Before purchasing real estate, make sure it is recorded in the Land Register and on the composition of the object of the transaction, namely whether the seller is the owner of the entire nature of the property, or possibly the building on the ground belongs to someone else. It may also be verified in the Land Register whether the immovable property has not been pledged, rented out or leased to a third party. This aspect is important, given that the rights entered in the Land Register, including the lease agreement, will also be binding on the new owner. It should be noted that regulatory enactments do not require the owner to register a rental contract entered into in the Land Register with a tenant, so the data may be incomplete.

You can make sure that the property is entered in the Land Register free of charge on the portal www.zemesgramata.lv in the “Search for a Property” section, however, to look into the four parts of the property compartment where the following information is recorded:

• real estate,
• the owner of real estate,
• real estate burdens, and
• real estate debts,

you must prepay online, after which the information is displayed in the computer printing form.

You can view information about real estate throughout Latvia by using portal kadastrs.lv:

• data on objects belonging to a particular person,
• spatial data on land and buildings which are included in the composition of immovable property or are a joint property object attached to an apartment property, on buildings which are not part of any immovable property, as well as on encumbrance, according to the Law on Protection Bars ,The Law on Specially Protected Nature Areas, Cabinet Regulations on the establishment and management of micro-reserves, the Law on the Protection of Cultural Monuments etc.

Kadastrs.lv for free, you can see thematic cards:

• Post-depreciation buildings;
• Average qualitative assessment of agricultural land;
• Estate Use Goal Card.

Find out if there is no animal accommodation in the vicinity of the property of interest to you (livestock, poultry, etc.), you can use the Agricultural Data Centre Register of holdings.

Important information that must be cleared prior to the purchase of real estate is the associated limitations. For more information on encumbrances, easements, status of cultural monument, see section Real estate encumbrance.

If you want to find out the information about the permitted use of real estate according to the spatial plan or to be in a case course regarding planning topics in the area of your interest, use the National Unified Geospatial Information Portal Geolatvija.lv, under the heading “Spatial development planning”, where text and geospatial information on all spatial planning documents are available together, as well as information on the planning documents in the public consultation.

For information of interest to you, use the search options provided by the portal Geolatvija.lv: by indicating a point on the map; searching by address; searching for the cadastre designation of the unit of land.

For more on the Geolatvija.lv portal, read the description of the life situation Participation in public administration and public processes section Public consultations near your place of residence.

Land type and building

When purchasing land for building, very much attention should be paid to the choice of land, and it should be made clear that this parcel is suitable for building a private house. There are things that can be noticed at once, and there are things that can be found only by living there for several years, such as the effects of an industrial district.

Information on the planned plot of land and its surroundings may be identified in the local building authority, as well as the future plans of the municipality or the existing burdens on the region, for example, or in the near future no provision is made for the construction of the railway or for the extension of the motorway.

Complications may arise, for example, with forest land, which is not visible in either the Land Register, in the inventory case or in the border plan. This means that only a very small building may be built on land by purchasing land. If it is not checked, it may be possible that by buying land with beautiful pines, it may appear that there is a forest land that demands transformation and cannot be done without a detailed plan that is a burden in terms of both time and cost (more in terms of life situation Maintenance of agricultural land and forests).

Consult with providers of communications networks, water and sewer services. For example, whether the development of communication networks or other nobles is planned in the area. Maybe works have been planned in the near future, or they can happen in several years, and then we should expect to live with a local well or a spa. A list of public service providers is available Public Utilities Commissions on the website.

If a parcel has already been built, it is desirable to make sure in the building board that it is not arbitrary construction and has been harmonised in accordance with the procedures specified in the regulatory enactments. Note whether it has been put into service or the construction has been carried out according to the building's construction project.

A specialist should be invited to assess the technical state of the property before the transaction is concluded. You may be able to agree with the seller on a reduction in the purchase price by detecting significant property defects or damage in good time.

If you are buying a building that has not been commissioned, it may appear that the building has been constructed in breach of red lines or in close proximity to neighbours, which means either the building must be demolished or a new detailed plan should be developed in agreement with the building board and neighbours, which may be difficult.

