A building can belong to you while the land belongs to someone else. ARG helps establish the rights included in a purchase and the remedy for disputed access, construction or land use.
Clients often ask ARG whether buying a Bulgarian house also gives them control of the garden and the road leading to it. The difficulty often appears when the deed transfers the building, the land belongs to another owner, and a neighbour begins locking the only usable gate. The first decision is whether an existing right can be enforced or a new access arrangement must be established.
The deed and original legal grant determine the separate rights and their scope.
Access and maintenance needs do not automatically confer unrestricted enjoyment of the entire yard.
Use of the underlying parcel and passage across another property require distinct analysis.
Foreign acquisition rules, land classification and construction permissions must be assessed alongside private rights.
Buying a house does not invariably mean buying the land beneath it. Bulgarian law permits separate ownership of a building through Article 63 of the Ownership Act (Закон за собствеността, ЗС). The landowner may grant another person the right to construct and own a building, transfer an existing building separately, or establish separate ownership through voluntary partition. The broad comparison in England and Wales is the distinction between estates and limited interests under section 1 of the Law of Property Act 1925, but a Bulgarian building right is not an English leasehold.
The practical question is what the transaction actually transfers. A deed may convey the house and an associated building right while leaving the plot with another owner. The purchaser can still own a valuable, transferable asset, but cannot assume unrestricted control of the garden. Necessary use of the underlying land follows Article 64 of ЗС and the constituting instrument. Access to the entrance and maintenance of the building may be necessary, while an exclusive swimming pool, storage yard or additional parking area may require a separate entitlement. The advertised property and the legal package therefore need to describe the same thing.
A building right identifies the construction which its holder may erect and own independently of the land. Its scope matters as much as its existence. A grant for a particular house or specified apartments does not automatically authorise a second building, an additional independent floor or a materially different development. The default rule that buildings belong to the landowner, unless otherwise established, remains relevant under Article 92 of ЗС. Paying for construction does not by itself displace that rule.
The deed should be read alongside the approved project and the actual building. Where a single grant concerns several independent objects, completion of only the buyer's apartment may not be sufficient exercise of the right. The Supreme Court of Cassation explained the importance of the building's rough construction, or the relevant separately permitted stage, in Interpretative Decision No. 1 of 4 May 2012, interpretative case No. 1/2011, General Assembly of the Civil Chamber. This is why photographs of an individual floor cannot replace evidence about the legally relevant construction stage. The decision addresses the particular structure of the grant, rather than establishing that every construction dispute has the same answer.
A lease normally provides contractual use of land. Consent to undertake work may remove one objection to construction, but neither should be treated automatically as a proprietary right to own the resulting building. The source and form of the entitlement must support that consequence. This distinction becomes especially important when the land is sold, the original owner dies or a creditor seeks enforcement. The person who financed construction may otherwise discover that the documents establish a contractual claim rather than ownership of the intended asset.
Private title and administrative permission also answer different questions. Development approval falls under the Spatial Development Act (Закон за устройство на територията, ЗУТ), whose Article 183, paragraph 1 addresses the notarised agreement required for construction in co-owned regulated land, subject to the applicable exceptions. The corresponding public planning function in England and Wales is illustrated by section 57 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990. A valid Bulgarian permit does not cure a missing private right. Conversely, a valid building right does not dispense with the necessary approvals, design requirements or lawful commissioning of the building.
Usufruct allows a person to use property according to its purpose and receive its fruits without substantially changing it, under Article 56 of ЗС. The usufructuary cannot transfer the usufruct itself. This is materially different from owning a building under a building right, which can ordinarily be transferred and inherited. A purchaser who buys property subject to another person's usufruct may acquire ownership while remaining unable to occupy the property as expected during that right's operation.
The documents must identify whether the right concerns the entire property or a defined part, its duration and any relevant limitations. The parties should also distinguish transferring the right from allowing someone else to use the property within the usufructuary's lawful powers. Calling both arrangements a right of use conceals their different effects. A family arrangement intended to protect a parent's occupation, for example, should not be presented to a later buyer as an informal promise which disappears on sale. Its legal source and continuing existence determine what possession the buyer can expect to receive.
