Can Foreigners Buy Property in Bali? The Legal Routes Explained

Can foreigners buy property in Bali? Not as freehold, but leasehold, Hak Pakai and a PT PMA are legal. Compare rules, minimum prices, steps and costs.

Can foreigners buy property in Bali? Yes, but not as freehold: Hak Milik (freehold ownership) is reserved for Indonesian citizens, so foreigners use a long-term lease, Hak Pakai (right of use) in their own name, or a foreign-owned company (PT PMA) that holds HGB (right to build). This guide compares the routes, explains the options for couples where one partner is Indonesian, and walks you through the costs and buying steps as they stand in October 2026.

Why foreigners cannot own freehold in Bali

Indonesia’s Basic Agrarian Law (UUPA, Law 5/1960) reserves Hak Milik, the freehold title on an SHM certificate, for Indonesian citizens (art. 21). Ordinary companies cannot hold it, a PT PMA included, and neither can someone with a second citizenship. The law also closes the back door: any sale, gift or other act meant to pass Hak Milik directly or indirectly to a foreigner is void, the land falls to the State, and the money paid cannot be reclaimed (art. 26(2)). So foreigner property ownership in Bali works through other rights: a lease, Hak Pakai, or HGB held by a company.

Can foreigners buy property in Bali? The routes compared

There are three routes for foreigners, plus a fourth option if you are married to an Indonesian. In brief: Hak Pakai suits a home at or above the minimum price, a lease suits homes below it and land, and a PT PMA suits a real business.

Route 1: Leasehold (a long-term lease)

A leasehold is a contract: the owner keeps the Hak Milik certificate and lets you use the land or villa for an agreed period, for a price (Civil Code art. 1548). The whole rent may be paid upfront (UUPA art. 44), and the law sets no fixed maximum term; 25 to 30 years is common in practice. The Basic Agrarian Law lists foreigners domiciled in Indonesia, Indonesian companies and foreign companies with a representative office in Indonesia among those who may hold a lease (art. 45). If you live abroad, ask your notary how this applies to you.

A sale of the property does not end a lease made earlier, unless the lease allowed it (art. 1576), and neither does the death of the owner or the tenant (art. 1575). But a written lease ends by law when its term is over (art. 1570), and without an agreed extension right the owner may refuse to extend.

What to watch out for:

• Owner and certificate: check that the person signing is the owner on the certificate, and ask the notary who else must consent (a spouse, co-heirs).
• Sale clause: make sure the lease does not let the owner end it on a sale.
• Extension: an option that fixes the extra years, the price or a clear formula, and the notice deadline is much stronger than one that leaves the price “to be agreed”.
• Subletting and transfer: both need the owner’s permission (art. 1559), so write them into the lease if you may rent out or sell the remaining years.
• End of the term: the lease should say what happens to the buildings.
• The deed: we recommend a notarial lease deed. You can also ask the land office to record the lease on the land register or certificate (PP 18/2021 art. 90).

More in our guide to leasehold vs freehold in Bali.

Route 2: Hak Pakai (right of use) in your own name

Hak Pakai lets a foreign individual hold a registered land title in their own name. The rules are in Government Regulation (PP) 18/2021, a 2021 land ministry regulation (Permen ATR/BPN 18/2021) and a 2022 decision on minimum prices.

