A Villa Near the Rice Fields in Ubud: What the Zoning Allows Before You Buy, Lease or Build

By Jeremy Jordan, S.H. — licensed Indonesian advocate (advokat), DPN Indonesia, NIA 25.25.32730 · Reviewed 30 October 2026

Who this guide is for

You have found a plot or a villa in Ubud with a rice-field view — in Sayan, Kedewatan, Mas, Peliatan, Lodtunduh, Singakerta, Petulu, or nearby in Tegallalang or Payangan — and someone wants a deposit for a sale, a long lease or a build. The general checks for any Bali property are in our Bali due diligence checklist. This guide covers the question that decides most rice-field deals in Ubud: is a villa allowed on this plot at all?

Step 1 — Three maps decide, and the most detailed one wins

Three plans apply to land in Ubud, and they do not say the same thing at the same level of detail:

• The regency plan (RTRW) — Gianyar Regional Regulation 2/2023 on the Gianyar Spatial Plan 2023–2043. It replaced the 2012 plan (Article 87). It sets broad areas: Ubud is named as a tourism strategic area (Article 39(2)(c)), and food-crop farmland exists in every district (Article 35(3)).
• The detailed plan (RDTR) — for Ubud, Gianyar Regent Regulation 7/2023 on the Detailed Spatial Plan of Kecamatan Ubud 2023–2043, covering the whole district: Lodtunduh, Mas, Singakerta, Peliatan, Sayan, Ubud, Kedewatan and Petulu (Article 3). Payangan (Regent Regulation 23/2023) and Tegallalang (Regent Regulation 1/2024) have their own. This is the plan that zones individual blocks.
• The national protected rice-field map (LSD) — set for Bali by Minister of ATR/BPN Decree 1589/SK-HK.02.01/XII/2021. It lists 10,514.34 hectares of protected rice fields in Gianyar.

The trap is to rely on the broad label. In a 2025 criminal case about a villa project in Ubud, the prosecution's own description of the land was that the regency plan placed it in a tourism area, while the Ubud detailed plan placed it in the food-crop sub-zone and on the protected rice-field map (PN Denpasar 215/Pid.Sus/2025/PN Dps). The tourism label did not help. Check the plot against the detailed plan and the rice-field map, not against the regency map.

Step 2 — What the Ubud plan says about villas on food-crop land

The Ubud detailed plan has a zoning matrix that marks each activity in each zone as I (permitted), T (permitted with limits), B (permitted with specific conditions) or X (not permitted) (Regent Regulation 7/2023, Article 44(1) and Appendix XV). For accommodation, the matrix reads:

• Food-crop sub-zone (P-1): villa, hotel, homestay (pondok wisata), guest house, resort and condotel are all X — not permitted. Agro-tourism (wisata agro) is T,B — allowed only with limits and conditions.
• Plantation sub-zone (P-3) and the housing zones R-3 and R-4: a villa is T,B — possible, with limits and conditions.
• Tourism zone (W): a villa is I — permitted.

On top of the zones, the Ubud plan maps 903.90 hectares of protected sustainable farmland (LP2B). Inside it, converting farmland into built land is not allowed, and no building may be put up that disturbs its farming function (Article 72(1)–(2)(d)–(e)).

The regency plan says the same in general terms. In food-crop areas, converting the land to non-farming use is allowed only for public-interest projects or disaster response; housing is allowed only as the existing homes of residents, not as new development; and agro-tourism, eco-tourism and village tourism must be limited, controlled and keep the existing rice fields and irrigation intact (Gianyar Regulation 2/2023, Article 67(2)).

