Can foreigners buy property and land in Bulgaria? Apartments, houses, plots and farmland

Iva Petkova, attorney · Published 2 November 2026 · 6 min

Foreigners can buy apartments and buildings in Bulgaria without restriction, but the rules on land depend on the buyer's nationality and on the kind of land. We explain what is allowed, when a Bulgarian company is used, and what to check before you pay.

How we can help

"Can a foreigner buy property in Bulgaria?" is really several questions: whether the buyer is a citizen of an EU country or of a third country, whether he is buying a building or land, and whether the land is agricultural. The answer decides whether the purchase can be made in the buyer's own name, whether a Bulgarian company is needed, and which documents the notary will ask for.

Apartments, houses and other buildings: open to everyone

Foreign nationals and foreign legal entities may acquire ownership of buildings and limited real rights over property in Bulgaria, unless a law provides otherwise (Art. 29(4) of the Property Act). So a citizen of a third country, for example the UK, the US, Ukraine or Israel, can buy an apartment, an office or a house in his own name.

The restriction concerns only the land under the building. With an apartment in a block this usually does not affect the purchase, but with a house and garden a non-EU buyer can acquire the building but not the plot itself. In such cases a building right or a right of use over the land is used, which are limited real rights and are allowed (Art. 29(4)), or the property is bought through a Bulgarian company.

Land: who can buy it in his own name

The Constitution allows foreigners and foreign legal entities to acquire ownership of land on the terms arising from Bulgaria's accession to the EU, or under an international treaty that has been ratified, published and entered into force, and by statutory inheritance (Art. 22(1) of the Constitution). The Property Act repeats this rule (Art. 29(1)).

• Citizens and legal entities of EU and EEA countries may acquire land in compliance with the requirements of the law, in line with the Accession Treaty (Art. 29(2) and (3) of the Property Act). The transitional restrictions in the Accession Treaty no longer apply.
• Citizens of third countries can buy land in their own name only if an international treaty ratified by a two-thirds majority of all members of Parliament allows it (Art. 22(1) and (2) of the Constitution). Where there is no such treaty for the buyer's country, land can be acquired through a Bulgarian company or inherited by statutory succession.
• A foreign state may not acquire property in Bulgaria by inheritance (Art. 29(6) of the Property Act).

Since the UK left the EU, British citizens are treated as third-country nationals under these rules. British nationals who were living in Bulgaria before 1 January 2021 may be in a different position under the Withdrawal Agreement, so their case should be checked individually.

Buying through a Bulgarian company

A Bulgarian company is a Bulgarian legal entity even if all its partners are foreigners, so the restrictions on foreign persons in Article 29(1) of the Property Act do not apply to it for non-agricultural land. This is the usual way for a buyer from a third country to own a plot, or a house together with its garden. The company has to be set up and entered in the Commercial Register, have a bank account and keep accounts, and its beneficial owners are entered in the register.

This route has a cost: annual accounting and administrative expenses, tax consequences when the property is let or sold, and the need for a manager. The structure should therefore be chosen before the preliminary contract is signed.

Agricultural land: the strictest rules

Agricultural land has its own regime under the Agricultural Land Ownership and Use Act. Foreign nationals and foreign legal entities acquire it on the terms of a ratified international treaty, and foreign nationals also by statutory inheritance (Art. 3(4)); EU and EEA citizens and legal entities on the terms of the Act (Art. 3(5) and (6)). In addition:

• agricultural land can only be acquired by individuals or legal entities that have resided or been established in Bulgaria for more than 5 years, and a company registered for less than 5 years only if its partners meet that requirement (Art. 3c(1) and (2));
• on the purchase, an individual buyer presents to the notary a declaration of the origin of the funds, and a company buyer presents a document proving it (Art. 3c(3));
• agricultural land cannot be owned by companies whose partners or shareholders are, directly or indirectly, companies from preferential tax jurisdictions, by companies with foreign partners or foreign legal entities other than those allowed above, or by joint-stock companies with bearer shares (Art. 3(7));
• a foreigner who inherits agricultural land without meeting the conditions must transfer it to a person entitled to acquire it within three years of the opening of the succession, or the state may buy it (Art. 3b).

Foreigners may acquire a right of use or other limited real rights over agricultural land on the terms and in the manner set by law (Art. 3(8)), and may also rent land.

Inheriting property as a foreigner

Statutory inheritance is expressly allowed, including for land (Art. 22(1) of the Constitution; Art. 29(1) of the Property Act). A third-country national does not, however, acquire land by inheriting under a will, and for agricultural land the duty to transfer within three years also applies (Art. 3b). The steps after a death, the taxes and the time limits are covered in our guide to inheriting property.

The transaction: form and representation

Contracts transferring ownership of real property are made by notarial deed (Art. 18 of the Obligations and Contracts Act), which is entered in the Property Register. The buyer does not have to attend in person: the purchase can be completed through an attorney-in-fact holding a notarised power of attorney, and documents from outside the EU usually need an apostille and a Bulgarian translation.

What to check before you pay

1. What exactly you are buying: a unit in a building, a building with its plot, or land, and whether the land is agricultural.
2. Whether the buyer can acquire this particular property in his own name, or a company or a limited real right is needed.
3. The seller's title and the chain of documents, mortgages, charges and attachments in the Property Register, and for inherited property all the heirs.
4. The consent of the seller's spouse, if the property is marital property.
5. The planning status of the land: whether building is allowed, road access and utilities.
6. For agricultural land: existing lease agreements and the 5-year residence or establishment requirement.
7. The costs of the purchase: local tax, notary fees and registration (see our guide to property purchase costs).

Where a lawyer changes the outcome

• before the deal: what the buyer may acquire given their nationality and how to structure the purchase;
• for land: whether buying through a Bulgarian company is the right route and what follows from it;
• in the checks: title, encumbrances, heirs and the planning status of the property;
• in the transaction: a preliminary contract that protects the money paid, and representation before the notary under a power of attorney.

Petkova & Minkov Law Firm acts for foreign buyers in property transactions and in setting up companies in Bulgaria. We work in Bulgarian, English, Russian and German, from an office next to the Palace of Justice in Sofia.

Legal services in Bulgaria for international clients

All insights