Buying a house in Romania: at the notary, with 21 percent VAT on new builds and a municipal tax of a tenth of a percent
As an EU citizen you buy a house or apartment in Romania like a Romanian, at the notary. Agricultural land outside the built-up area is allowed too, but with the pre-emption rights of neighbours, tenants and the state. Since VAT rose to 21 percent, new apartments are dearer: in March 2026 they cost 3,279 euros per square metre in Cluj-Napoca. The annual municipal tax is low: in Timișoara 0.1 percent of a notional value.
Can you, as a Dutch citizen, buy a house in Romania? Yes, on the same footing as a Romanian: the purchase goes through the notary, and EURES mentions no permit or restriction for houses and apartments. Agricultural land outside the built-up area is allowed for an EU citizen too, under the law of 2014, but that gives neighbours, tenants and the state a right of pre-emption. What does it cost? A new apartment cost an average of 3,279 euros per square metre in Cluj-Napoca in March 2026, and since VAT went to 21 percent, new homes are dearer. The pitfall is the order: anyone who buys in their first year buys in a country they don't know yet.
In your first year you don't buy. You rent, you get to know the city or the village outside the summer, and only then do you decide: why that order is fixed. This article is for the moment you are ready.
What does a home in Romania cost?
EURES gives these average prices for new apartments in March 2026, according to the listing site Storia:
| City | Price per m² (new builds, March 2026) |
|---|---|
| Cluj-Napoca | 3,279 euros |
| Brașov | 2,364 euros |
| Bucharest | 2,099 euros |
| Timișoara | 2,056 euros |
| Oradea | 1,996 euros |
Compared to 2025, the removal of the reduced VAT rate of 9 percent and the increase of the standard rate from 19 to 21 percent show in the prices. That VAT hits new builds from a developer; an existing home from a private individual you buy without VAT. Outside the big cities and in the countryside prices are, according to EURES, far below these figures, and that is where many Dutch people look.
How does the purchase go?
All documents are authenticated at a notary's office and the contract of sale is signed before the notary. According to EURES this includes documents proving that the home is vacant and not encumbered by the owner's debts; the ownership is entered in the land register, the carte funciară. After the purchase you sign the contracts for electricity, gas, water, telephone and heating yourself, and contact the building manager; with an apartment you pay monthly towards maintenance.
We could not check the notary's and the land register's tariffs at a Romanian source; ask for them beforehand from the notary, who must include them in the quote. Take your own lawyer or notary who reads Romanian, not the seller's.
May you also buy land?
A building plot or a yard inside the built-up area you buy as a home. For agricultural land outside the built-up area Law 17/2014 applies. It applies to Romanian citizens and to citizens of an EU member state, the EEA or Switzerland, who may buy such land on condition of reciprocity; for Dutch citizens that is no obstacle. But the seller must first offer the right of pre-emption to, in this order, co-owners, tenant farmers, adjoining owners and the Romanian state through the State Domains Agency, at the same price and conditions. Land within thirty kilometres of the state border or the Black Sea can moreover only be sold with an opinion from the Ministry of Defence, which comes within twenty working days.
A village house with an orchard behind it is therefore not an impossible purchase, but one with a procedure and a waiting time. Have the designation of every plot checked in the land register before you sign.
What do you pay every year after that?
The municipality levies a tax on buildings, under articles 457 and 460 of the tax code. Timișoara shows how low it is: for 2026 a rate of 0.1 percent applies on a notional value, not on the purchase price. That notional value is the floor area times a standard value per square metre (2,677 lei for a home with all utilities) times a zone factor. The municipality's example: an apartment of 55 square metres in zone C comes to a notional value of over 474,000 lei and a tax of 474 lei a year. Each municipal council sets the rate itself; ask at your municipality's local tax department.
| Item | Who decides | How much |
|---|---|---|
| VAT on new builds | the state | 21%, reduced rate of 9% abolished |
| notary and land register | statutory tariff | ask for the quote beforehand |
| tax on buildings, every year | the municipal council | Timișoara 2026: 0.1% of the notional value, example 474 lei |
| utilities | you, after the purchase | own contracts, paid monthly |
Where is your house taxed?
The tax treaty follows the bricks for property: article 6 lets income from immovable property be taxed in the state where that property lies. A house in Romania is taxed there, and a home you keep in the Netherlands remains taxed in the Netherlands, after which Romania credits the Dutch tax under article 24. How that ties in with your pension is in AOW, pension and tax in Romania. Until you are ready, you rent; the order is in the step-by-step plan for Romania.
In Vertrekklaar this is phase 5 of 5 of the journey, step 5.2: the same steps, but for your situation — in your order, tickable, and with the deadlines watched. See the whole journey to Romania or go straight to step 5.2 in the open plan.
What this rests on
The facts in this article come from these official pages. Rules change — when in doubt the source is leading, not this article.
- EURES — living and working in Romania, buying at the notary, the 21 percent VAT and the prices of March 2026 — eures.europa.eu
- Municipality of Timișoara — 2026 calculation of the tax on buildings, land and vehicles, the rate of 0.1 percent — assets.primariatm.ro
- Law 17/2014 on the sale of agricultural land outside the built-up area (via the cadastre office OCPI Timiș), EU citizens and the pre-emption rights — ocpitimis.ro
- Netherlands-Romania treaty for the avoidance of double taxation, 1998, article 6 and article 24 — wetten.overheid.nl
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