The acquisition route depends on the buyer's legal status and the type of property. Land acquisition by foreign individuals and foreign legal entities is addressed by Article 29 of ЗС. The provision distinguishes the treaty and statutory inheritance routes from the position of EU and EEA citizens and entities, and separately permits acquisition of buildings and limited proprietary rights unless a special law provides otherwise. Residence in Bulgaria and eligibility to acquire every kind of land are therefore different questions.
A non-EU purchaser should not infer a right to acquire the plot simply because buying the apartment or building is possible. Equally, a rule concerning agricultural land should not be applied indiscriminately to an urban apartment. The land's classification, the acquiring person and the applicable special restrictions must be identified before choosing the transaction structure. Purchasing through a company also requires analysis of that company's position and any special ownership restrictions. It is not a universal answer which makes the property's category or the ownership chain irrelevant. The useful result is a lawful acquisition of the rights needed for the intended use, with their limits understood before payment.
First distinguish access over the building's underlying land from passage across a separate neighbour's parcel. Necessary use of the former may follow Article 64 of ЗС. Passage across the latter can require a separately constituted right under Article 192 of ЗУТ. A written agreement with notarised signatures is one route. Where agreement cannot be reached, the administrative route in paragraph 2 requires the statutory conditions, including that another technical solution would be manifestly economically unreasonable. Mere convenience does not satisfy that test.
The proposed route must also respect the restrictions in Article 192, paragraph 4, with compensation and registration addressed by paragraphs 6 and 7. Access should be defined sufficiently to resolve whether vehicles, deliveries or only pedestrians may pass. Utility connections require separate attention under Article 193 of ЗУТ. A passage right does not automatically authorise excavation for pipes. If a right already exists, the task may be to enforce it against obstruction. If it does not, an action alleging interference cannot create the missing entitlement. Establishing that distinction before buying or litigating prevents a technically accessible building from remaining legally difficult to use.
Tell us where you live, how your business works and what you want to change. We will help you identify the questions to resolve and the next steps to consider.
Begin with the instruments that created or transferred the land, building, usufruct and access rights. A current sketch identifies the mapped object, while a deed and its predecessors explain the asserted legal entitlement. The two should be compared by location, historical parcel description, dimensions and the specific object transferred. A building owner relying on the necessary land use recognised by Article 64 of the Ownership Act (Закон за собствеността, ЗС) needs the original grant as well as the latest purchase deed. English and Welsh law likewise distinguishes estates and limited interests under section 1 of the Law of Property Act 1925, although the Bulgarian instruments determine the Bulgarian rights.
The practical difficulty is often a mismatch between the instruments. An older deed may refer to a former parcel number, while a later passage agreement describes a strip which no longer follows the fence. A surveyor can trace those descriptions onto the current terrain. Registration searches then help identify later transfers or burdens affecting the relevant rights. A certificate mentioning a building does not establish that its owner also owns the courtyard. Each claimed entitlement needs its own legal basis, rather than being inferred from the fact that the property has long been used as a single household.
Record where the obstruction stands, what passage it prevents and who installed or maintains it. Photographs should show the gate or barrier in relation to identifiable points, not merely provide a close-up of a padlock. The deed and plan must establish that the route falls within an existing entitlement. Where use depends only on revocable consent, the appropriate next step may be to negotiate or seek the statutory establishment of access, rather than demand removal as though an easement already exists.
Protection against unjustified interference is available under Article 109 of ЗС. The claimant must establish interference with the exercise of the protected right, as explained in point 3 of Supreme Court of Cassation Interpretative Decision No. 4 of 6 November 2017, interpretative case No. 4/2015, General Assembly of the Civil Chamber. A precise claim connects the obstruction with the use which the right permits. It does not demand unlimited access throughout the neighbour's land. Evidence that a narrow pedestrian route remains open may matter differently where the instrument permits vehicle access and the gate prevents every vehicle from reaching the building.
