Bali Freehold for Foreigners: Is PT PMA Freehold Real?

Can foreigners buy freehold property in Bali?

No, not as freehold. On a Bali listing, “freehold” describes the seller’s title: the land has a Hak Milik certificate (SHM), the strongest right there is, with no end date. What a buyer ends up holding depends on who the buyer is. An Indonesian citizen takes over the Hak Milik. A foreign buyer never does: the title changes on the way to the buyer, to HGB for a company or to Hak Pakai (right of use) for a private home.

So “freehold villa for sale” is an honest description of what is being sold, not of what a foreigner will own. That is why we label our listings by the seller’s certificate, freehold or leasehold, and explain the buyer’s side here. If you are weighing the two, our guide to leasehold vs freehold in Bali compares them.

Why a PT PMA can’t hold freehold

Hak Milik is reserved for Indonesian citizens (UUPA art. 21). The law also treats any sale, gift or other arrangement meant to pass Hak Milik to a foreigner “directly or indirectly” as void. The land falls to the State, and money already paid can’t be reclaimed (art. 26(2)). A PT PMA is a company, not a citizen, and ordinary companies cannot hold Hak Milik. Foreign ownership of the shares makes no difference to that rule; an Indonesian-owned company cannot hold Hak Milik either.

What an Indonesian company can hold is HGB (Hak Guna Bangunan, right to build) and Hak Pakai (UUPA arts. 36 and 42; Government Regulation, PP, 18/2021 arts. 34 and 49). A PT PMA is an Indonesian legal entity, so it can hold HGB, as long as it stays a real, compliant company. The PT PMA route therefore means: the freehold stops being freehold, and the company holds a time-limited title instead.

What the PT PMA gets instead: HGB

HGB is a registered title, recorded at the land office (BPN) in the company’s name, with its own certificate. It can be sold, mortgaged and inherited through the company.

The usual route when a PT PMA buys from a local owner works like this. The owner gives up (releases) the Hak Milik to the State, or the title is changed at the land office as part of the purchase; either way the Hak Milik stops existing. In legal terms the plot becomes “State land”, even though you bought it from a Balinese family, and the State grants the company HGB on it (UUPA art. 27; PP 18/2021 art. 38; Permen ATR/BPN 18/2021 art. 158). That HGB has the full three-step term: up to 30 years, extendable by up to 20 and renewable by up to 30 (PP 18/2021 art. 37).

There is a second, less usual form: the owner keeps the Hak Milik and grants HGB over it to the company by a PPAT deed (art. 38(3)). That HGB runs for up to 30 years and is renewed only by a new deed with the owner; at the end the land goes back to the owner. You can agree the renewals with the owner up front, but that stays a promise in a contract, not a registered 80-year title: the certificate shows 30 years, pre-signed deeds or an irrevocable power of attorney for land are not allowed (PP 24/1997 art. 39), and in 30 years it may be the heirs who have to sign. It looks similar on paper but has no 80-year horizon, so make sure you know which form you are signing.

Ask the notary (PPAT, the land deed official) which form your deal uses and what expiry date will be on the certificate. When a PT PMA buys land that already has an HGB certificate from another company, it takes over the remaining years, not a fresh 30.

Is PT PMA freehold real freehold? Five differences

No. People call it freehold because the price is paid once, there is no landlord and the title is in a name you control. These five points are what separate HGB held by your company from Hak Milik:

The last row matters for resale: your buyers are Indonesians (who can turn it back into freehold, see below) and companies. A foreign individual who wants the villa as a home would need it changed to Hak Pakai, with Bali’s minimum price of IDR 5 billion for a house.

How long HGB lasts: 80 years in three steps

HGB is granted for up to 30 years. It can then be extended by up to 20 years and renewed for up to 30 years, so up to 80 years in all (PP 18/2021 art. 37). Each step is an application to the land office, not an automatic right. Apply for the extension once the land is used for its purpose, and before the term ends; a renewal can still be applied for up to two years after the term has ended (art. 41). After that, the land has returned to the State.

Two conditions sit behind every extension: the holder must still qualify (the company still exists as an Indonesian legal entity), and the land must be in use. Land that is deliberately left unused for two years can be declared abandoned after warnings and taken back by the State (PP 20/2021); a building, a fence or a garden counts as use. If the company stops qualifying, for example because it is dissolved, it has one year to transfer the HGB (art. 35).

How tested is this? The first term and the 20-year extension have been routine since the 1960s. The 30-year renewal has existed since 1996, so the oldest Indonesian HGBs are going through it now. Bali villa purchases through a PT PMA only became common in the 2000s, so most of those titles are still in their first 30 years; few have been extended, and none has been renewed.

The clock belongs to the title, not to the buyer. A company that buys an existing SHGB with 12 years left gets 12 years, plus whatever extension is still available. Check the expiry date on the certificate before you agree a price.

What happens after 80 years?

When the term, the extension and the renewal have all run out, the land returns to the State (PP 18/2021 art. 37(3)). The minister then decides how the land is used again and “may give priority” to the former holder (art. 37(4); Permen ATR/BPN 18/2021 art. 107). In practice that means the company applies for a new HGB on the same land, and a new grant starts the cycle again: 30 years, plus 20, plus 30. That is what people mean when they say a PMA can “renew forever”.