Step 3 — The laws behind the ban

• Protected sustainable farmland (LP2B). Land designated as LP2B is protected and may not be converted. The exceptions are public interest and National Strategic Projects, under strict conditions (Law 41/2009, Article 44, as amended by Law 6/2023). Converting it is a criminal offence punishable by up to five years' imprisonment and a fine (Law 41/2009, Article 72(1); fine amounts were restated by Law 1/2026). Gianyar's own regulation on LP2B also prohibits anyone from converting it (Gianyar Regulation 1/2020, Article 27(2)).
• Protected rice fields (LSD) not yet folded into the spatial plan cannot be converted before a recommendation on change of land use is obtained from the Minister of ATR/BPN (Presidential Regulation 4/2026, Article 17(1); Minister of ATR/BPN Regulation 2/2024, Article 12). An individual, a company or a government body may apply, through the Directorate General (Regulation 2/2024, Article 13).
• Bali's provincial rule. Productive farmland designated in a spatial plan may not be converted (Bali Regional Regulation 4/2026, Article 13(1)–(2)). Its official elucidation allows a limited exception of up to 20% — but only for non-rice-field food-crop zones, horticulture and plantation zones, not for rice-field zones. Sanctions include stopping the activity, closing the site, revoking permits, demolishing the building and restoring the land (Article 20(2)).
• Subak land. Any change of use of a subak's land requires the consent of the subak members, and must match the detailed spatial plan (Gianyar Regulation 9/2013, Article 11(4)–(5)).
• Spatial-plan sanctions. Gianyar's regency plan lists administrative sanctions for uses that do not comply with it, from written warnings and fines to closure, cancellation of the spatial permit, demolition and restoration (Gianyar Regulation 2/2023, Article 78(3)).

Step 4 — What enforcement has looked like

The 2025 Ubud case is the clearest example. The project ran on rice-field land held under leases of 30 to 31 years. After repeated written warnings from the regency, the director was charged with converting agricultural land, and on 17 March 2025 PN Denpasar convicted him of "converting land designated as agricultural cultivation land" under Law 22/2019 on Sustainable Agricultural Cultivation Systems, with two months' imprisonment and a Rp200 million fine (PN Denpasar 215/Pid.Sus/2025/PN Dps; the alternative charge was the LP2B offence). The sentence was short; the point is that the leases did not stop the closure or the conviction.

Gianyar's public-order agency reported that in 2024 it inspected 223 accommodation builds, mostly villas, and found 134 without permits (Bali Post, 5 January 2025). In June 2025 it sealed a villa in Sayan over a breach of the LP2B zone (Kilas Bali, 24 July 2025). In October 2025 the regency administration told the regional council that every business identification number (NIB) for a villa or homestay is checked against the zoning and the spatial permit through OSS, and that no business licence will be issued where LP2B land has been converted (detik Bali, 9 October 2025).

This matters even where nobody is prosecuted: a villa that cannot get its business licence cannot legally be rented to guests.

Step 5 — Why a long lease does not solve it

A lease changes who uses the land, not what the land may be used for. The zone, the LP2B status and the rice-field map attach to the plot, whoever holds it. If the plot is in P-1 or inside the LP2B overlay, a 25- or 30-year lease buys the right to use rice-field land as rice-field land — not the right to build a villa on it. The same applies to a plot bought through a company or held under any other structure (see structure options and nominee risk).

Step 6 — How to check a plot before you pay

• Pin down the plot. Get the certificate number, the land office measurement (surat ukur) and the exact location. In the 2025 case, the decisive evidence was a joint measurement by the regency public-works office and the Gianyar Land Office.
• Find its zone in the detailed plan. The spatial permit (KKPR) is confirmed against the detailed plan through OSS (Law 26/2007 as amended by Law 6/2023; Government Regulation 21/2021, Articles 101–103). In 2026 the Ministry of ATR/BPN said Gianyar's detailed plans are fully integrated into OSS (RRI). A KKPR confirmation for the planned activity on that plot is the best single document.
• Check the farmland overlays. Ask whether the plot lies inside the LP2B overlay of the detailed plan or on the protected rice-field (LSD) map. If it is on the LSD map, conversion needs the Minister's recommendation first; if it is LP2B, it cannot be converted for a private villa at all.
• For an existing villa: ask for the building approval (PBG) and the certificate of fitness for use (SLF). Building may start only after PBG and use only after SLF, and a building without PBG can be ordered demolished (Law 28/2002, Articles 36A, 37 and 39, as amended by Law 6/2023). Then check that the business licence for accommodation was issued for this address.
• Subak: if the land belongs to a subak's area, ask whether the subak consented to the change of use.
• Get it in writing before any deposit, and make the deposit refundable if the zoning or permits do not check out.

Which court

Civil disputes about land in Ubud and the rest of Gianyar regency go to PN Gianyar, whose jurisdiction is Gianyar regency (PN Gianyar, official jurisdiction page). Which court is competent in a given case still depends on the parties and the contract — and the 2025 criminal case above was heard at PN Denpasar.

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