Foreign nationals may acquire ownership of Hungarian real estate with a permit. No permit is required for EU citizens or citizens of countries with which Hungary has an international agreement allowing them to acquire property without a permit.
None of this applies to the ownership of agricultural land, which cannot be acquired by foreign nationals. The exception to this is the so-called farmstead. A tanya is a residential and farm building or group of buildings located on the outskirts of a settlement and used for agricultural production (crop and livestock farming, as well as related product processing and storage), together with land of up to 6,000 m2 belonging to it under the same cadastral number.
What should you do if you own property in Hungary and would like to utilise or let it?
It often happens that our clients who do not live in Hungary ask us for help with matters relating to their Hungarian real estate, representation before authorities or the utilisation of their property.
For clients who wish to use their property themselves during their stay in Hungary, we are happy to represent them in relation to the property during their absence (liaising with the condominium representative, neighbours, service providers, authorities), and as part of our comprehensive supervision service, our experienced colleagues will visit the property at specified intervals and consult with you about any tasks that may need to be carried out (e.g. cleaning, maintenance) and help to organise the completion of these tasks.
We represent many foreign clients in connection with property leasing. Our involvement usually begins with finding a tenant and continues with participation in preliminary lease agreement negotiations, drafting the lease agreement and assisting in its conclusion. We often represent foreign landlords on a long-term basis, throughout the entire duration of the tenancy. Our qualified and highly experienced colleague visits the property periodically, maintains contact with the tenant, represents the landlord’s interests before the authorities and the tenant, collects the rent and pays the costs payable by the landlord.
This means that foreign landlords do not need to travel to Hungary to deal with various property-related issues or to collect rent. Instead, they can simply liaise with our office, and we will keep them informed about tasks that have been completed or need to be completed, and settle accounts for rent and costs that have been paid or are payable.