Construction Information System (BIS) the circulation of information between participants in the construction process shall be ensured, records necessary for the construction process and electronic services related to the construction process and registers shall be maintained. Read more in a life situation Construction of a private house.

When you decide to purchase real estate, make sure that the seller actually owns the property. Ownership of a person may be verified on the website of the State Unified Computerised Land Register zemesgramata.lv, or to request the owner to present the actual data of the State Real Estate Cadastre Information System regarding the immovable property belonging to him or her. You can do this in a convenient way:

1. using a free e-service My data in the cadastre;

1. by writing an application, by signing with a secure  electronic signature and sending to the SLS  e-address or to pasts@vzd.gov.lv;
2. on-site at the SLS;
3. or the State Land Service (SLS) data publishing and e-services portal (Kadastrs.lv).

It is necessary to ascertain whether the seller needs to obtain the consent of a third party, for example, the spouse (if the seller is married), banks (if the property is difficult), etc., because without the consent of such persons for the sale of real estate, ownership in the district (city) court cannot be registered.

If the sale of a property is carried out by a person who is not the owner himself, but who has the power to do so issued by the owner, make sure to check that such an authorisation has actually been issued by a sworn notary and that its contents correspond to that recorded in the Register of Manpower. In other words, whether the authorisation in the register actually gives the right to sell the property. This can be done in the section of the Latvian Sworn Notary Customer Portal. Verification of the mandate.

Pre-emption rights

The right of pre-emption is, the right of preference already specified in the contract or law to purchase property if the owner resells it. This right may only exist if the owner sells his or her real estate. The right of pre-emption does not confer any advantage on the right of pre-emption in respect of the purchase price or other conditions of sale.

Pre-emption rights are most commonly enshrined in purchase contracts, as well as in rental, rental contracts. Only if the lessor decides not to use his or her rights, the immovable property may be sold to another person.

However, in order to make the agreement binding on third parties, it should be entered in the Land Register.

Laws and regulations the right of pre-emption shall be granted in the following cases

• the joint owner, if any other co-owner sells his or her intended share to a person other than the co-owner;
• in the case of a building or land owner, where the building and land belong to different persons and is not a single real estate (the owner of buildings and structures has a right of pre-emption to the land on which the building belonged to him or her is located and vice versa).
• in certain cases, a co-heir who has not received his or her share in nature if the heir who has received his or her share in nature sells his holding or part of it a decade ago.

The Law For local governments Article 78 provides that the right of pre-emption is also applicable to local authorities, if real estate is seized in the administrative territory of local governments and it is necessary to perform the functions of local governments specified in the law. This means that the real estate seller has to notify the municipal council of the deal with the buyer, asking the council to withdraw from the right of pre-emption.

In accordance with Cabinet Regulation No. 500 of 29 October 2019, Amendments to Cabinet Regulation No. 919 of 28 September 2010, Regulations Regarding Procedures for Use of Pre-emption Rights of Local Local Governments and Deadlines an application and purchase agreement or a copy thereof (presenting the original purchase agreement) must be submitted to the relevant local registers prior to the strengthening of property rights Local government the City Council. The City Council shall issue a statement after receipt of the purchase contract or a copy thereof by sending this statement The State Unified Computerised Land Register thus, the seller does not have to travel to the local government on the basis of the requested information to be submitted later in the district (city) court.

If you want to offer pre-emptive rights by sending an offer by mail and you do not know the declared address of the person entitled to pre-emption, you can use the Office of Citizenship and Migration Charges Service “Transfer a letter to the person to be searched for”.

If you know the name of the person entitled to pre-emption and the address of the place of residence to make sure that the person entitled to pre-emption has the address of the declared place of residence to which to send the pre-emption offer:

• use the free e-service Check that the person is declared at the specified address.