Three honest caveats:

• Priority is a discretion, not a guarantee. The application is judged on whether the land is still well used, the company still qualifies and the use still fits the spatial plan.
• Nobody has been through this yet. HGB has only existed since the 1960 Agrarian Law, so the first titles can only reach the end of a full 80-year cycle in the 2040s. Bali’s PMA villa titles are younger still: most date from the 2000s or later and are in their first 30 years, so even the extension step has little track record here.
• The rules in force then may not be today’s. The HGB terms have already been rewritten twice (PP 40/1996, then PP 18/2021), and in 2026 alone Bali closed business lines to new foreign-owned companies and banned nominee ownership. Rules on foreign ownership can tighten as well as loosen, so “renew forever” is an expectation, not a legal certainty.

A buyer should price that uncertainty rather than assume a new grant.

For HGB over an Indonesian’s Hak Milik, the end is simpler and sooner: after at most 30 years the land goes back to the owner, unless the owner signs a new deed.

Can HGB become freehold again?

Yes, in two steps, and only through a real sale to an Indonesian individual. First, the PT PMA sells the HGB to the Indonesian buyer by a deed of sale before a PPAT; the usual transfer taxes apply and the HGB is registered in the buyer’s name. Second, the new owner applies to the land office to change the HGB into Hak Milik.

The simple route has clear conditions (Kepmen ATR/BPN 1339/2022, as of 2026):

• the house belongs to an individual Indonesian citizen;
• the plot is at most 600 m²;
• the building is a home: a building permit (PBG or the old IMB), or a letter from the village head that it is used as a residence, plus a land tax notice (PBB) showing a building;
• the whole plot on one certificate; the HGB may still run or have ended.

The land office fee is IDR 50,000 per plot and, for houses up to 600 m², the ministry says the change takes about five working days.

Bigger plots. Most villa plots in Bali are larger than 600 m² (6 are). They can still become Hak Milik, but not on the quick route. The Indonesian owner applies for a grant of Hak Milik, which the land office decides with a report on the land and a decree (SK), instead of a simple change on the certificate. The requirements are the same (an Indonesian individual, a home, the permits), and a ministry rule from 1998 limits residential Hak Milik to five plots or 5,000 m² per person. A villa run as a business, or land in a tourism or commercial zone, may not count as a home. Ask the land office or your PPAT before you count on it.

For a foreign owner the practical point is resale. An Indonesian individual buying a house on a plot of up to 600 m² can turn it back into Hak Milik, so your buyer pool is not only companies.

What the PMA freehold route costs

On top of the price, buying HGB costs the buyer BPHTB, the land and building acquisition duty (Law 1/2022). It is up to 5% of the price or the tax value (NJOP), whichever is higher, less a tax-free amount. The seller owes 2.5% income tax. The PPAT’s fee is capped by regulation at 1% or less of the price, falling for higher values. The land office charges a registration fee of 0.1% of the land value plus IDR 50,000, and IDR 50,000 for the certificate check. Ask the PPAT for a written quote that names each item. The company itself adds setup and yearly costs; see our guide to Bali property taxes and buying costs and the PT PMA guide.

Who PMA freehold suits in 2026

A PT PMA suits a real business: rental accommodation, a small resort, a development to sell on. It does not suit a private home, because the company must be licensed for a business line, report its investment and pay tax as a business. Since May 2026, Bali has closed 18 business lines to new foreign-owned applications, including renting out owned or leased property (KBLI 68111), so check that your planned business line is still open before you buy.

For a home of your own, two routes fit better. One is Hak Pakai in your own name, for a house at or above Bali’s minimum price (our guide to Hak Pakai in Bali). The other is a long lease. A lease has no company, no reporting and no title conversion; what it lacks is an end that you control, which is why the extension clause matters so much. Our guide to buying property in Bali as a foreigner compares all the routes.

How we label tenure on our listings

• Freehold: the land has a Hak Milik certificate (SHM). An Indonesian buyer keeps it; a PT PMA buyer holds it as HGB; a foreign private buyer of a home holds it as Hak Pakai. Browse our freehold villas and freehold land.
• Leasehold: a notarized lease with the years left shown on the listing, priced for the whole term, and for land per are per year. Browse our leasehold villas and leasehold land.
• HGB: where a villa already sits on an HGB certificate, the listing says so and shows the expiry date, because a buyer takes over the remaining years.

We review the certificate and permits with the owner before a listing goes online. The official land office check can only be requested by a PPAT; that check and the steps in our due diligence guide come before any deposit.

Next steps

1. Decide what you are buying for: a business (PT PMA with HGB), a home (Hak Pakai or a lease) or an investment to resell. The route follows from that.
2. For a PT PMA purchase, ask the PPAT which HGB route the deal uses and what expiry date will be on the certificate; get the taxes and fees in writing.
3. Put the extension dates in your company calendar, keep the LKPM reports and tax filings current, and keep the land in use.
4. Have a licensed consultant confirm the company’s business line is open in Bali and the capital rules for your plan.
5. Tell us what you need and we will send villas and plots that fit the route you choose, with the certificate and permits already reviewed.