Buying Villa or Land in Bali: The Due Diligence Checklist Before You Pay

By Jeremy Jordan, S.H. — licensed Indonesian advocate (advokat), DPN Indonesia, NIA 25.25.32730 · Reviewed 22 October 2026

Who this checklist is for

You have found a villa, a plot of land or a long lease in Bali, and the seller or agent wants a deposit. This guide sets out what to check before any money moves, in the order that catches the most problems. It covers the general rules; the documents of your particular property decide your position.

Step 1 — Know what you will actually hold

Before checking anything else, be clear which right you are buying, because it decides every later step. Only Indonesian citizens can hold Hak Milik, the freehold title (Basic Agrarian Law 5/1960, Article 21(1)). Any sale or other act intended to transfer Hak Milik to a foreigner, directly or indirectly, is void by law; the land passes to the State and payments already made cannot be reclaimed (Article 26(2)).

That is why a foreigner's realistic options are a lease (hak sewa), Hak Pakai on a house, a strata unit, or HGB held through an Indonesian company (PT PMA). Our guide to the structure options compares them. Anything sold to you as "freehold in a local friend's name" is a nominee arrangement: Bali's Regional Regulation 4/2026 prohibits anyone from acting as an intermediary or facilitator, or providing the means, for a foreigner to control land through a nominee; the sanctions it sets are administrative, and it notes that criminal sanctions may apply under other legislation (Articles 14 and 20) — see our nominee risk guide.

Step 2 — Check the certificate at the Land Office

Ask for a copy of the certificate and have a PPAT (land deed official) run an official check at the Kantor Pertanahan before you pay anything substantial. The check tells you who the registered holder is, which right it is, its term and area, and what is registered against it. Look for:

• A mortgage (Hak Tanggungan). If the seller's lender is not paid, it may sell the property at public auction on its own authority and take what it is owed from the proceeds (Law 4/1996, Article 6). A mortgage has to be released at or before completion, not "later".
• A recorded PPJB or lease. A conditional sale agreement (PPJB) or a lease can be recorded on the certificate (PP 18/2021, Article 90). Once a PPJB is recorded, the right cannot be transferred to anyone other than the party named in it (Minister of ATR/BPN Regulation 16/2021, inserting Article 127B(6) into PMNA 3/1997). If someone else's PPJB is recorded, the seller cannot sell to you; if a lease is recorded, you are buying land that someone else is entitled to use.
• A court-case note or block. Where land is the subject of a court case, an interested party can have that noted at the Land Office (PP 18/2021, Article 91).
• The remaining term, if the right is HGB or Hak Pakai, and whether extension or renewal is still possible.

Step 3 — A clean check is not the end: overlaps and the five-year rule

In principle only one certificate may be issued for one plot, but overlapping certificates do occur, and the Land Office can cancel a certificate for an administrative or legal defect (Minister of ATR/BPN Regulation 21/2020, Articles 29, 34 and 35). In a Badung case the Supreme Court held that where Hak Milik certificates overlap, the one issued later must be cancelled (MA 111 K/TUN/2015). Compare the plot map with the land on the ground, and have it measured if the boundaries are unclear.

Time also matters. Once a certificate has been lawfully issued to someone who acquired the land in good faith and physically controls it, another person claiming the land can no longer pursue that claim if, within five years of the certificate's issue, they neither objected in writing to the holder and the Land Office nor sued in court (PP 24/1997, Article 32(2)). A certificate older than five years, held and occupied by the seller in good faith, therefore carries less risk than a brand-new one — but only if those conditions are actually met.

Step 4 — Confirm everyone who must sign

• Spouses. Property acquired during a marriage is joint property, and either spouse may deal with joint property only with the consent of both (Law 1/1974, Articles 35(1) and 36(1)). Check the seller's marital status and get the spouse's written consent where the property is joint.
• Heirs. If the registered holder has died, every heir must take part; one family member signing for the rest is a common source of later claims.
• Powers of attorney. A PPAT must refuse to make a transfer deed where a party acts under an absolute power of attorney (kuasa mutlak) that in substance transfers the land (PP 24/1997, Article 39(1)(d)). Be wary of a seller who only produces an irrevocable power from the "real" owner.
• Companies. If the seller is a company, check that the person signing has authority under its articles and any required approvals.

