Buying, building on or dividing agricultural or rural land in Morocco

What is the land status of the plot?

In rural areas, the first question is not the price but the status. The guide Melkia or land title details the situations; here is what matters in the countryside:

• Titled melk: registered private property, with a land title (titre foncier, الرسم العقاري) and a plan. This is the safest situation, provided you check the certificate of ownership and the boundaries.
• Untitled melk: private property proven by a melkia (customary ownership deed, الملكية) or adoul deeds. Very common in the countryside around Fez. The boundaries are often described by reference to the neighbouring owners, without measurement.
• Collective land (terres collectives, أراضي الجماعات السلالية): it belongs to the soulaliyate communities, under the administrative supervision provided for by Law No. 62-17 (2019). Two other laws of the same year reform administrative delimitation (Law No. 63-17) and collective land located within irrigation perimeters (Law No. 64-17). The latter organises the allocation of this land in ownership to the rights holders, which the press calls “melkisation”. A rights holder who “sells their share” without going through these procedures does not transfer private property.
• Guich land (terres guich, أراضي الجيش): historically granted for use, it is not sold like melk.
• Habous (الأحباس): property dedicated to a pious purpose, managed by the Ministry of Habous and Islamic Affairs; it cannot be acquired through an ordinary sale.
• Private domain of the State (domaine privé de l'État): it cannot be acquired through possession, even long possession (Real Rights Code, Article 261). Part of the State's agricultural land is made available to investors through long-term leases, after calls for tenders organised under the public-private partnership managed by the Agricultural Development Agency (ADA). What is leased is then a right to farm, not ownership.

The Real Rights Code prohibits the acquisition through possession of collective land, habous property and State property (Article 261). A melkia drawn up for such land is therefore worthless against the community or the State.

Individual or collective land registration

Untitled rural land can be registered under the ordinary procedure of the dahir of 12 August 1913: registration application, public notice, boundary marking, objections, then title. It is described in the guide to land registration.

There is also a collective procedure: Dahir No. 1-69-174 of 25 July 1969 on the collective registration of rural property (immatriculation d'ensemble des propriétés rurales). In its original wording, it allows collective registration zones to be opened by order outside urban municipalities (Article 1). The formalities there are free of charge if the registration application is filed within one year of the publication of the order, except for costs relating to objections (Article 3). The land registrar files a parcel schedule and plan, then organises the boundary marking by posted notice; objections are received for two months after the publication of the completion of boundary marking (Articles 4 to 8).

If your douar (village) is concerned by such an operation, that is the time to file your registration application and attend the boundary marking: the boundaries set that day will become those of the title. Ask the land registry and the local authority, as the practical conditions may have changed since 1969.

Who can buy agricultural land: Moroccans, Moroccans abroad, companies, foreigners

The basic text is Dahir having force of law No. 1-73-645 of 23 April 1975 on the acquisition of agricultural property or property with an agricultural purpose outside urban perimeters, amended by Law No. 62-19 (Official Bulletin No. 7014 of 19 August 2021, French edition). Its Article 1 provides that such acquisition “is reserved for Moroccan natural persons or legal persons subject to Moroccan law” (our translation), which it lists: the State, the soulaliyate communities, public limited companies and partnerships limited by shares subject to conditions, and other legal persons governed by private law whose members are Moroccan.

• A Moroccan living abroad (MRE) with Moroccan nationality is a Moroccan natural person: they can buy on the same terms as a resident, through a power of attorney if necessary (see the guide Melkia or land title on the form of the power of attorney).
• A public limited company or a partnership limited by shares may buy if the land is transferable and registered or undergoing registration, if it is intended for agricultural investment and after prior approval of the unified regional investment commission (Law No. 47-18). The contract and the specifications are entered on the title; the land remains subject to a prohibition on transfer, mortgage, seizure and letting until the release certificate recording completion of the investments. In the event of a breach, the approval may be withdrawn and the property transferred to the State against compensation (new Article 2).
• A foreigner, whether a natural or legal person, cannot acquire agricultural property outside an urban perimeter. Dahir having force of law No. 1-73-213 of 2 March 1973 transfers to the State agricultural property or property with an agricultural purpose belonging to foreigners, and Dahir No. 1-63-288 of 26 September 1963 subjects certain property transactions involving rural agricultural property, including certain leases, to control.

