Buying a house in Czechia: no restriction, so everything hangs on the land registry
Anyone may buy immovable property in Czechia, regardless of nationality — no permit, no exception. That makes the purchase simpler than almost anywhere, and it makes the check more important: the purchase is only complete on entry in the land registry, and that extract has to be clean.
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Written and checked by Auke on , against the sources at the bottom. Is something no longer right? Report it below and I'll fix it.
Yes, anyone may buy real estate in Czechia, regardless of nationality. You need no permit, and there is no exception for foreigners. With Poland and Morocco a purchase starts with the question whether you may buy; here the only question is whether the extract from the land registry is clean.
What the state charges on it is nil. The real estate acquisition tax was abolished in 2020. The land registry charges 2,000 crowns for the entry.
The pitfall is the moment you become the owner:
- that is only on the entry in the land registry;
- that entry comes at the earliest twenty days after the registry has notified the owner;
- on average it is a good three weeks after the application.
So never pay directly, and have the extract checked for what encumbers the property.
In your first year you don't buy. You rent, you get to know the city or the region, and only then do you decide. Read here why that order is fixed. This article is for the moment you've got that far.
May I buy in Czechia as a foreigner?
The government portal says it plainly: in principle any individual, regardless of nationality, may buy and sell immovable property. That also goes for legal entities, such as companies, wherever they are domiciled.
The only exception is people without full legal capacity, such as children: they need a court's approval. A flat in Prague, a house in South Bohemia, a plot on the edge of Brno: the rules are the same for you as for a Czech.
When am I the owner, and when do I pay?
That's the rule you have to know. In Czechia you don't become the owner on signing the purchase deed, but on the entry in the land registry, the katastr nemovitostí.
The Cadastral Act builds in a waiting period (§§ 16 and 18):
- the registry informs the current owner no later than the day after the application that a change is pending;
- it may only permit the entry after the expiry of a period of 20 days from that notice.
In August 2026 an entry took 22 days on average, according to the registry. In those weeks the property is still the seller's.
So let the money run through an escrow account at a notary, lawyer or bank. You deposit, the money stays blocked, and it only goes to the seller once the land registry has confirmed the entry. Whoever pays directly pays for a property that isn't theirs yet.
What do I have checked before I sign?
The extract from the land registry (100 crowns) tells you who the owner is and what encumbers the property. The government portal itself names the ban on transfer: a ban on selling or giving away the property. It is often negotiated as a right in rem (a right attached to the property itself) when the purchase is financed with a mortgage. It can also result from enforcement against the owner.
Have the extract checked for:
- attachments and mortgages that aren't discharged on purchase;
- easements (rights of someone else over the property), such as a right of way or a lifelong right of residence of a family member;
- a pre-emption right (the right to be first in line to buy) of a co-owner or of the municipality;
- the zoning, if you plan something other than living.
Take your own lawyer or notary, not the seller's. In Czechia the notary doesn't automatically sign the purchase. Often a lawyer does the deed and the escrow account, and that's fine as long as it's your lawyer.
What does buying a house in Czechia cost on top of the price?
The acquisition tax no longer exists. Act 386/2020 abolished it with effect from 26 September 2020, retroactively for everyone whose filing deadline expired on or after 31 March 2020.
What remains:
- the land registry fee;
- the lawyer or notary for the deed and the escrow account;
- possibly the estate agent.
| Item | Amount or deadline |
|---|---|
| Acquisition tax | 0% since 26 September 2020 |
| Application for entry in the land registry (návrh na vklad) | 2,000 crowns |
| Extract from the land registry, per 20 units | 100 crowns |
| Waiting period before the entry | at least 20 days after the notice to the owner |
| Average processing time of an entry (August 2026) | 22 days |
| Real estate tax return after the purchase | before 31 January of the following year |
Where is my house taxed?
With property the tax treaty doesn't follow your place of residence but the bricks: income from immovable property may be taxed in the state where that property is situated. That's in article 6.
A property in Czechia is taxed there, with the annual Czech real estate tax on top. You declare that tax in advance: if you buy in 2026, you file before 31 January 2027 for 2027.
A home you keep in the Netherlands stays taxed in the Netherlands. Czechia exempts that Dutch part from its own tax under article 25.
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 Czechia 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, go by the source, not this article.
- Gov.cz — conditions for the purchase and sale of immovable property — portal.gov.cz
- Act 386/2020 Coll. — the abolition of the real estate acquisition tax — zakonyprolidi.cz
- Cadastral Act 256/2013 Coll. — §§ 16 and 18, the 20-day waiting period before registration — zakonyprolidi.cz
- ČÚZK — the land registry fees (application for registration 2,000 CZK, extract 100 CZK) — cuzk.gov.cz
- ČÚZK — entries in the land registry, with the average processing time — cuzk.gov.cz
- Finanční správa — the real estate tax return before 31 January — financnisprava.gov.cz
- Agreement Netherlands-Czechoslovakia for the avoidance of double taxation — articles 6 and 25 — wetten.overheid.nl
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