Step 5 — Zoning, coastline and farmland

Land that cannot lawfully be used as you intend is worth far less than its price. A business use of space needs confirmation that the planned activity conforms with the detailed spatial plan (RDTR), obtained through the OSS system (Law 26/2007 as amended by Law 6/2023; PP 21/2021). Ask for the zoning in writing for the exact coordinates, not the agent's description.

• Coastal setback. The beach setback is at least 100 metres from the highest tide line towards land, adjusted to the shape and condition of the beach (Presidential Regulation 51/2016, Article 2(1)). Regencies set their own lines in their spatial plans.
• Farmland. Land designated as protected food farmland may not be converted (Law 41/2009, Article 44), and Bali's Regional Regulation 4/2026 prohibits converting productive land designated in the spatial plan (Article 13(2)). A rice-field plot marketed as a villa site is a warning sign.

Step 6 — Building permits on an existing villa

Construction may only start after a building approval (Persetujuan Bangunan Gedung, PBG), and a building may only be used after it has a certificate of fitness for use (Sertifikat Laik Fungsi, SLF) (Law 28/2002, Articles 36A(1) and 37, as amended by Law 6/2023; PP 16/2021). A building may be demolished where it has no PBG, or where what was built departs from the approved technical plan (Article 39(1)(c) and (d)). For an existing villa, ask for the PBG — or the older IMB — and the SLF, and check that what was built matches what was approved.

Step 7 — Disputes, access, adat and taxes

• Court cases. Search the court case system (SIPP) of the Denpasar and other Bali courts by the seller's name and by the certificate number, and ask the village head whether the land is disputed.
• Access. Confirm a legal access road — a registered road or a right of way in the deed. Plots without lawful access are common in Bali subdivisions.
• Customary (adat) land. Ask the customary village (desa adat) and, near a temple, the temple stewards whether the land is village or temple land. Customary land cannot be bought like private land.
• Taxes. Ask for the land and building tax (PBB) receipts for recent years and proof that the taxes on the seller's own acquisition were paid.

If you are a foreigner buying a house or a unit

A foreigner who holds the immigration documents required by law — a visa, passport or stay permit — may own a house or a strata unit (PP 18/2021, Article 69 and its Elucidation). A landed house must be on Hak Pakai, or on Hak Pakai granted over Hak Milik by a PPAT deed or over management-right land (Article 71). In Bali the minimum price is Rp5 billion for a landed house and Rp2 billion for a strata unit (Minister of ATR/BPN Decree 1241/SK-HK.02/IX/2022). A deal structured to avoid these rules lands you back in Step 1.

Buying off-plan from a developer

A developer may market housing still under construction through a PPJB, but the PPJB itself may only be signed once there is certainty of land ownership, of what is promised, of the building approval (PBG) and of infrastructure, and at least 20% of the development has been built (Law 1/2011, Article 42(2), as amended by Law 6/2023). A developer that markets must hold, among other things, confirmed zoning, land rights and a construction guarantee (PP 12/2021, Article 22C). Ask for those documents, not the brochure. Our off-plan developer guide covers what happens when a project stalls.

Step 8 — Record your own agreement

Once you sign a PPJB or a lease over registered land, have it recorded on the certificate at the Land Office (PP 18/2021, Article 90). Recording requires a copy of the deed and the original certificate (PMNA 3/1997, Article 127B(3)), so make the seller's cooperation with recording a condition of payment. For a PPJB, recording stops the land being transferred to anyone else (Article 127B(6)). For a lease, it puts your lease on the certificate, where every later buyer and lender checking the title will see it.

The honest take

No single check makes a purchase safe. The Land Office check, the signatures, the zoning and the permits each close a different risk, and most problems we see come from paying before all of them were done. Due diligence takes time because offices, sellers and villages work to their own timetables; the cost of waiting is almost always smaller than the cost of a dispute. No outcome is guaranteed.

General information only, not legal advice for your situation. No result is guaranteed. Speak to a lawyer about your specific facts.