Hungary's Land Registry System Enters The 21st Century

• Published date: 06 February 2024
• Subject Matter: Real Estate and Construction, Real Estate
• Law Firm: Schoenherr Attorneys at Law
• Author: Mr L'szló Krüpl

On 15 June 2021, the Hungarian Parliament passed Act C of 2021 on Land Registration that was supposed to enter into force on 1 February 2023. As this deadline neared, it became evident that neither private citizens, companies, lawyers nor authorities were adequately prepared for the change.

This was why the legislator delayed the entry into force of the new law three times. The new act will finally go live on 1 October 2024. In the meantime, Governmental Decree No. 179/2023 was also passed. It includes detailed implementation rules, eliminating most uncertainties about the future everyday use of the new law.

The changes implement a fully electronic procedure into the real estate registration process that until now was paper based. In addition to several practical novelties for private citizens and companies, there will be major changes for lawyers.

Proven solutions under the previous regulation will remain, while a brand-new electronic database will be developed. The land registry procedure will thus be fully electronic, reducing procedural times and costs.

"Probably the newest change is that there will be automatic decision-making. In simpler cases this will enable the registration of ownership within only an hour."

The complete land registry administration will be digitised and finally brought in line with modern requirements. Users will be provided with an additional service in relation to real estate data. There will be a so-called technical data sheet compiled from the data in the National Register of Buildings, which will provide specific technical and digital information. Another novelty is that certain data can be searched for, grouped and extracted in a non-formalised version for several properties at the same time according to the client's request.

While the implementation phase of the new regulation will certainly pose challenges for all users, professional users eagerly anticipate the benefits of the new law. Real estate lawyers are currently talking about how the new system will affect those who deal with real estate daily. The new law establishes a 21^st century land registry procedure in Hungary, supported by a 21^st century IT system.

The new system addresses the following issues:

Speed

The current procedure is extremely slow, unless the applicant submits the application to the land registry where the property is located. Following the switch to the electronic procedure, the submission is registered immediately and can be arranged by any...