• Who qualifies: a foreigner with an immigration document. The official explanation of PP 18/2021 accepts a visa, passport or stay permit, but notaries and land offices may still ask for a KITAS or KITAP (stay permit) and a tax number (NPWP). Ask your notary or PPAT (land deed official) what your land office requires.
• What you can own: a house, held as Hak Pakai, or an apartment unit, held as a strata title (Hak Milik atas Satuan Rumah Susun) in a building on HGB or Hak Pakai land (PP 18/2021 arts. 67 and 71). Hak Pakai can be granted over someone’s Hak Milik by a PPAT deed, and if a house sits on Hak Milik or HGB land, the title is changed to Hak Pakai as part of the purchase.
• Minimum price in Bali: IDR 5 billion for a house and IDR 2 billion for an apartment (strata title), under Kepmen ATR/BPN 1241/2022, in force as of October 2026.
• Limits: a “luxury house”, one plot per person or family and no more than 2,000 m² of land unless the minister permits more (Permen ATR/BPN 18/2021 art. 186), for living in only (PP 18/2021 art. 72).
• Term: on State land or land under a management right (HPL), up to 30 years, extendable by 20 and renewable by 30 if you still qualify. Over someone’s Hak Milik, up to 30 years, renewable only by a new deed signed by the owner (art. 52). Ask your PPAT which form your purchase creates.

If you stop qualifying, for example because you no longer hold a valid immigration document, you generally have one year to transfer the right to someone who qualifies, or it ends by law (PP 18/2021 art. 50). The house can be inherited, but a foreign heir also needs an immigration document (art. 69).

More in our guide to Hak Pakai in Bali.

Route 3: A PT PMA company holding HGB

A PT PMA is an Indonesian company with foreign shareholders. As an Indonesian legal entity it can hold HGB and Hak Pakai, but never Hak Milik. HGB on State land runs for up to 30 years, extendable by 20 and renewable by 30; HGB over someone’s Hak Milik runs for up to 30 years and is renewed only by a new deed with the owner (PP 18/2021 art. 37).

BKPM Regulation 5/2025, in force since October 2025, requires paid-up capital of at least IDR 2.5 billion (older guides may still quote IDR 10 billion) and an investment plan above IDR 10 billion per business line (KBLI code) per location. For accommodation businesses, and for property businesses that build, sell or rent out a whole building or housing complex, land and buildings count toward that plan (separate units do not); have a licensed consultant confirm how this applies to you. The company must also file regular investment reports (LKPM).

A PT PMA is a business, not a way to hold a private home. Nominee shareholders are banned and void under the Investment Law (UU 25/2007), and some business lines are now closed to new foreign investment in Bali (see below). More in our guide to owning property through a PT PMA.

Married to an Indonesian? Your spouse can hold freehold

An Indonesian married to a foreigner can hold Hak Milik or HGB like any other Indonesian, as long as the land is not joint marital property (PP 18/2021 art. 70). Without a marriage agreement, property bought during the marriage is joint (Marriage Law art. 35), which would make the foreign spouse a co-owner, so your spouse could not validly hold freehold. The fix is a separation-of-property agreement made before a notary; since Constitutional Court decision 69/PUU-XIII/2015, it can also be made during the marriage.

Keep in mind that the property legally belongs to your spouse. If you ever acquire Hak Milik yourself by inheritance without a will or through marital property, you must give it up within one year or the land falls to the State (UUPA art. 21(3)); the same rule covers children with dual citizenship (art. 21(4)). A gift or bequest of Hak Milik to a foreigner is simply void (art. 26(2)). See a notary before you buy.

Why nominee arrangements are void and dangerous

In a nominee arrangement, an Indonesian holds the freehold on paper while the foreigner pays and “owns” it through side documents such as a loan agreement, a power of attorney or a lease. UUPA art. 26(2) makes this void, because it passes Hak Milik to a foreigner indirectly, and courts also find that such agreements lack a lawful cause under the Civil Code.

The Supreme Court has annulled nominee agreements, for example in decisions 2414 K/Pdt/2009, 1540 K/Pdt/2014 and 424 K/Pdt/2017, and recognizes the Indonesian on the certificate as the legal owner, who may sell or mortgage the property; the foreigner can at most sue for compensation. The law says such land falls to the State. Either way, the foreigner loses. Bali’s Provincial Regulation (Perda) 4/2026, in force since about late February 2026, also bans nominee land ownership.

Can you rent the property out?

