Buying from abroad
For foreign buyers
Yes, you can buy a building lot or a home in Hungary as a foreign citizen. What changes is whether you’re an EU or EEA citizen, and how you sign the contract if you’re not in Hungary. This page sums up the rules as of October 3, 2026, with the laws behind them.
This is a summary, not legal advice. The attorney handling your purchase will confirm what applies to you.
Who can buy
EU citizens don’t need a permit. Everyone else does.
Citizens of the EU and the EEA
If you’re a citizen of an EU country or another country in the European Economic Area, you don’t need a permit to buy a lot or a home in Hungary. The same goes for citizens of countries that an international treaty puts on an equal footing with them.
Citizens of other countries
If you’re not an EU or EEA citizen, you need a permit from the government office of the county where the property is. For Csajág, that’s the Veszprém Vármegyei Kormányhivatal (Veszprém County government office).
Swiss and UK citizens: according to the Budapest government office’s guidance, Swiss citizens and UK citizens covered by the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement don’t need a permit, but other UK citizens do. Have your attorney confirm this for your situation.
The permit
If you need a permit
The process is set out in Government Decree 251/2014 (X. 2.) and the Housing Act (Act LXXVIII of 1993). Here’s what you need to know:
- Authority
- Veszprém Vármegyei Kormányhivatal (Veszprém County government office)
- Timing
- You can sign the purchase agreement first. The land registry won’t record you as the owner until the permit comes through; in the meantime, it puts the registration on hold for up to six months.
- Deadline
- 45 days for the office to decide
- Fee
- HUF 65,000 per property
- Conditions
- Among other conditions, the office grants the permit if the purchase doesn’t harm a public or municipal interest, your identity can be verified, and the intent to transfer the property is documented. A criminal record, a deportation order, an entry ban, or an arrest warrant counts as harm to the public interest.
- The municipality
- The office checks with the village mayor. If the mayor reports within 30 days that the purchase would harm the village’s interests, the application is denied.
- Reciprocity
- The office can also deny the permit if your country doesn’t give Hungarian citizens at least equal treatment. Reciprocity is assumed unless Hungary’s foreign minister says otherwise.
From a distance
How the purchase works from abroad
Every purchase goes through a Hungarian attorney: the land registry only accepts a purchase agreement as a notarial deed or countersigned by an attorney admitted to a Hungarian bar, and a legal representative has to file the registration. The law gives that attorney several ways to work with buyers who live abroad.
- 01
Identity check
Your attorney has to verify your identity. Besides checking your passport or national ID card, Hungarian law accepts an EU electronic ID (eIDAS), and the Hungarian Bar’s rules allow the anti-money-laundering checks over a video system the Bar has audited. It’s up to each attorney which of these they offer.
- 02
Signing
Once your attorney has verified your identity, you can sign the contract, or confirm your signature, on a recorded live video call with them. A contract countersigned by a Hungarian attorney doesn’t need an apostille or legalization, even if you sign it abroad.
- 03
Power of attorney
Someone else can sign for you. A power of attorney for a land registry transaction is drawn up on the land registry’s electronic form and authenticated in person by an attorney or a notary. If you sign one abroad, it can only be used after a Hungarian notary records it on that form. You can also authorize your attorney at a Hungarian embassy or consulate.
- 04
Documents from abroad
Hungary has been part of the 1961 Hague Apostille Convention since 1973. If you sign a private document abroad without a Hungarian attorney’s countersignature, your signature has to be certified, either with an apostille or through legalization at a Hungarian consulate.
- 05
Language
Hungarian government proceedings are conducted in Hungarian. If you don’t speak Hungarian, the law adds requirements for any contract you sign, and your attorney makes sure they’re met. Certified translations come from OFFI, the national translation office; notaries and consulates can also certify translations within their own jurisdiction.
- 06
Tax ID
The transfer tax return (vagyonszerzési illeték) filed with the purchase lists the buyer’s Hungarian tax ID number, or states that the buyer doesn’t have one. If you later earn taxable income in Hungary, for example by renting out the house, you’ll need a tax ID from NAV, the Hungarian tax authority (form T34).
Residency
For non-EU citizens: buying a home or a lot doesn’t qualify you for Hungary’s guest investor residence permit. The only investments that count are shares in a real estate fund registered with the Hungarian central bank, or a donation to a university.
What we do
What we take care of
We’ll show you the lots and the model home by appointment, and we handle construction and move-in, as described under How it works.
Sources
- 1993. évi LXXVIII. törvény, 1/A. §, 1/B. §, 91/A. § Housing Act: who needs a permit, the fee
- 251/2014. (X. 2.) Korm. rendelet the permit procedure
- Budapest Főváros Kormányhivatala, tájékoztató (2025) government office guidance, including Switzerland and the UK
- 2021. évi C. törvény, 35., 36., 39., 40., 42., 48. § Land Registry Act
- 179/2023. (V. 15.) Korm. rendelet, 108. §, 115. § powers of attorney for the land registry
- 2017. évi LXXVIII. törvény, 32. §, 44. § Attorneys Act: identification, signing at a distance
- MÜK 10/2019. (VI. 24.) szabályzat, 5. pont Hungarian Bar rules on identification
- 1973. évi 11. törvényerejű rendelet the Hague Apostille Convention of 1961
- 2016. évi CL. törvény, 20. § Administrative Procedure Act: official language
- 24/1986. (VI. 26.) MT rendelet, 5. § certified translations
- 1990. évi XCIII. törvény, 91. § Duties Act: the transfer tax return
- NAV, General information for foreign citizens tax ID for foreign individuals
- 2023. évi XC. törvény, 16. § guest investor residence permit
Hungarian law as published in the national legal database (njt.hu), checked on October 3, 2026.
Visit
Come see the lots and the model home
We’ll walk the lots with you and show you the model home and the floor plans. Visits are by appointment, with no obligation.