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Can you buy a legalised building in Albania safely? Yes, if its property card is clean, and two entries decide that. A statutory mortgage (hipotekë ligjore) means the price of the plot under the building has not been paid yet. A registration without the land (pa marrëdhënie me truallin) means the plot belongs to someone else who has not yet been compensated by the state. Either one changes what you are buying. Below is how legalisation works under Law 20/2020, what to look for on the card, which documents to ask the seller for, and what the checks cost.
Law 20/2020 on completing transitional ownership processes replaced Law 9482/2006, under which the former agency ALUIZNI legalised informal buildings; the cadastre agency ASHK has done it since. The law covers buildings without a permit that appear on the national orthophoto taken before it entered into force. Buildings without an application are handled by ASHK on its own initiative.
Some buildings cannot be legalised at all: those that harm major public infrastructure or national roads, stand on cultural heritage, or lie in areas for strategic investment or on the coastline reserved for tourism. Applications need a site plan, floor plans and, for buildings above four floors, extensions or permit violations, a structural expertise.
ASHK decides within 60 days of completing the qualification, or within 30 days for a fee. The legalisation act also transfers the land when the owner of the building does not own the plot: for a home, up to three times the building's footprint and at most 500 m².
A statutory mortgage. The plot under a legalised home is paid for at 50% of the land value for its cadastral zone, under Decision 446 of 26.07.2023. ASHK sends the payment notice through e-Albania or by post, and paying within 30 days earns a 20% discount. Until the plot is fully paid a statutory mortgage stays registered on the property. If you buy with it in place, the debt stays with the property; agree in the contract that the seller pays it before the deed, and see the mortgage lifted on the card.
A registration without the land. When the plot belonged to a private third party, ownership of the land passes only when the Council of Ministers decision compensating that owner takes effect. Until then the building is registered without its land. You can own and register such a building, but you do not own the ground under it, and the timing of compensation is not in your hands. In 2025 the government approved compensation for 952 properties, a total of 2,201,738,902.9 lekë.
At the notary, a contract transferring ownership of a property after legalisation costs 3,000 lekë. A lawyer who checks the title costs more but is the main protection: land and property cases make up a large share of civil cases in Albanian courts, and they take years.
From 2006 to 2025, first ALUIZNI and then ASHK issued 291,114 final legalisation decisions, according to ASHK's 2025 report. The busiest year was 2016 with 48,351; in 2025 there were 26,101, more than in any year from 2019 to 2024. ASHK's 2025 annual report says initial registration, including legalisation, is to be finished in 2028. According to the press, about 130,000 self-declarations were still untreated in mid-2026, and a draft amendment published in September 2026 would, in zones planned for buildings above six floors, legalise only the dwelling and not pass the land to its owner. Neither figure comes from an official text we could open.
For prices and listings with a full paper trail, start from the catalogue; reference prices and fees are in our articles on reference prices in 2026 and notary fees.
Yes, if the property card is clean. Check that it shows no statutory mortgage, which means the plot has not been paid for, and no registration without the land, which means a third party still owns the plot. Ask for the legalisation act and the plot payment receipt.
A charge that ASHK registers until the owner pays for the plot under the building, at 50% of the land value for a home. It stays on the property when it is sold, so the contract should require the seller to pay it and have it lifted before the deed.
The building stands on a plot that belonged to a private third party who has not yet been compensated. Ownership of the land passes only when the Council of Ministers' compensation decision takes effect. Until then you can buy and register the building, but not the land.
On e-Albania: a copy of the property card with the map fragment costs 1,500 lekë, an online check of legal status 1,000 lekë, an ownership confirmation 2,000 and a certificate 3,000. The card lists the owner, the zone and every encumbrance.
Only buildings on the orthophoto taken before Law 20/2020 entered into force, and never those on the protected coastline, on cultural heritage, near major infrastructure or in strategic investment areas. ASHK plans to finish legalisation in 2028.
