Currently as non Bulgarian, you can buy the building, the right
to build and other land related rights such as the right of use
& passage; however you cannot buy the actual land. You can however
acquire land by registering a company in Bulgaria, with yourself
as sole director and beneficiary. Then this company can buy and
own both the house and the land freehold for it. This is routinely
organised either by ourselves, or you can do it with the help of
a local lawyer.
The restriction on land ownership by non Bulgarians, as established
by the Constitution of 1991 is now publicly discussed and is expected
to be modified, or lifted with Bulgaria’s accession to the
EU. We will keep all our customers informed on the developments;
however the change towards a less restrictive legislation is bound
to increase property prices.
Acquiring property (except land) is made easier by the new Foreign
Investment Act (1997) which lifted the requirement to seek prior
approval of the Ministry of Finance to conclude such purchases.
Costs of buying/Timescales
Legal fees for setting up a company and doing the conveyance will
be approximately £600.
State Tax (Stamp Duty equivalent) is 2% of purchase price and other
legal and notary fees are less than 2%.
Timing normally takes just a couple of days to sign the preliminary
contract, with the down payment of usually 10% of agreed price to
secure the selected property. From there around a week to form a
company and then a couple of weeks to organise the legalities. So
the overall process when using our knowledge and services is much
faster than in most countries, and certainly quicker than most UK
transactions.