When you close a deal on the purchase of real estate, it's worth thinking about the security of the deal. It is essential to clarify also the payment arrangements in the purchase agreement: whether the payment will be made through a storage or transaction account or not, or whether the entire purchase fee will be paid immediately or in part, upon the occurrence of certain conditions (signature of the deed of acceptance, signature of the request for corroboration, etc.), which are the consequences if, for various reasons, it is not possible to register the transfer of ownership in the district (city) court.

A purchase contract shall be submitted to the Land Register together with a request for corroboration, in which a sworn notary has certified the signature, the capacity of the requests for corroboration and the rights of representation. This means that the identity, actual capacity and rights of representation of both parties have been verified if either party acts on the basis of a mandate representing another person. The form of the request for corroboration depends on the content of the transaction to be concluded, therefore it is best if the sworn notary draws up a request for corroboration himself.

If, however, you decide to draw up a purchase contract for yourself, you must consider that you also take responsibility for its content, including the consequences of a contract that may be unduly prepared, and if the interests of one of the parties are limited or damaged. Only if the real estate purchase-sale transaction, already starting with its planning, is entrusted to a sworn notary, the sworn notary supervises the whole process and the conduct of the transaction - investigates the property, compiles information from public registers, draws up a contract, explains all their rights, duties, risks and opportunities to the parties, as well as submits documents for registration in the district (city) court. When creating a contract for themselves, the contracting parties have to do all this for themselves.

Notary counselling

You can use the support of a sworn notary or a sworn lawyer to receive qualified assistance in the purchase of real estate.

A sworn lawyer or notary may help prepare a private contract project. If you create a contract yourself, the notary will not assess the content and compliance of the contract with the law, as it would be in the case of a notary act.

If you need notary services, receive counselling, notarise the document and pay the service received, possibly in person with the notary and online. Use this e-service – Login for an online visit in video format to a sworn notary is in progress www.latvijasnotars.lv under the heading Search for notary by selecting any notary and selecting the required service.

On the latvijasnotars.lv website, you can find a notary for yourself at location and to apply for a visit and ask a question online.

Notary storage account

If you have chosen to enter into a property purchase agreement with a sworn notary, you can use the notary storage account for payment of the purchase. In such a case, the buyer shall transfer the money in custody to a notary who shall, upon entering into the contract at the time when the money is to be paid to the buyer, transfer it to the account indicated by the buyer.

Transaction account

If a buyer takes a credit when buying or selling an immovable property, a transaction account and a transaction account agreement may be required. The transaction account agreement is tripartite, is concluded between the bank, the buyer and the seller, and aims to ensure that the buyer and the seller fulfil in good faith all the obligations relating to the purchase agreement, namely that the buyer acquire the real estate and the seller receive the money.

If the property is purchased through a bank credit, the buyer shall first transfer the first contribution to the transaction account (part of the purchase price, the amount of which depends on the buyer's agreement with the bank on the granting of the loan), while the bank shall transfer the credit granted to the buyer in that account. Together, the two amounts constitute the real estate purchase fee specified in the purchase agreement.

The seller then goes with the buyer to the notary and signs the request for corroboration.

A purchaser shall submit a request for corroboration to a district (city) court, performing also State and Chancery Fee in order that the immovable property be entered in the Land Register on the name of the buyer. At the same time as the ownership rights of the buyer in the Land Register in favour of the bank, a mortgage for the provision of repayment of the granted credit is strengthened.

If, by the time period specified in the transaction account agreement, the buyer or seller has submitted the necessary documents to the bank, the bank shall transfer the full purchase fee from the transaction account to the seller's account. The requirements for documents may vary depending on the type of bank and property chosen.

The Land Register shall record immovable properties and consolidate the rights related thereto. The Land Register shall be accessible to all, and the records thereof shall have public credibility.

Each immovable property shall be registered as an independent unit of land in a separate Land Register compartment. On the basis of the Civil Law, only the person specified in the Land Register shall be recognised as the owner of an immovable property. Until recording in the Land Register, the acquirer of immovable property has no rights against third parties. Therefore, not only any alienation of immovable property must be entered in the Land Register, but also any change of the owner thereof.

