a verbal promise; what is not written in the lease is hard to rely on later.
• Bills and meters. Agree in writing who pays the electricity and water bills, and how the meter is handled if it is shared by more than one unit.

If the landlord asks for the year upfront: a resident's options

If you have found the right apartment but the landlord asks for the year upfront, or for large payments whose timing does not match your payday, these are your options, starting with the ones that add no cost:

1. Negotiate the payment cycle before documentation. Ask the landlord whether they accept semi-annual, quarterly or monthly payments, and if they agree, have it written into the lease's schedule.
2. Your housing allowance, if it can be paid in advance. Ask your employer whether it pays the housing allowance in advance, and how many months it covers, before you commit to a payment cycle.
3. Start with temporary accommodation and save. If you have just arrived, it may make more sense to begin with a short temporary stay until you know the city and the districts near your work, and to save part of the first payment meanwhile. A furnished stay booked by the night or the week is usually a hospitality booking, not a residential lease on Ejar, so the payment options in this guide do not apply to it.
4. A provider that pays the landlord while you repay it in instalments. This is what Dlight offers to applicants who meet its conditions, within the limits set out in the next section, including that an application may currently be reviewed case by case depending on the unit's city, with nothing promised in advance.

You will find a wider comparison of these routes in the guide to renting without paying the year upfront in Saudi Arabia.

How Dlight works for residents

Dlight | ديلايت is a Saudi fintech company that helps tenants convert annual rent into monthly payments, and both Saudi citizens and legal residents can apply. You choose the unit and agree with the landlord; Dlight does not list units or search for them on your behalf. After approval and contract completion, Dlight pays the rent to the landlord, and you pay monthly.

Depending on the city of the unit you are renting, your application may currently be reviewed case by case by Dlight's team, and the arrangement cannot be promised in advance. Every application is subject to eligibility review and verification: you must be a Saudi citizen or a legal resident with verifiable income, and approval is not guaranteed in advance.

What the application form asks for. You start by signing up with a Saudi mobile number beginning with 05 and a code sent to you by text message, then enter your 10-digit national ID or Iqama number in the form. The form asks for one document, as a PDF of up to 10 MB: the document it names at the start. In some cases you may be asked for a recent salary certificate.

Before or after you choose the apartment. You can start your application before you choose the apartment, and the arrangement is completed on the unit you choose. Your application waits while you stay in touch with the team, and a file that goes quiet may be closed. One of the questions the application form may ask is "Will the landlord accept the rent in two payments?" So ask the landlord before you apply; if the answer is no, the team contacts you to look at the options available, with no outcome promised in advance.

The lease and the cost. Documenting the lease on Ejar is part of completing the arrangement, and the lease there is in your name, so you can open it from your own account and review it before you approve it. Dlight charges for its service either within the payments or as a separate fee, and the exact amount of each payment and the total cost appear in Dlight's offer after approval, before you accept it. Payment dates are set in the plan, and the first payment or a fee may be requested before the lease is documented or at its start.

Questions for a resident to ask before accepting. Read the whole offer, and before accepting ask how each payment is made, what applies if a payment is late, and what applies if you end the lease early or leave the Kingdom before the plan ends. Dlight does not take on repairs or the electricity, water and internet bills; those stay as the lease sets them.

Common questions from residents

Can a resident document a residential lease on Ejar in their own name?

Yes. The lease is documented under the tenant's Iqama number, and the resident logs in to their Ejar account through Nafath to review the lease and approve it. Make sure your Iqama is valid and your details are correct before documentation day, and read the payment schedule and the termination clauses before you approve.

I have just arrived in Saudi Arabia: can I pay monthly from my first lease?

You can if the landlord accepts a monthly payment cycle and it is written into the lease. If the landlord asks for the year upfront, you can apply through Dlight, and the arrangement is completed on a specific unit that you choose. One of the application form's questions is "Will the landlord accept the rent in two payments?"; if not, the team contacts you, with no outcome promised. Depending on the unit's city, your application may currently be reviewed case by case by Dlight's team, and the arrangement cannot be promised in advance. Every application is subject to eligibility review and verification, and the amount of each payment and the total cost appear in the offer after approval, before you accept it.

What happens if I leave Saudi Arabia before the lease ends?

The lease itself sets that out in its early-termination clause: the notice it requires and the rent you would still owe. Read it before documentation, and ask for any different arrangement to be written into the lease. If your rent is in a payment plan with any provider, ask before accepting its offer what applies if you end the lease early or leave the Kingdom; the answer is set by the offer and the lease, not by this guide.

Quick answers

Does Ejar require the year to be paid upfront?

No. Payment cycles on the platform vary between annual, semi-annual, quarterly and monthly, according to what the two parties agree and write into the lease. The year upfront is a common practice that many landlords ask for, not a condition of the platform.

Do I need a local account to pay the rent?

On new residential leases, rent is paid through Ejar's digital channels, such as mada and SADAD with biller number 153, so you need a local account or card that supports one of the two, and it is best to arrange it before your first payment is due.

Does Dlight find me an apartment?

No. Dlight does not list units or search for them; you choose the unit and agree with the landlord, then apply. Depending on the unit's city, your application may currently be reviewed case by case by Dlight's team, and the arrangement cannot be promised in advance.

Summary and next step

A resident rents through the same official route as a citizen: a lease documented on Ejar under their Iqama number, and payments on the schedule written into the lease. So set up your mobile number, local account and Nafath before you search, negotiate the payment cycle before documentation, and compare the lease term with your residency. If the large payment at the start is what is holding you back, find out whether you can pay your rent monthly by applying with Dlight. One of the form's questions is whether the landlord will accept the rent in two payments; if not, the team contacts you, with no outcome promised, and depending on the unit's city your application may currently be reviewed case by case, with nothing promised in advance.

This is general information, and the rules are updated from time to time, so check the Real Estate General Authority and Ejar for the official details.