Can Foreigners Buy Property in Bali? Leasehold and Freehold

Nest team · Last updated: 6 October 2026

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Can foreigners buy property in Bali? Not as freehold, which Indonesian law keeps for Indonesian citizens, but a foreigner can lease a home or plot for an agreed number of years (leasehold), own a house under hak pakai (a right of use) within set limits, or hold a right to build through a company set up under Indonesian law.

Below: each route as the official texts state it (as of October 2026; English quotes are our translations), why "nominee" deals are a trap, and what Nest's homes for sale show. This is general information, not legal advice: before you sign or pay, check your own case with a licensed notary (PPAT, the official who draws up land deeds).

Can foreigners buy property in Bali? What the law says

The rules come from the Basic Agrarian Law (Law No. 5 of 1960, the UUPA), Government Regulation No. 18 of 2021 (PP 18/2021) and the land ministry's regulations (Kementerian ATR/BPN). Article 21(1) of the UUPA is one line: "Hanya warganegara Indonesia dapat mempunyai hak milik", only Indonesian citizens can hold hak milik, the freehold title.

The same law lists other rights over land (Article 16), and some are open to foreigners:

What does leasehold mean in Bali?

A leasehold (hak sewa) is a lease: you pay the owner to use their land or villa for an agreed number of years. The UUPA describes it as the right to use someone else's land for a building "by paying the owner a sum of money as rent" (Article 44(1)), payable "satu kali atau pada tiap-tiap waktu tertentu", once or at set times (Article 44(2)). That is why a Bali leasehold can be advertised "for sale" at one price: you buy the whole lease upfront.

On 6 October 2026, 495 of the 676 homes listed for sale on Nest were leaseholds, with a median stated lease of 25 years and a median asking price of about Rp 5.2 billion. These are asking prices and lease terms as the listers gave them. The same rules apply to land for sale in Bali: a foreigner can lease a plot, but can't hold it as hak milik.

A lease is a contract, not a title of its own: the certificate stays in the owner's name, and your protection rests mainly on the contract, as advisers such as Emerhub point out. PP 18/2021 does let an interested party ask the land office to record a lease of registered land in the land register and/or on the certificate (Article 90). Ask your notary about it.

What a lease should spell out

• That the person leasing to you is the one named on the certificate, or holds their written authority.
• The term, and what happens to the buildings at the end.
• Any extension and its price: you can count only on the extension your contract states.
• Whether you may sell, transfer or sublet the lease, and that it binds the owner's heirs and any later buyer, a point Emerhub stresses.

What is freehold, and why can't a foreigner hold it?

In Bali listings, "freehold" usually means the land has a hak milik certificate (SHM). The UUPA calls hak milik the "hereditary, strongest and fullest" right a person can have over land (Article 20) and keeps it for Indonesian citizens. It also closes the side doors:

• A foreigner who receives hak milik by inheritance without a will or through marital property, and an Indonesian who loses their citizenship, must give it up within one year, or the right ends by law and the land falls to the State (Article 21(3)).
• Someone with a foreign nationality next to Indonesian citizenship can't hold hak milik (Article 21(4)).

On Nest on 6 October 2026, 67 of the 676 homes for sale were listed as freehold, at a median asking price of about Rp 9 billion. They are different homes from the leaseholds, so the gap between the medians is not the price of the title alone.

Asking prices, with tenure as the listers gave it; a property listed by several agents counts once.

A freehold listing can't stay freehold in a foreigner's hands: the right in your name would have to be a different one, such as hak pakai. In 2025 the land ministry revoked the provisions of its 2021 procedure on changing hak milik into HGB or hak pakai, except at auctions, as its legal database shows. The regulation that did this (No. 2 of 2025) was replaced on 28 April 2025 by Regulation No. 5 of 2025, which says a change of hak milik into HGB is done at an auction or by releasing the land to the State and then granting the new right (Article 20); it says nothing about hak pakai. Ask a PPAT how a change works today.

Married to an Indonesian?

PP 18/2021 lets an Indonesian married to a foreigner hold the same land rights as any other Indonesian, as long as the right is not joint marital property, shown by a separation-of-property agreement made by notarial deed (Article 70). The foreign spouse still can't hold hak milik.

Can a foreigner own a house with hak pakai?

Yes, within limits. PP 18/2021 names foreigners among those who can hold hak pakai for a set term (Article 49) and lets them own a landed house (rumah tapak) on hak pakai land, or on hak pakai granted over someone's hak milik by a PPAT deed (Article 71). Apartment units are possible too, under extra conditions (Article 71(2)).

The conditions, as the official texts state them:

• Immigration documents. The foreigner must hold immigration documents (PP 18/2021 Article 69); the ministry's procedure lists "dokumen keimigrasian berupa visa, paspor atau izin tinggal", a visa, passport or stay permit (Permen ATR/BPN 18/2021, Article 114). Agency guides such as Emerhub's say you need a KITAS or KITAP stay permit: ask a PPAT what the land office will accept, and a licensed immigration agent which permit fits your plans.
• A luxury house, one plot, up to 2,000 m². A house in the luxury category, one plot per person or family and/or land of at most 2,000 m² (Permen Article 186); more needs the minister's permission.
• A minimum price. In Bali, "Rp5.000.000.000,00 (lima miliar rupiah)" (Rp 5 billion) for a landed house and "Rp2.000.000.000,00 (dua miliar rupiah)" (Rp 2 billion) for an apartment unit, under Ministerial Decision No. 1241/SK-HK.02/IX/2022, listed as in force on the ministry's legal database on 6 October 2026.
• A home to live in. The limits include use as a residence (PP 18/2021 Article 72).