State Unified Computerised Land Register

The databases of all courts in the district (city) are combined in the State Unified Computerised Land Register, where information regarding all the properties entered in the Land Register in the State is available.

Zemesgramata.lv you can keep track of your own information property and for purchases, as well as for requests for corroboration which is particularly useful in the process of buying and selling property.

Zemesgramata.lv in the personalized “My Data,” see sections with information about your real estate:

• My Properties;
• My request for corroboration;
• My purchases;
• Information about looking into bins;
• To search for property;
• To request a statement of property belonging to me;
• To apply for supervision of my property;

Zemesgramata.lv it may also be possible to seek, free of charge, any property registered in the Land Register:

• by cadastre number;
• by bin number;
• by address;
• by name of the property.

Land Register Fees

In the process of purchase and sale of real estate, it is necessary to use different services of the Land Register.

Information regarding the costs and fees of services may be examined in the section of the State Unified Computerised Land Register. Fees related to the Land Registers. Use the service to find out the possible amount of charges related to the sale or purchase of a property Fee Calculator.

Real estate tax

Real estate tax there is a mandatory payment to be paid by the owner to the local government in the territory of which the immovable property is situated.

You can pay real estate tax:

1. via e-service Pay the real estate tax online.

The service is not available to authorised persons and legal entities of real estate owners.

Personal income tax

The sale of real estate is one of the cases where a natural person may be required to pay the Population Income Tax (IIT) at 20% of the income received. Therefore, before carrying out any transaction with immovable property, we ask the State Revenue Service to determine whether, in the particular situation, the tax is to be paid, how it is to be calculated and what the time limit for payment thereof is. For more information, read on the SRS's website and developed methodological materials.

In order to determine the amount from which the IIT is to be paid, the sale price of the immovable property must subtract the value of its acquisition and the value of the investments made therein, if any (repairs, improvements), and the supporting documents.

There are a number of cases where IIT does not have to be paid when selling real estate. If the income is derived from the sale of immovable property which:

• property (from the date on which the relevant immovable property is registered in a district (city) court) for more than 60 months and for at least 12 months in that period until the date of sale the declared place of residence;
• property (from the day when the relevant immovable property is registered in a district (city) court) for more than 60 months and the last 60 months until the date of alienation of the immovable property is the only property;
• is the only real estate from which the returned income is reinvested in a functionally similar real estate within 12 months prior to or after the disposal of the real estate.

It is advisable to ask the property vendor to provide information or to have no declared person on the property before drawing up the purchase transaction. This could have an impact on the costs of utilities, such as waste removal, water consumption, etc.

By electronic means, whether or not persons are declared in property may

• using the free e-service My property has a declared and additional address for the designated person.

The service can only be requested by the owner of the estate.

If the property contains the declared persons:

• ask the existing owner (seller) to inform persons to re-declare another property or,
• if persons are not known or voluntarily not declared, the new owner (after the purchase of property) must refer to the local authority with a request to cancel the declared place of residence of those persons in the property (more in section How to cancel another person's declared place of residence).

This can be done,with reliable electronic signature when sending an application to  e-address or by submitting the application in person.

To declare the place of residence of his or her child, a person under custody or under the auspices may, in the following ways:

• open e-service Declaration or designation of residence, complete it and submit it;

• inscriptions application, secure signatures  electronic signature and send to te OCMA  e-address or to pasts@pmlp.gov.lv;
• on-site at the OCMA (only foreigners);
• in person at the declaring authority of residence of the local government in the administrative territory of which the address of the place of residence to be declared is situated.

Read more about declaring and related services in a life situation Declaration of a place of residence.

Declaring property in the territory of a particular local government provides a variety of opportunities and access to local government services, such as social assistance provision, health care, access to schools and nursery schools and others.

To see what your municipality offers, or to compare local governments with each other, visit the website vietagimenei.lv.

The Council of Sworn Notaries of Latvia (CSNL)

The State Revenue Service (SRS)

The Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs (OCMA)

The State Land Service (SLS)

Construction of a private house

Return and relocation to Latvia

Declaration of residence