It depends on the route and on licensing. A Hak Pakai home is for living in, and a leasehold can be sublet only with the owner’s permission. Renting to holiday guests is a tourist-accommodation business: it needs licenses held by an Indonesian person or company or by a PT PMA, and the income is taxed.

• Licenses: a villa run as accommodation needs a business ID number (NIB) from the government’s OSS online licensing system, a building approval (PBG) and a certificate of fitness for use (SLF). Whether a plain monthly or yearly lease needs a business license is not clearly settled; ask a licensing consultant.
• Tax: rent from a lease carries a 10% final income tax on the gross rent, service charges included (PP 34/2017). Short-stay lodging is taxed under the normal income tax rules instead, and regencies may add up to 10% tax on hotel services, which by law include villas.

In force in 2026

• 18 business lines closed to new foreign investment. Since the third week of May 2026, with the investment minister’s approval, Bali has closed the OSS system to new PMA applications in 18 business lines “until further policy”. They include 68111 (renting out owned or leased property), hotels under 6,000 m² (55110, 55120) and other accommodation (55900). Villas (55193) were not on the list, and no regulation number was given, so check with a licensed consultant.
• Farmland and nominees. Perda 4/2026 strictly controls the conversion of productive farmland and bans nominee ownership. We could not yet check its detailed rules, so ask the land office and a notary about any specific plot.

Not confirmed as law

• There is no confirmed moratorium on new hotels and villas across Bali: apart from the farmland rules above, no regulation with that wider scope has been confirmed.
• A villa rented to holiday guests behind a “private home” label still falls under the regional tax on hotel services, which by law covers villas. We could not confirm any new Badung rules on such villas, so ask the regency revenue office (Bapenda).

More in our guide to renting out a villa in Bali.

What does buying cost? Taxes and fees in brief

Most costs are set by national law, but some rates are set by each regency, so confirm the final figures with your PPAT. As of October 2026:

The 5% is the legal maximum; confirm the Badung or Tabanan rate with your PPAT. Fee caps are maximums, not typical prices, so ask for written quotes. Owners also pay a yearly land and building tax (PBB-P2), which the law caps at 0.5%.

See our guide to Bali property taxes and buying costs for the details.

How to buy property in Bali as a foreigner, step by step

1. Choose your route. Do this before viewing, because it decides what you can buy and the minimum price.
2. Find the property. Browse our villas for sale and land for sale, and ask early for a copy of the certificate. We review the certificate and permits with the owner before a listing goes online.
3. Reserve carefully. If the seller asks for a reservation payment, agree in writing how long it holds the property and whether it is refunded if the checks fail.
4. Due diligence. Have a PPAT check the certificate at the land office (official fee IDR 50,000), and check the owner’s identity, the zoning, the building approvals and the latest land tax bill (SPPT) with proof of payment. For farmland, ask whether it may be built on at all. See our due diligence guide.
5. Preliminary agreement (PPJB). This binding sale agreement fixes the price, payment schedule and conditions before the final deed. By law the buyer’s BPHTB becomes due when it is signed; ask the PPAT how your regency applies this.
6. Payment. Pay by traceable bank transfer, on the agreed schedule. The land office processes a transfer only with proof that the seller’s tax is paid, and in practice the PPAT asks for both parties’ taxes before the deed.
7. The deed. A sale is signed before a PPAT as a deed of sale (AJB, Akta Jual Beli), and a Hak Pakai over Hak Milik is also granted by a PPAT deed. A lease is best made as a notarial deed.
8. Registration. The land office (BPN) records the new title holder; the official fee is 0.1% of the land value plus IDR 50,000. A lease can be recorded on request.

How long this takes depends on the checks and the land office, so ask your notary for a realistic schedule. Before you pay anything, involve an independent notary or PPAT, and a licensed consultant if you plan a PT PMA or rental income. When you are ready, tell us what you are looking for; we work with independent notaries.