Article · For foreigners
A non-resident builds in Georgia:
what to know
A foreigner may own any building in Georgia and non-agricultural land, and may handle the purchase and the construction by power of attorney. Here is what to check before buying a plot and which decisions are made once and for good.
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In short
What a non-resident
can and cannot do
There is essentially one restriction in Georgia, and it concerns the land, not the buyer's citizenship.
A foreigner registers non-agricultural land and any building almost on general terms, including through a company with 100% foreign ownership. Registration in the Public Registry takes one to four days.
Agricultural land cannot be owned by a foreign citizen or a foreign-controlled company. There is a lot of it around Tbilisi, and a fence or the neighbouring houses tell you nothing: the category is visible only in the registry extract.
Before the deal
What to check
before the money moves
- 01The land category
Agricultural or not. If it is agricultural, we work out whether the category can be changed, what it costs and how long it takes.
- 02Building coefficients
K-1 and K-2 decide how many square metres are actually allowed. The plot area on its own promises nothing.
- 03Encumbrances and the owner
Seizures, pledges, easements and the boundaries against the cadastre. The seller does not always know about them either.
- 04Access and utilities
Legal access to the plot, street width for machinery, distance to the water, power and gas connection points.
- 05Terrain and geology
On a slope, retaining walls and drainage are a separate line in the estimate, and they must be priced before the purchase, not after.
Without travelling
How it is done
remotely
- Power of attorney
- Issued at a Georgian consulate or at a notary in your country — with an apostille and a notarised Georgian translation.
- One power of attorney for everything
- It covers the purchase, the permit and the utility contracts: you do not need a separate document for each step.
- The account and the payments
- A bank transfer in dollars, euros or lari to a Georgian account. The bank runs its compliance and asks for proof of the source of funds.
- Control over the build
- Weekly photo and video from the site, stage acceptance acts, independent supervision and the right to bring your own engineer.
Questions
In short
the essentials
Can a foreigner buy land in Georgia?
Non-agricultural land — yes, together with any building on it. Agricultural land cannot be bought by a foreigner or a foreign-controlled company, so we check the category before the deal.
Do I need to come to Georgia?
Once, to sign at the notary and open an account, or not at all if you act by power of attorney. Site visits are optional: most of our clients come to the site two or three times during the whole project.
Do I need a Georgian company?
Not necessarily: an individual can own the building and the plot. A company matters when the building is for rent or resale and the tax regime is important — your lawyer works that out with your tax adviser.
Who is responsible for the building permit?
We are: we file with the City Hall, handle the correspondence and the review comments under the power of attorney. Legalising after the fact costs several times more, so the permit comes before the works.
Articles
Keep
reading
Land category
Agricultural or not: can you build, who may own the plot, and how the category is changed.
ReadPlotBuilding coefficients
Three numbers from the building conditions that decide the floor area and height of a building. With a sample calculation.
ReadPriceAn estimate without surprises
Five reasons estimates grow during construction, and what to fix in the contract before work starts.
ReadFor foreignersPaying from abroad
How the money reaches the site: transfers and bank compliance, payment against stage acts and acceptance without travelling.
ReadProcess flowMonolithic frame
What a cast-in-place frame gives the client, and which site operations decide the strength of the building.
ReadNext step
Let us check the plot
before you buy
Send the cadastral number and get a 15-point report within three business days.
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- 01Brief
- 02Design
- 03Estimate
- 04Lock-in