An unexercised right to construct on another person's land is subject to the five-year limitation rule in Article 67 of ЗС. The essential chronology includes the original grant, the point when exercise became possible, the construction history and any legally relevant interruption or obstruction. A later purchase does not simply restart the period. Buying an unfinished apartment shortly before the original period expires can therefore carry a risk which is invisible if the review begins only with the seller's recent acquisition.
The relevant milestone was examined in Supreme Court of Cassation Interpretative Decision No. 1 of 4 May 2012, interpretative case No. 1/2011, General Assembly of the Civil Chamber. For the single-grant multi-object building considered by the court, rough construction of the building or relevant separately permitted stage matters. Evidence should include the project, construction records and technical findings, rather than only invoices showing expenditure. This limitation issue differs from an express fixed term for building ownership under Article 65 of ЗС. It also differs from destruction of a completed building, which does not extinguish the building right unless the constituting act provides otherwise, under Article 66, paragraph 2.
Separate building ownership does not generally prevent a land transfer, but the purchaser of the land does not thereby acquire someone else's building. The transaction must be assessed with the existing proprietary rights and their enforceability in mind. A buyer expecting vacant, unrestricted land should therefore identify buildings owned by others and the associated necessary use before agreeing the price. An apparently inexpensive plot may be subject to a building owner's continuing entitlement which materially limits its development potential.
Different rules arise when the separate building itself is sold. The corresponding application of the pre-emption provisions is addressed by Article 66, paragraph 1 of ЗС, referring to Article 33. That question should be analysed from the actual transaction rather than assumed to apply identically to every sale involving land and buildings. Where a dispute has already begun, the requested court order should address the real interference or contested right. A claim to remove a barrier, a claim determining title and a claim concerning an expired building right have different facts and objectives. Combining them indiscriminately can leave the decisive issue unresolved.
A surveyor identifies the physical and technical facts, a notary handles qualifying property transactions, and a court resolves contested private rights. The municipality's role in establishing passage is different. The Spatial Development Act (Закон за устройство на територията, ЗУТ) provides the conditional administrative route in Article 192, paragraph 2. Public development control is also distinct from private title in England and Wales under the Town and Country Planning Act 1990. The Bulgarian mayor's statutory powers should not be confused with a general power to decide who owns a disputed strip.
Civil proceedings follow the Civil Procedure Code (Граждански процесуален кодекс, ГПК). Its Article 109 places specified immovable-property claims before the court where the property is situated, while Article 195 allows expertise where special knowledge is necessary. Expert evidence has a comparable procedural function under Part 35 of the Civil Procedure Rules in England and Wales, but Bulgarian procedure governs the case. The expert can locate a deed boundary or assess access alternatives. The legal existence and extent of the right remain for the competent decision-maker. ARG can coordinate that work through appropriately authorised Bulgarian attorneys without requiring the owner to manage every local appointment personally.
An owner abroad may need a power of attorney whose content and form match the proposed act. Authority to collect a sketch is not necessarily authority to establish a proprietary right, settle a dispute or sell a building. The receiving notary or court should confirm the applicable authentication and translation requirements before the document is signed abroad. Where a company owns the asset, current evidence of its existence and authorised representatives may also be needed. These requirements depend on the document and country of origin, rather than following a universal rule that every foreign document requires the same formalities.
Remote management should preserve evidence which can change quickly. If construction or removal of a fence threatens to erase the disputed position, preservation of evidence may be sought under Article 207 of ГПК where its conditions are met. This records relevant facts and does not itself grant access or decide ownership. A local technical inspection, a reliable chronology and promptly delivered correspondence can support either settlement or proceedings. Any negotiated route should identify the benefited and burdened properties, permitted use and necessary registration. A practical agreement that cannot be located on the ground or understood by later owners may merely postpone the same dispute.
Compare the related procedures in this category, including their requirements and the stage at which you need them.
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