Selling rural properties

I will look into this to see if it is a new law or just a rumor.

I know that before Hungary joined the EU that many Austrian farmers near the boarder paid off local farmers to have them put their names on the legal titles of farm land but the Austrians actually owned the land.
They  bought up loads of farmland for super cheap and would sell the produce for a larger then normal profit in Austria.
The HU gov got wind of this "legal " scam and stepped in taking away the produce from this Austrians and taking away the land.
Don't know all the details of that but that is the jest of it.
Perhaps if this new law is true it is to protect Hungarians from having lands in their own country rise so high that only foreigners own land in Hungary.
It could also be a law to protect forest lands from outside ownership.

The government is in the process of selling off government owned agriculture land (and there is quite a bit of controversy about this). Those sales do have certain stipulations who can buy the land, and they are complex.

Otherwise, for rural land normally your neighbors have a first buy rights to your land if you wish to sell. The required attorney you have to use when you buy land can advise on this.

And third nation citizens (i.e. non Hungarian and non EU citizens) also have restrictions on buying some types of land.

That is all I am currently aware of. But things do change here, often unexpectedly and in odd directions. So my current knowledge is of course not a definitive or final word on the matter.

Yes Ann, my husband said something about he thinks neighbors have first dibs to make an offer so their lands can grow.
Perhaps it is as simple as having to  legally  place an add in the local
newspaper stating that there is going to be land up for sale.
We will look into this further if possible.

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

Yes Ann, my husband said something about he thinks neighbors have first dibs to make an offer so their lands can grow.
Perhaps it is as simple as having to  legally  place an add in the local
newspaper stating that there is going to be land up for sale.
We will look into this further if possible.

After the land owner and the buyer agree on a price for the property all the neighbors must be sent a letter, usually registered, saying the property is selling at that price. The neighbors each have 15 days to reply. If a neighbor wants to buy at that price the land owner still sells at that price but the buyer is out of the deal. So only the original buyer loses. Have done this four times. Never had a neighbor want the land for the price we offered.

Thanks for your replies. My friends Tanya is very run down but it is in the forest . The solicitor has said that it is the  local council that informs locals of the price of the place. And they can bid the same.
As it has been sold to another UK person it is unlikely that the neighbours will put in an offer but it still creates delay.
Originally we were told to just take proof that it had been advertised locally but when they met the solicitor he told them that the council made inquiries, for a charge, and it sounded a bit like putting up banns for a wedding . Anyway will create a four month delay at least.

anns wrote:

The solicitor has said that it is the  local council that informs locals of the price of the place.

This is an important question: Who exactly owns the property, and what is the ownership structure? Is it in one person's private hand? Or is it part of a multi-owner parcel? (Multi-owner parcels are ridiculously common in Hungary).

If this is fully a single owner private property, I suspect the solicitor/attorney is in error. But Hungarian law is complicated. Simple solution is to directly ask the attorney to prove (with a point of law) why he/she made this claim.

But, then again, if this is a multi-owner "community" forest, with multiple owners including the local government, then yes, the local council may have a "say" in the appraised (i.e. minimum) value or price of the land.

But any appraised price may be irrelevant. Market forces can change that price upwards. What a property is appraised at, and what someone offers to buy it for, can be two very different amounts. However, politically, if the property is multi-owner and the local government is one of the owners, they can resort to political originated tactics to try to prevent a sale or coerce a sale to the local government at a lower price. But since you posted elsewhere you are not interested in Hungarian politics, I will not go into that further....

It's a recent thing apparently. There is only one owner but the place is classified as being outside of the village hence rural, hence on offer to Hungarians first.
It's true I am not interested in politics but it does seem to be the world all over. In India non Indians cannot buy. And in Mauritius foreigners can buy but at a much higher price.
The law in hungary must have changed since we purchased.
When I am old and frail I will just gift my Tanya to friends and relatives in my will. They can take it over long before I pop off and I will just visit, sit out in the sun and watch them garden .