The certificate of non-agricultural purpose (attestation de vocation non agricole, AVNA). A foreigner who wishes to carry out a non-agricultural project (tourism, industry, housing) on land located wholly or partly outside an urban perimeter must obtain an AVNA, provided for by Decree No. 2-04-683. The application goes through the regional investment centre. A joint circular of 29 April 2022 points out that the AVNA is linked to a non-agricultural investment project, that it is not issued in areas of high agricultural potential, irrigation perimeters or land consolidation perimeters, and that any refusal must state reasons.

Bear in mind that an AVNA does not make land buildable: buildability is a matter for the urban planning rules (next section). Also check the nationality of each buyer, including a spouse or a partner, before signing.

These rules have been amended several times. Have the regime applicable to your transaction confirmed by the notary or lawyer who will draw up the deed and, for a company or a foreigner, by the regional investment centre.

Building in rural areas

Everything depends on the urban planning document covering the land, presented in the guide Development plan, zoning, Taamir:

• Rural settlement with a development plan (plan de développement, dahir of 25 June 1960) or area covered by a development plan (plan d'aménagement): it is this document that sets the land use and the rules.
• Permit mandatory even outside an urban perimeter: along roads and railways other than municipal ones, for one kilometre on either side of their centre line, along the maritime public domain for five kilometres, and in all authorised subdivisions (Law No. 12-90, Article 40).
• Land outside any document: the permit is issued if the project complies with the rules set by regulation on the minimum plot area, the buildable area and the height, as well as minimum setbacks (Article 46). These thresholds appear in Decree No. 2-92-832 implementing Law No. 12-90.

Under the general building regulations (Decree No. 2-18-577), a project located in an area whose land use is not defined by any development plan, zoning plan or rural development plan falls under the “large projects” procedure (grands projets, Annex 2), and therefore an examination by committee, not the simplified procedure.

For projects that do not meet the regulatory thresholds, a joint circular of the Ministries of Urban Planning and of the Interior of April 2023 provided, according to the press, for the delimitation of douar perimeters by provincial committees and the systematic meeting of a specialised committee. These exemptions remain case by case: do not buy counting on them.

Two other conditions: the land must be capable of being connected to drinking water and sewerage, or have autonomous solutions offering the required health guarantees (Article 47); and the architect, mandatory in towns, is required outside the perimeters only for public buildings or buildings open to the public (Article 51). The application file is described in the guide Building permit.

Dividing rural land: plot division and subdivision

Law No. 25-90, as amended and supplemented by Law No. 34-21 (Official Bulletin No. 7533 of 10 August 2026), distinguishes division into lots intended for building, which is a subdivision (lotissement), from division into lots not intended for building, which is a plot division (morcellement, تقسيم العقارات).

The prior plot division authorisation (autorisation préalable de morcellement) under Article 58 does not apply everywhere. It covers municipalities whose urban perimeter covers the whole territory, delimited centres and their peripheral zones, special-purpose zones and any zone covered by an approved urban planning document. In these zones, it is required for any sale or partition that divides land into two or more lots, and for a sale in undivided ownership that gives a buyer a share below the minimum set by the urban planning document, or below 2,500 m² if that document sets nothing. The details (timeframe, refusal in a buildable zone, role of adoul and notaries) are given in the guide Inheritance and division.

Outside these zones, Law No. 25-90 does not require a plot division authorisation, but division is still regulated: a deed drawn up by an authorised professional, a plot division plan and new titles for each lot for registered land, and the right of pre-emption of co-owners in undivided ownership. And as soon as the lots are intended for building, the subdivision regime applies, which requires land that is registered or undergoing registration without objection.

Example: three brothers inherit 9 hectares of cereal land 30 km from Fez, outside any urban planning document. They can divide the land without a plot division authorisation, but none of them will be able to insist on building on their lot if it does not comply with the regulatory area rules applicable outside a plan. Before drawing the lots, ask the urban planning agency which rules apply.

Water, wells and boreholes

Agricultural land is worth above all what its water is worth. Law No. 36-15 on water lays down three rules that are useful to a buyer.

A well is not unrestricted. The owner or the farmer “may be authorised” (our translation) to dig a well or a borehole on their land (Article 14). Article 28 makes subject to authorisation “the digging of wells and the drilling of boreholes for the exploration and/or abstraction and use of groundwater resources” (our translation). The application is subject to a public inquiry and the river basin agency (agence de bassin hydraulique; for Fez, the Sebou agency) decides on the basis of the opinion of the inquiry committee (Article 24). In safeguard perimeters or prohibition perimeters delimited where aquifers are under threat, authorisations are restricted, or even reserved for human consumption and watering livestock (Articles 111 and 112). Only a driller holding a driller's permit may carry out the drilling (Article 114).

