Can foreigners buy property in Bali? Yes, through three legal routes

Indonesian land law still runs on a statute from 1960, the Basic Agrarian Law, known locally as UUPA. Under Article 21 only Indonesian citizens may hold Hak Milik, the country's version of freehold. Article 26(2) shuts the obvious workaround: a deal that moves Hak Milik to a foreigner, directly or through someone else, is void, and the land goes to the state.

That restriction targets one title rather than property as a whole. The same law, fleshed out by Government Regulation 18 of 2021, lets foreigners hold other rights over land and buildings. They differ mostly in price and in how long they last.

Time on the island doesn't change the rule. Someone who has lived in Canggu on a KITAP for twenty years is exactly as barred from Hak Milik as a first-time visitor.

With a leasehold (Hak Sewa) you sign a contract with the Indonesian who owns the land and pay upfront for the right to use it, and the villa on it, for a fixed number of years. No statute limits who may sign, what the villa must cost or how long the lease can run, so the whole deal lives in the agreement you sign before a notary.

That's why leasehold dominates the market. In our catalog roughly nine listings in ten are sold this way, with a median base term of 27 years when we counted in September 2026. About six in ten of them come with an extension in the developer's terms, most often written as 25 + 25 or 30 + 30.

The catch is that your protection is only as good as the contract. Our guide on leasehold vs freehold compares what each form costs, and what happens when a lease runs out lists the clauses to insist on.

• No visa needed: you can sign while on a tourist entry.
• No price floor, so the same route covers a Rp 1.5 bn studio and a Rp 15 bn clifftop villa.
• The landowner is taxed on the lease payment, and developers often fold that cost into your price, so ask who carries it.
• Check when the term starts. Signing, notarization and handover can be a year apart on an off-plan villa.

Hak Pakai means right to use, and it's the only land title a foreign individual can have recorded in their own name at the National Land Agency, BPN. You'll need a stay permit to qualify, whether that's a KITAS, the Second Home visa or a KITAP.

Price and size rules come with it. A 2022 ministerial decree puts the Bali minimum at Rp 5 bn for a house and Rp 2 bn for an apartment, and you're limited to one home per person or family. On state land the title can run 80 years in three stages, while on an Indonesian's freehold it's shorter. The Hak Pakai guide goes through both cases, clause by clause.

A PT PMA is an Indonesian limited company owned by foreign shareholders. It can't hold Hak Milik any more than you can, so the villa goes onto HGB, a right to build that runs in the same three stages as Hak Pakai.

Investors choose this route when the villa is meant to earn. One company can hold several properties, and it's the entity that obtains the business license a legal short-term rental requires. Since October 2025 the paid-up capital has been Rp 2.5 bn, and the company still has accounts, quarterly reports and corporate tax to handle. Our PT PMA guide prices all of that out.

Pick by how you'll use the property rather than by which route sounds most like owning it.

Source: UUPA; PP 18/2021; Kepmen ATR/BPN 1241/2022; BKPM Reg. 5/2025

You may still be offered Hak Milik registered to an Indonesian friend, propped up with a loan agreement or a power of attorney in your favor. A court treats that as void. The land belongs to whoever is on the certificate, and your side papers won't get it back.

Bali has also legislated against the practice at provincial level, in a 2026 regulation that bans nominee transfers and lets the province sanction anyone who arranges them. Read what the law says about nominees before anyone suggests one to you.

We don't do nominee deals, and a client who insists on one isn't a client we can help. The saving looks good until something goes wrong, and then you've lost everything you paid.

Rise Real Bali

Whichever route you take, the paperwork decides whether it holds up. We run these checks on every property before a client pays anything. Once they pass, the question becomes which villa: our property listings show the lease term on every card, and the area guides compare nightly rates and entry prices.

• Look up the land certificate in the BPN register (the Sentuh Tanahku app or bhumi.atrbpn.go.id) and make sure the name matches the seller.
• Walk away from a girik. Since February 2, 2026 these old tax records no longer prove title.
• Zoning (RDTR) must allow housing, and tourist accommodation too if you'll rent.
• A building approval (PBG) should exist for the villa, plus a certificate of occupancy (SLF) once it's finished.
• For short-term rental, the business license (NIB) has to sit with the right entity.

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