Got a vacant property? Here's what to check before you list it
A villa in Taif that only gets used two months a year. A beachside chalet in Jeddah. An empty apartment inherited from family. These are common scenarios, properties many people own without using year-round. Gathern is one of the platforms that turns that idle property into monthly income, but before you list anything, there's a regulatory step you need to clear first.
Gathern in short: what it is and how it works
Gathern is a platform licensed by Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Tourism to regulate shared accommodation, connecting property owners with travelers looking for a villa, chalet, farm, or apartment for daily rental instead of a traditional hotel. The platform covers more than 200 cities and governorates, with over 50,000 listed properties currently active.
Statistic
earnings above this figure, according to Gathern Business data, though the
actual number depends heavily on the property's location, type, and
seasonal demand.
Signing up on the platform itself is free, and you get a dedicated account manager to help track bookings and performance. But "free" here refers to the platform registration fee, not the government license you need to secure first, and that's the part many owners get caught out by.
The required license: private tourism hospitality facility
Before you can list any residential unit on Gathern or any other booking platform, you need a "private tourism hospitality facility" license from the Ministry of Tourism. This license is what legally allows you to rent your property out on a daily basis to tourists and visitors.
Checklist
Hold Saudi nationality
Have an electronic title deed or electronic lease proving your right to the property
Get approval from co-owners if the property is jointly owned
Keep the applicant's and property's data updated in the system
Fit the unit out to meet Ministry requirements (fire alarm systems, fire suppression, health and hygiene standards)
The license is issued through the Ministry of Tourism's "Tourism Activities Licensing" (TLG) platform, costs SAR 1,100 per year per license, and remains valid for a full year from the issue date. There's a cap to note: a maximum of 3 permits per property and 8 permits total per person, unless you have a contract with a licensed hospitality facility management company, which raises the cap.
Tip
contract with a licensed management company clears the 8-permit cap and
makes it easier to track all your units from one place.
The fines for listing without a license
The Ministry of Tourism actively monitors platforms, and listing an unlicensed residential unit is explicitly prohibited. The fines aren't symbolic:
Warning
the license expire without renewal is also SAR 5,000. Obstructing a
Ministry inspector adds another SAR 5,000. Smaller fines apply for failing
to update your data or comply with health requirements, reaching SAR
1,000. The platform itself faces accountability if it keeps showing
unlicensed units, so expect any listing without a clear license number to
be rejected or removed.
The registration steps on Gathern
Once the license is in hand, registering on the platform itself is relatively simple:
Timeline
- Register your basic details on the Gathern Business platform and attach your private tourism hospitality facility license number
- Add property details (type, location, room count, amenities) and clear photos of the unit
- Wait for Gathern's team to review and verify your data and license
- Once approved, get assigned a dedicated account manager to help activate bookings and manage pricing
- Link your payout account and start receiving booking requests
The platform provides a dedicated app for hosts (Gathern Business) to manage bookings, reports, and sales tracking from one place, instead of handling everything manually over the phone or through messages.
Who actually benefits from this path
Example
with family two weeks a year. After licensing and registering on Gathern,
they started renting it out the rest of the year to families and groups
looking for a place near the route, turning a mostly idle property into
steady monthly income.
This path suits property owners in areas with clear tourist or seasonal demand: coastal chalets, farms on city outskirts, villas in vacation destinations. A property in a quiet residential neighborhood far from any tourist activity often won't see the same return, so it's worth comparing the cost (license fees, setup, marketing) against the expected return before committing.
The decision in short
The license is the first step, not one you can skip or postpone. Have your title deed or lease ready, confirm co-owner approval if applicable, and submit your application through the TLG portal before thinking about registering on any platform. After that, registering on Gathern itself is a clear, quick process, and the difference between a vacant property and one earning monthly income starts with that license.
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