Land Registry in Slovenia

Updated on Thursday 30th May 2019

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The Land Register is owned and managed by the Supreme Court of the Republic of Slovenia and keeps legal facts related to properties, such as mortgages, owners and easements. Public electronic access to the Land Register in Slovenia is available either online (in this case it is free of charge, but requires creating an account), either at all local courts, notaries and administrative units, where individuals may obtain a certified copy of an extract from the Land Register in Slovenia, in exchange for a fee.

Persons who are involved in the sale-purchase procedure can request legal assistance from our team of Slovenian lawyers, who can offer an extensive presentation on the legislation in the field, as well as on the provisions that have to be included in any sale-purchase contract.

The procedure of land registration in Slovenia

The seller receives an extract from the Land Registry in Slovenia. This extract is a proof of ownership of the seller and contains all the transactions regarding the respective property. This action should not take more than several days to be completed and our team of Slovenian lawyers can provide an in-depth presentation regarding this procedure.

The seller files a declaration to the Tax Authorities in Slovenia and the respective property is assessed. The seller will file the tax declaration within 15 days after the purchase and, from that point on, the Tax Authorities have 30 days to assess the land.

The next step is the payment of the Real Estate Transfer Tax and the value added tax (VAT) in Slovenia. The VAT is only mandatory for new real estate; otherwise the taxpayer will be responsible with the payment of the real estate transfer tax. This particular type of tax must be paid within 15 days since the date of the purchase.

From that moment, the Tax Authorities will assess the property within a 30 days period of time. The VAT rate for the transfer of property is 22%, except the transfer of apartments, residential and other buildings for permanent living, which request the payment of a tax available at 9.5%. The real estate transfer tax is applied at 2% from the value of the property.

In the case of Slovenian properties that are imposed with the lower VAT tax (of 9.5%), the tax is applicable as long as the property has a maximum surface of 120 square meters (for apartments) or a surface of 250 square meters – when selling houses.

After this, the next step refers to the certification of signature and the presentation of the proposal to the Land Registry in Slovenia. The owner of the real estate must submit an explicit and unconditional declaration to the Land Registry in Slovenia acknowledging that his /her right over the respective property is being transferred to the buyer, and will, from that moment on, be registered on the buyer’s name.

The Property Act states that the seller’s signature on the registration clause must be certified by a public notary. It is compulsory for all taxes to be paid before the signature is certified. Then, the property is being registered by the new owner at the Land Register in Slovenia.

What are the rules of law regarding Slovenian properties?

Persons interested in purchasing a Slovenian real estate property (land, buildings, houses, apartments, etc.) must know that the field is regulated by a set of legal acts. As a general rule, real estate in Slovenia is regulated under the Law of Property Code and the Land Register Act.

Other important laws are represented by the Real Estate Recording Act, the Agricultural Land Act, the Housing Act, the Real Estate Agencies Act and the Protection of Buyers of Apartments and Single Occupancy Buildings Act. Our law firm in Slovenia can offer in-depth information concerning these rules of law and can assist with legal advice on the rights available for foreigners wishing to purchase a property here.

Who can acquire a property in Slovenia?

The possibility of purchasing a property in Slovenia as a foreigner is established under the country’s Constitution, which prescribes the rights granted to foreign nationals. The local legislation distinguishes between three categories of foreigners, which have different limitations in acquiring properties in this country.

In the case of persons who are citizens of the European Union (EU), there are no limitations when purchasing real estate in Slovenia. This regulation is also applicable in the case of foreigners from the European Economic Area (EEA) and the citizens of the countries who are members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) also benefit from this right.

The next category, which has certain limitations in acquiring real estate in Slovenia, refers to the citizens of the countries that are candidates to the EU accession. In this case, the reciprocity principle applies. This means that such persons are entitled to purchase properties here as long as the citizens of Slovenia benefit from the same right in the respective foreign country.

In the case of citizens of countries outside the above mentioned categories, additional limitations are applicable. Thus, the only right they can have in this sense is to inherit a property in Slovenia, this being the only way through which they can own real estate here. However, the regulation is available as long as the reciprocity principle applies and our team of Slovenian lawyers can offer further legal information on this subject.

Who is involved in the real estate sale in Slovenia?

Besides the seller and the buyer, the sale of a property implies the participation of additional parties. Typically, this procedure requires the assistance of an attorney and our law firm in Slovenia has the necessary legal expertise to represent foreigners during the sale procedure. However, the following must also be involved:

• the real estate transaction between the seller of a Slovenian property and the buyer is concluded through a public notary;
• this is a compulsory procedure, as specific sale documents have to be notarized;
• the public notary in Slovenia has additional tasks during the sale of a property, such as drafting the sale contract;
• in certain cases, a real estate agency can be involved, but its presence in the transaction is not legally necessary;
• the real estate agency has limited powers in this case, such as finding a suitable buyer for a property;
• the sale contracts can also be drafted by lawyers, not only public notaries, and this is the case especially when the buyers are represented by corporate entities.

What are the main real estate governmental entities in Slovenia?

The registration of land and real estate properties in Slovenia falls under the supervision of several governmental entities. For example, cadastral information is kept by the Surveying and Mapping Authority of the Republic of Slovenia, while the Land Registry, as mentioned above, is in charge with the registration of ownership titles.

The Local Land Registry Court initiates the registration process for the entry of title in the Land Register, on the basis of the Land Registry proposal. The submission should be electronically submitted to the Court and usually it requires the intermediary assistance of a public notary or lawyer and a real-estate agency acting on behalf of the applicant.

The proposal is sent to a central unit of the court which automatically assigns it to the least busy local court, which will register the property on the buyer’s name. For further details and personalized consultancy regarding property registration please contact our Slovenian law firm.