Can foreigners own land or property in Bali?

What can a foreigner legally own in Bali?

A foreigner can own a home on a right-of-use title, or lease one, but never hold freehold land. You qualify while you hold an immigration document: in 2023 the land agency read that as a passport and visa, with no KITAS (limited stay permit) needed. Ask the land deed official what to hold between trips if your visa will lapse.^{[1, 2, 3]}

A house in Bali must cost at least IDR 5 billion (about USD 280,000) and count as a luxury home. You get one plot per person or family, of up to 2,000 m². An apartment must cost at least IDR 2 billion (about USD 110,000). If its building stands on right-of-use or building-rights land, it must be in an economic zone, and tourism areas count as one. Where you buy a house on freehold or building-rights land, its title is changed to a right of use in your name. The other route is a right of use granted over a freehold the owner keeps.^{[2, 4, 5, 6, 7]}

These price floors date from 2022 and can change, so check the current figure with the land deed official before you agree a price.^[5]

What is the difference between leasehold and freehold in Bali?

Freehold is a permanent title that only Indonesian citizens may hold, dual nationals excluded. Leasehold is a contract that gives you the use of land or a villa for a set time, for an agreed price.^{[1, 10]}

A lease is not a land title, so its terms, any option to extend included, are whatever the contract says. If the owner sells the land, your lease still stands, unless the lease itself says a sale ends it.^[10]

How long does a hak pakai last, and can it be extended?

On state land a right of use runs for up to 30 years, then you can extend it by up to 20 and renew it for up to 30 more. Over someone else's freehold it runs for up to 30 years, and only a new deed from the owner renews it.^[2]

So on freehold land, your second term depends on the owner agreeing to sign again.^[2]

Can you buy land through a company?

Not as freehold: a company is for business investment, not a way round the freehold rule. A foreign investor invests through an Indonesian limited company, a PT PMA (foreign-owned Indonesian company). That company can hold building rights (HGB) for up to 30 years, extended by 20 and renewed by 30.^{[2, 9]}

Shares held for you by an Indonesian are no fix: an agreement that someone holds company shares in their name for another person is void.^[9]

Is a nominee arrangement legal in Bali?

No. Any sale, gift or other deal meant to pass freehold to a foreigner, directly or indirectly, is void by law. The land falls to the state, and what you paid the seller cannot be reclaimed.^[1]

Ask to see the title in your own name before you pay anything. In Bali's tourist areas, a local person's name can go on the certificate while a foreigner controls the land. The law does not protect that.^{[1, 12]}

What does the land deed official (PPAT) do?

A PPAT (land deed official) makes the deed for your purchase, or for a right of use over freehold. The land office registers the transfer only with that deed.^{[2, 11]}

What happens to your home if you die or no longer qualify?

Your home can pass to your heirs, and a foreign heir needs an immigration document of their own. A foreigner qualifies only while holding an immigration document. If you no longer qualify, you have one year to sell or transfer the right of use to someone who does, or it lapses.^[2]

A foreigner who gets freehold land by inheritance, or through joint marital property, has one year to give it up, or it falls to the state.^[1]