Acquiring premises by foreigners in Hungary
The ownership of premises in Hungary - with the exception of agricultural land and natural conservation areas man be acquired by foreign legal and natural persons by force of authority permission.
No permission is necessary among others
- in case of inheritance
- if the acquirer is an EU-citizen or an enterprise registered in the EU and the aim of acquirement is not a secondary domicile
- the premise is a farm not larger then 6.000 qm.
To aqcuire the ownership a written purchase agreement signed by an attorney at law as well as the registration in the land register is necessary.
The land register is kept by District Registration Offices subjected to the Ministry of Agriculture. Against the decision of the Registration Office an appeal may be lodged. The final decision may be contested with the ordinary court.
Expenses connected with acquiring of premises
- expenses of drafting the purchase contract and legal representation - 1-3 per cent of purchase price
- ownership assigment fee - 2-10 per cent of purchase price depending on the nature of the real estate
- registration fee -
- translation fee (about HUF 3.000/page)
- fee of obtaining an extract from the Land Register
The ownership of agricultural land may be acquired by foreign private persons according to the rules concerning Hungarian private persons (3.000.000 qm maximum) if
- the foreign person is a EU-citizen and
- this person has been living in Hungary for at least three years continously and is intending to settle as farmer
Foreign legal persons may not acquire the ownership of agricultural land, since not even Hungarian legal persons may do so.
As security for demands of foreign legal or natural persons permises in Hungary may be pledged but the ownership of a premise pledged may only be acquired in course of an execution process under the conditions set forth in the Civil Code, as well as described above.
