New Morocco Bill Targets Longstanding Delays in Property Subdivision Projects

Casablanca – After more than three decades of legal bottlenecks and procedural delays, a new bill aimed at overhauling Morocco’s real estate subdivision framework has been introduced in the House of Representatives, reopening a long-stalled file that has weighed on urban development and public finances. 

The draft law, presented on Monday, April 1, before the Interior Committee by Housing and Urban Policy Minister Fatima Ezzahra El Mansouri, seeks to regulate land subdivisions, residential groups, and property partitioning through updated rules meant to fix structural flaws that have persisted since the current legislation came into force more than 30 years ago. 

According to the minister, the existing three-year deadline for completing infrastructure works has repeatedly proved unrealistic, leaving many subdivisions unfinished and creating inconsistent legal interpretations among different stakeholders.

In many cases, local authorities and municipalities later had to step in and cover the cost of correcting defects in incomplete urban areas, adding financial pressure on public budgets. 

The new text also addresses a legal gap tied to projects carried out in phases, while introducing measures designed to speed up approvals and revive investment in the sector. The government expects the reform to help unlock job creation and generate additional tax revenues for both the state and local councils. 

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One of the bill’s main changes is the introduction of new permit validity periods based on land size. Projects under 20 hectares would keep a three-year window, while larger developments would benefit from longer deadlines ranging from five years to as much as 15 years for sites exceeding 400 hectares. 

The proposal also creates a formal legal process for suspending works when interruptions are caused by circumstances beyond the developer’s control. Technical committees would review these requests and could grant additional time to complete stalled projects, including cases where previous permits had already expired. 

It further strengthens governance by assigning municipal council presidents clear deadlines to convene provisional and final acceptance committees, while giving provincial governors substitute powers if local officials fail to act.

Public facilities within subdivisions would automatically transfer into municipal public property after provisional acceptance of works. 

The bill also tightens the framework for restructuring illegal subdivisions through a defined program covering land, technical, and financial data, and expands property transfer rules by formally including donations alongside sales. 

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