Hak pakai over state land runs up to 30 years, extendable by up to 20 and renewable by up to 30; over a hak milik, up to 30 years, renewable with a new deed granting it (Article 52). It exists once the land office registers it (Article 54). The house can be inherited (foreign heirs also need immigration documents, Article 69), and the ministerial decision says it can be mortgaged and sold. If you stop meeting the conditions, you have one year to release or transfer the right, or it ends by law (Article 50).

The route is in use: BPN Bali, the land agency's Bali office, had recorded 463 plots with hak pakai certificates held by foreigners as of March 2025, with houses or luxury villas built on them, Antara reported in July 2025.

Can you buy through a company?

HGB, the right to build and own buildings on land that isn't yours, can be held by Indonesian citizens and by "badan hukum yang didirikan menurut hukum Indonesia dan berkedudukan di Indonesia", a legal entity set up under Indonesian law and based in Indonesia (UUPA Article 36; PP 18/2021 Article 34). The company route in agency guides rests on this: a foreign-owned Indonesian company, usually called a PT PMA, holds the HGB. A holder that stops qualifying has one year to release or transfer it (Article 35).

The property then belongs to the company, not to you, and setting up and running such a company has rules of its own: check the current ones with a notary or the investment ministry.

Why are nominee arrangements risky?

A nominee arrangement puts a hak milik title in an Indonesian's name while side agreements are meant to give a foreigner the control or the value. It can look like freehold. It isn't.

• The law voids indirect transfers. UUPA Article 26(2) says every sale, gift or other act intended to transfer hak milik to a foreigner, directly or indirectly, "adalah batal karena hukum dan tanahnya jatuh kepada Negara": it is void by law and the land falls to the State. Payments the owner has received can't be claimed back.
• The land office sees only the name on the certificate. Certificates serve as strong evidence of the right (Article 19), and an Antara report on BPN Bali (July 2025) notes that name-borrowing (pinjam nama) schemes can't be detected by the land office. On paper, the property is the nominee's.
• Everything rides on one person. The person named on the title is the legal owner, as Emerhub's guide also warns. If the nominee sells, borrows against the land or dies, what happens to the land follows the certificate, not your side agreement.

If someone offers you such a deal, treat it as a warning sign and get independent advice from a PPAT.

What should you check before you pay?

Before any money changes hands:

1. Have a PPAT check the original certificate at the land office (BPN).
2. Match the seller's or lessor's ID with the name on the certificate.
3. Know which right you are getting (lease, hak pakai or HGB) and that you qualify for it.
4. Have the deed or lease drawn up by a PPAT or notary.
5. Ask about the taxes and fees for your route before you agree a price; official rates change, so we don't list them here.
6. Pay only against signed documents, to an account in the name of the person on the contract.

Which route fits you?

For a home for a fixed number of years, a leasehold is the simplest route, and its value is in the contract. If you live in Indonesia on the right documents and buy a house above the minimum price, hak pakai gives you a registered right in your own name. For a business, ask a notary about the company route. Either way, what protects you is a properly drawn-up deed or lease, not the word "freehold" in an advert.

Sources

1. JDIH ATR/BPN: Undang-Undang Nomor 5 Tahun 1960 tentang Peraturan Dasar Pokok-Pokok Agraria (Basic Agrarian Law) (accessed 6 October 2026)
2. JDIH ATR/BPN: Peraturan Pemerintah Nomor 18 Tahun 2021 tentang Hak Pengelolaan, Hak Atas Tanah, Satuan Rumah Susun, dan Pendaftaran Tanah (accessed 6 October 2026)
3. JDIH ATR/BPN: Peraturan Menteri ATR/Kepala BPN Nomor 18 Tahun 2021 tentang Tata Cara Penetapan Hak Pengelolaan dan Hak Atas Tanah (accessed 6 October 2026)
4. JDIH ATR/BPN: Permen ATR/BPN No. 18 Tahun 2021 tentang Tata Cara Penetapan Hak Pengelolaan dan Hak Atas Tanah (accessed 6 October 2026)
5. JDIH ATR/BPN: Peraturan Menteri ATR/Kepala BPN Nomor 5 Tahun 2025 tentang Pelimpahan Kewenangan Penetapan Hak Atas Tanah dan Kegiatan Pendaftaran Tanah (accessed 6 October 2026)
6. JDIH ATR/BPN: Keputusan Menteri ATR/Kepala BPN Nomor 1241/SK-HK.02/IX/2022 tentang Perolehan dan Harga Rumah Tempat Tinggal/Hunian untuk Orang Asing (accessed 6 October 2026)
7. JDIH ATR/BPN: Kepmen ATR/BPN No. 1241/SK-HK.02/IX/2022 Tahun 2022 tentang Perolehan Harga Rumah Tempat Tinggal/Hunian Untuk Orang Asing (accessed 6 October 2026)
8. Antara: BPN Bali pastikan tak ada pulau dikuasai WNA (7 July 2025) (accessed 6 October 2026)
9. Emerhub: How to Buy Property in Bali As a Foreigner (accessed 6 October 2026)