Real Estate

Not as freehold: Hak Milik is reserved for Indonesian citizens (Basic Agrarian Law 5/1960, art. 21), and any transfer to a foreigner, including through a nominee, is void by law (art. 26). The usual routes are a long lease (leasehold), a Hak Pakai title on a house of at least IDR 5 billion or an apartment of at least IDR 2 billion in Bali (ATR/BPN decree 1241/2022), or a Hak Guna Bangunan held by a PT PMA company.

With leasehold, you lease the land and the building for a term written in the lease deed; the law sets no standard term. When the lease ends, the property returns to the landowner unless an extension is written into the deed. Freehold means an ownership title (Hak Milik, or HGB for a company): a foreigner cannot hold it in their own name.

For the transfer of a land title, the buyer pays BPHTB of up to 5% (Law 1/2022, art. 47), the seller a 2.5% final income tax (GR 34/2016), and the PPAT notary fee may not exceed 1% of the price (GR 24/2016, art. 32). A leasehold follows other rules, including the 10% final tax on rent (GR 34/2017): have your notary do the calculation.

In 2025 the Bali Villa Rental and Management Association (BVRMA) counted 101 victims of villa rental fraud, none of whom got their money back. Never pay before a viewing; check the bank account on cekrekening.id (Komdigi ministry) and whether the land certificate exists with the Sentuh Tanahku app from the land ministry (ATR/BPN).

As a rule, no: Bali Governor Instruction 5/2025, published in December 2025, orders the regencies to refuse the conversion of rice fields and protected farmland (LP2B, LBS). A property built, or to be built, on such land carries a risk; check the zoning on GISTARU, the land ministry's online map.