Third parties' water rights follow the land. If the land is irrigated with water over which third parties have recognised rights, its sale or lease requires the owner to provide the buyer with a water lease contract setting the duration, the price and the volumes (Article 13).

Before buying, ask: is the existing well authorised, and in whose name? Is the land in a prohibition perimeter? Where does the irrigation water come from, and through which seguias (irrigation channels) does it flow? An unauthorised well is not a selling point.

Access, easements and landlocked plots

Many rural plots do not touch any track: they are reached “through the neighbour's field”, by mere tolerance. The Real Rights Code (Law No. 39-08) settles the question:

• Landlocked property: an owner whose property has “no outlet or only an insufficient outlet” (our translation) onto the public road for its use may obtain a right of way over the neighbouring properties, against adequate compensation, at the least damaging place (Article 64).
• Landlocking created by a division: the right of way can only be claimed over the lots resulting from the division (Article 65). So provide for access to each lot in the plan for the partition or partial sale.
• Irrigation water: the holder of a right of use over a spring may obtain the passage of water over the intermediate properties, against compensation paid in advance (Article 57).
• Boundaries: any owner may compel their neighbour to set the common boundaries, the costs being shared (Article 70).

For titled land, an easement is enforceable against third parties only if it is entered on the title. A right of way promised orally by the seller does not protect you: have it created by deed and entered on the title, with a plan setting out its route.

The role of the surveying engineer

The surveying engineer (ingénieur géomètre-topographe) registered with the ONIGT does not draw up the deed of sale, the melkia or the authorisation: those are the work of the adoul, the notary, the authorised lawyer, the land registrar and the municipality. The engineer's work is to measure and set boundaries:

• Survey before purchase: actual outline, measured area, tracks, wells, buildings, seguias, tied to Lambert coordinates. On a large plot described by reference to its neighbours, the difference between the area in the deed and the measured area can be significant.
• Overlay: plotting the land on the title plan, the cadastral map and the urban planning document, to check the footprint of a road or the boundary of a zone or perimeter.
• Boundary marking: for land registration, it is conducted by the cadastre department in the presence of the neighbouring owners; for a division, the engineer marks the boundaries of the lots and draws up the technical file checked by the cadastre.
• Plot division and location plans: required in the plot division authorisation file, the location plan having to be drawn up by a surveying engineer.

Ellipsoide carries out these surveys and technical files in the Fez-Meknes region (buying land); for the different plans, see Cadastral plan, title plan, topographic plan.

Frequently asked questions

Official sources

• Law No. 62-19 amending Dahir having force of law No. 1-73-645 of 23 April 1975 (acquisition of agricultural property outside urban perimeters), Dahir No. 1-73-213 of 2 March 1973 and Dahir No. 1-63-288 of 26 September 1963 (Official Bulletin No. 7014 of 19 August 2021) — Official Bulletin, reproduced by FAOLEX (FAO)
• Dahir No. 1-69-174 of 25 July 1969 on the collective registration of rural property (Official Bulletin No. 2960 bis of 29 July 1969) — Official Bulletin, reproduced by FAOLEX (FAO)
• Dahir No. 1-19-115 promulgating Law No. 62-17 on the administrative supervision of ethnic communities and the management of their property — Ministry of Justice (Adala)
• Law No. 36-15 on water (consolidated version of 18 July 2024) — Official Bulletin, reproduced by FAOLEX (FAO)
• Law No. 39-08 on the Real Rights Code (Official Bulletin No. 7158, French translation) — Official Bulletin, reproduced by FAOLEX (FAO)
• Law No. 12-90 on urban planning (consolidated version) — General Secretariat of the Government
• Decree No. 2-18-577 of 12 June 2019 approving the general building regulations, and joint orders (Official Bulletin No. 6874 of 16 April 2020) — Official Bulletin (copy from the Settat urban planning agency)
• Law No. 34-21 amending and supplementing Law No. 25-90 on subdivisions, housing groups and plot divisions (Official Bulletin No. 7533 of 10 August 2026, Arabic edition) — General Secretariat of the Government (Official Bulletin)

This guide provides general information, up to date as of the date shown. It does not replace the official texts or a professional review of your file. Ask us about your situation.