Land register

What it means

The land register is the state list of plots, buildings, flats and non-residential premises together with the owners and the rights attached to them. It is kept by the cadastral departments of district offices, and the public part is available online.

Title does not pass on signature of the contract but only when the entry is allowed. Besides the owner, the title deed also shows liens and easements, which the buyer takes over along with the property.

Cadastre data is reliable, and anyone relying on an entry in good faith is protected. That does not cover everything that burdens a property, though: leases are generally not entered, so a buyer of a building has to identify the tenants and their rights from the seller’s documents during due diligence, not from the title sheet.

How it works in practice

The entry proceeding starts with an application enclosing the contract that carries the officially certified signature of the transferor, and the office decides within the statutory period, or a shorter one for a higher fee. A title deed is also attached where a company proves its registered office sits in its own building.

For the bookkeeper the date decides: property acquired by registration is booked on the day the application reaches the office, not on the day of the entry. The register position on 1 January also settles who files the property tax return with the municipality.

When a building is bought with its land, the title sheet matters for the books too: the plot and the building are separate assets, and the land is not depreciated while the building is. We therefore split the purchase price by the contract or an expert valuation, because tax depreciation for decades depends on that split.

What to watch out for

A buyer who pays the full price before the entry is allowed is not yet the owner. While the proceeding runs, a note about enforcement against the seller can land on the title deed, and the buyer ends up paying twice: once the price and once the release of the charge.

A building missing from the cadastre or recorded with a different use complicates both sale and financing: the bank will not grant a loan secured on it and the buyer cuts the price. The extra procedure and entry take months, so the cadastre record is compared with reality before signing.