Can a foreigner buy land in Georgia?
Yes, with one large exception. A foreigner can buy non-agricultural land: a plot zoned for housing, a site for a commercial building, or the land under a house that is registered in a non-agricultural category. A foreigner cannot buy agricultural land. The Constitution reserves it for the State, municipalities, Georgian citizens and associations of Georgian citizens, and the Organic Law on Agricultural Land Ownership of 2019 sets out the few exceptions.
The exception is larger than it sounds, because agricultural land in Georgian law includes more than fields. It covers pasture, hayfields, arable land and land under perennial crops, and it also covers the homestead category, the plot around a village or suburban house. Many private houses outside apartment blocks stand on land of that category. This page explains how to tell the difference, what a foreigner can and cannot do, and what it takes to change a plot's category.
To be added by the team: the partner lawyer to confirm how the Public Registry treats a purchase by a foreigner of a house whose land is in the homestead category, and whether the building can be bought without the land in any lawful structure.
What the law allows
| Type of land | Foreign individual | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Non-agricultural land (residential, commercial plots) | May buy | Same terms as a citizen |
| Land shared with an apartment in a block | May buy | Comes with the apartment as common property |
| Pasture, hayfield, arable land, perennial crops | May not buy | Agricultural land |
| Homestead land around a house | May not buy | Also agricultural land in law |
| Agricultural land received by inheritance | May own | The inheritance exception in Art. 4(2)(a) |
| Agricultural land through a Georgian company | Only with an approved investment plan | A company that fails its plan must sell within one year |
Setting up a Georgian company does not, on its own, open the door to agricultural land. The law allows a company with foreign involvement to own such land only under an investment plan approved under the procedure the law sets, and it requires the land to be sold if the plan is not carried out.
How to check a plot's category
Read the registry extract
The extract states the land's purpose and category. "Agricultural" in any form, including homestead, rules the plot out for a foreign buyer.
Check the cadastral plan
The plan shows the plot's boundaries and area; compare it with what you were shown on site.
Ask about the zoning
For a plot you want to build on, the municipality's land-use rules decide what may be built, separately from the registry category.
Have a lawyer confirm
Before any deposit, ask a lawyer to read the extract and confirm in writing that you can buy the plot.
Before you buy a plot
Changing a plot from agricultural to non-agricultural
A plot can be moved out of the agricultural category by changing its designated purpose. The owner applies to the Public Registry agency, which decides. Government Ordinance No 396 of 2020 charges compensation by area in two zones only: GEL 34,001 per hectare in Tbilisi and Batumi municipalities, about GEL 3.40 per square metre, and GEL 100,000 per hectare in special regulation territories; elsewhere no compensation is due. The compensation is paid before the final decision. Because a foreigner cannot own the plot while it is agricultural, the change has to be made by the current, Georgian, owner before the sale, and the contract should make that a condition.
To be added by the team: the partner lawyer to confirm the documents the Public Registry requires for a change of designated purpose and the usual timeline.
Houses and the homestead trap
The most common problem is not a field but a house. A family house in a village, a suburb or even parts of Tbilisi may stand on land registered as homestead. A foreign buyer then finds that the house cannot be registered in their name with its land. The fix is either a change of category by the seller before the sale, or choosing a house whose land is already non-agricultural. Our comparison of a house or an apartment covers the other differences.
Buying a plot to build on
A foreigner who buys a non-agricultural plot to build a house goes through Georgia's construction permit procedure: approval of the land-use terms, then the permit itself, with a decision within 20 working days at each stage. Building may start only within the permit, and a building may not be used, or permanently connected to electricity and gas, before its commissioning act. Annual land tax on non-agricultural land is GEL 0.24 per square metre before local coefficients of up to 150%, and it is due even in years when the owner's family income is low enough to exempt a house or flat from property tax.
Using land without owning it
Ownership is not the only way to use a plot. The Civil Code allows a right of superficies, which lets a person build on land that belongs to someone else; the building is then registered in the builder's name and passes to the landowner when the right expires. A long lease is another option. Both leave the land with its Georgian owner and give you a defined, registered right for a defined time. They suit some projects, such as a building on land the owner will not sell, but they need careful drafting of the term, the payment and what happens at the end.
To be added by the team: the partner lawyer to confirm whether a foreigner may hold a superficies right or a long lease over agricultural land, and the maximum terms usually agreed.
If you inherit agricultural land
Inheritance is the one route by which a foreign individual may own agricultural land. A foreigner who inherits a family plot or a share in one can register it in their name. Note that the earlier owner's heirs may include several people, so the land often passes into co-ownership, with all the co-ownership rules on use, costs and sale that follow. Our guide to joint ownership explains them.
Land and the residence permit
For the property route to a residence permit, the law excludes agricultural land expressly. Non-agricultural land can count, alone or with a building, if it is registered to you and an accredited assessor values it above $150,000. A plot bought as an investment and a house with its own non-agricultural land are both possible bases.
Risks and exceptions
- A house on homestead land. It cannot be registered to a foreign buyer with its land.
- "Buy it through a company" advice. Agricultural land through a company needs an approved investment plan.
- A deposit before the category is checked. The extract settles the question in minutes.
- Relying on the seller's description. "Building land" in an advert means nothing until the extract confirms it.
- A plot without legal access. A road on the ground is not the same as a right to use it.
- A category change left to after the sale. It must happen while the seller still owns the plot.
Frequently asked questions
Can a foreigner buy a plot to build a house?
Yes, if the plot is non-agricultural. Check the category on the extract and the zoning with the municipality.
Is homestead land agricultural?
Yes. The 2019 Organic Law lists homestead land among the agricultural categories.
What if I inherit agricultural land?
Inheritance is the exception: a foreigner may own agricultural land received by inheritance.
How much does a category change cost in Tbilisi?
The compensation is GEL 34,001 per hectare in Tbilisi and Batumi municipalities, paid before the decision.
Does the land rule apply to apartments?
No. An apartment comes with a share in its building's land, which is not agricultural, so the restriction does not arise.
Who pays for a change of category?
The owner who applies, before the decision; in a sale, that is the Georgian seller, and the price can reflect it.
Can I lease agricultural land instead?
A lease or a superficies right leaves the land with its owner; whether either is open to a foreigner for agricultural land is a point to confirm with the lawyer before relying on it.
Can my Georgian spouse buy agricultural land?
A Georgian citizen may. Ask the lawyer how the matrimonial property rules apply when one spouse is a foreigner before relying on that.
Sources
- Constitution of Georgia (Article 19), Legislative Herald of Georgia (accessed 14 October 2026)
- Organic Law of Georgia on Agricultural Land Ownership (Articles 3-5), Legislative Herald of Georgia (accessed 14 October 2026)
- Government Ordinance No 396 of 1 July 2020 on compensation for changing the designated purpose of agricultural land, Legislative Herald of Georgia (accessed 14 October 2026)
- Spatial Planning, Architectural and Construction Activities Code, Legislative Herald of Georgia (accessed 14 October 2026)
- Georgia: other taxes (land tax), PwC Worldwide Tax Summaries (accessed 14 October 2026)
Change log
- - Explainer published from the Constitution, the Organic Law on Agricultural Land Ownership, Government Ordinance No 396 and the Spatial Planning Code; being reviewed by the partner lawyer.