Is it safe to buy an "informal" house without a permit in Albania?
Only once it is legalised and registered. A house built without a permit can be legalised under Law 20/2020 if it appears on the pre-2020 orthophoto and is not on the coastline or another excluded zone; until ASHK issues the decision there is no registered title to buy. In 2025 ASHK issued 26,101 legalisation decisions and 610 refusals.
Data compiled by Fedir AlpatovUpdated
The risks, one by one
| Situation | What it means for a buyer | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Not on the pre-2020 orthophoto | Not eligible for legalisation | Law 20/2020 Art. 17 |
| On the coastline or near major infrastructure | Excluded from legalisation | Law 20/2020 Art. 18 |
| Legalised, plot price unpaid | Statutory mortgage on the property | Law 20/2020 Art. 22(10) |
| On another owner's land | Registered without the land until compensation | Law 20/2020 Art. 22(6) |
| Legalised and plot paid | Normal registered property | VKM 446/2023 |
Sources · 3
- DATA-LEGAL-0018Law 20/2020 Art. 17: buildings without a permit that appear on the national orthophoto made before the law entered into force; Art. 18: no legalisation where the building harms major infrastructure, national roads, public buildings, cultural heritage, strategic-investment areas or the coastline; Art. 21: ASHK decides within 60 days of qualification. Art. 16(1): every applicant may obtain an extract of their own application from the ASHK unpermitted-building database.Legalisation covers unpermitted buildings on the pre-2020 orthophoto; coastline and major infrastructure excludedConfidence: HIGHPeriod: 2020–2026verified 2026-10-19Law No. 20/2020 "Për përfundimin e proceseve kalimtare të pronësisë" (completing transitional ownership processes)
- DATA-LEGAL-0019Law 20/2020 Art. 22(10): a statutory mortgage stays on the legalised property until the plot price is paid in full. Art. 22(6): on private third-party land, ownership of the land passes only when the compensation decision enters into force; until then the building is registered without a relationship to the land. Art. 22(2)–(3): the legalisation act also transfers the plot, for a home up to three times the footprint and at most 500 m².A legalised home can carry a statutory mortgage or be registered "without the land"Confidence: HIGHPeriod: 2020–2026verified 2026-10-19Law No. 20/2020 "Për përfundimin e proceseve kalimtare të pronësisë" (completing transitional ownership processes)
- DATA-LEGAL-002050 % of land valuePlot price for a legalised home: 50% of the zone land value, 20% off if paid within 30 daysConfidence: HIGHPeriod: 2023–2026verified 2026-10-19Council of Ministers Decision (VKM) No. 446 of 26.07.2023 on transferring ownership and registering legalised property
How common it is
ASHK issued 291,114 legalisation decisions between 2006 and 2025 and 26,101 in 2025 alone, the highest yearly figure since 2016; it refused 610 that year. Its 2025 report sets 2028 as the year initial registration, legalisation included, should be finished.
| Year | Decisions |
|---|---|
| 2016 | 48,351 |
| 2023 | 10,132 |
| 2024 | 11,167 |
| 2025 | 26,101 |
Sources · 1
How buyers handle it
- Buy only what has a property card in the seller's name; a legalisation application is not a title.
- If the seller is still in the process, make the preliminary contract conditional on the ASHK decision and on the plot price being paid.
- Ask for the extract of the seller's application from ASHK's unpermitted-building database, which every applicant can obtain.
- On the coast, check that the house is not in an excluded zone before negotiating.
Questions and answers
Yes, like any building, once it is registered. The plot that comes with legalisation is building land.
Only the possessor who applied can complete legalisation; buying before the decision transfers no title.
ASHK aims to finish initial registration, legalisation included, in 2028.
Sources
- Law No. 20/2020 "Për përfundimin e proceseve kalimtare të pronësisë" (completing transitional ownership processes). Parliament of Albania (FAOLEX copy), 2020-03-05 (accessed 2026-10-19)
- Council of Ministers Decision (VKM) No. 446 of 26.07.2023 on transferring ownership and registering legalised property. State Cadastre Agency (ASHK), 2023-07-26 (accessed 2026-10-19)
- ASHK Annual Activity Report 2025. State Cadastre Agency (ASHK), 2026-06-15 (accessed 2026-10-19)
What is missing
Gaps we know about: questions we have no reliable data for yet.
- The 610 refusals of 2025 come from the same ASHK report table; reasons by category are not published.
- No explicit closing date for new legalisation applications was found in the law.