Last updated: 5 February 2018
The Romanian legislation in force provides for the unconditional right of residents or non-residents of the Member States of the European Union or of the European Economic Area to acquire land ownership in Romania. However, how competent authorities interpret the law remains controversial, and practice proves it.
Legal Framework
During Romania’s EU accession process, Romania passed Law no. 312/2005 on the acquisition of land ownership by foreign citizens and stateless persons, as well as by foreign legal persons.
The rule established by the law is that a citizen of a Member State (resident or not - the law does not distinguish) can acquire land ownership "under the same legal conditions as Romanian citizens (…)".
And, as any rule has exceptions, in this case the exception is the fact that a citizen of a Member State, non-resident in Romania, can acquire ownership of land for secondary residences after 5 years from the date of Romania's accession to the European Union (i.e. from 1 January 2012).
Diverging Opinions
Two divergent opinions have given rise to different interpretations of the law.
A first interpretation, to which we adhere, is that citizens of a Member State, whether or not they are resident in Romania, have the right to buy land under the same conditions as Romanian citizens.
Our interpretation is supported by the Act of Accession of Romania to the European Union. This Act provides Romania's right to maintain, for a period of five years from the date of accession, the restrictions imposed by the national legislation in force at the date when the Act was signed regarding the acquisition of land ownership for secondary residences by EU citizens who are not resident in Romania. It is clear that no further restrictions can be maintained after this 5-year period.
A second opinion (in our view, erroneous but unfortunately dominant among Romanian notaries) tends to argue that only EU citizens residing in Romania can acquire land ownership rights under the same conditions as Romanian citizens. Also, according to this interpretation, EU citizens who are not resident in Romania can only acquire land ownership rights for secondary residences.
In practice, this interpretation is applied as follows:
For the first hypothesis, in application of this rule, the authorities require EU citizens to submit a certificate of residence in Romania, issued by the General Inspectorate for Immigrations.
For the second hypothesis, the authorities verify that the land in question was used by the non-resident to build a residence.
Given that this second interpretation is dominant in practice, EU citizens are unjustifiably prevented from acquiring land in Romania, contrary to the spirit of European law.
Let us not forget, however, that a citizen - whether resident or not, European or not – has always been able, even before Romania's accession to the European Union, to acquire land in Romania through a corporate structure, even if owned 100% by such citizen. Thus, despite all these interpretations, foreign citizens were and are able to buy real estate in Romania.