Buying a House or Land in Montenegro: What to Check First

Before you buy a house or a plot in Montenegro, check three things: that the land is building land, what the planning documents allow on it, and that any house on it has its permits or has been legalised. Foreigners can buy houses and building land in their own name, but not agricultural land.

This guide covers those checks for houses and land for sale in Montenegro, using Bar, where our office is, as the example (rules as of October 2026). For the general process, see our guide to buying property in Montenegro as a foreigner.

What do houses and land cost in Bar?

Based on asking prices in Albatros listings, October 2026:

Houses come up in areas such as Šušanj, Polje, Sutomore and Stari Bar, and building plots in Polje, Šušanj and Utjeha. Browse current houses for sale in Bar and building land for sale in Bar, or see our Montenegro property prices 2026 guide.

Agricultural land is listed at about half the price because you can only build where a planning document allows it.

Can a foreigner buy agricultural land in Montenegro?

Not directly. Article 415 of the Law on Property Relations bars foreign individuals from owning agricultural land and forests, EU citizens included until Montenegro joins the EU. The exception: you can own up to 5,000 m² of agricultural land if you are buying a residential house standing on it.

For a bare field, the route is a company. A limited liability company (d.o.o.) registered in Montenegro is a Montenegrin legal person even if foreigners own all of it, so it can buy agricultural land. The company, not you, owns the land and has its own running costs and tax filings, so involve a lawyer and accountant first.

Be wary of a field that “will become building land”. That needs a new plan, which takes years. Pay for what the plan allows today.

How do I check what can be built on a plot?

Get the urban-technical conditions (urbanističko-tehnički uslovi, UTU) for the exact parcel number before you pay a deposit. It turns the plan into rules for one plot: use, building line, maximum floors or height, plot coverage and floor-area indexes, parking and utility connections.

The system changed on 5 March 2025, when the Law on Spatial Planning and the Law on Construction of Structures replaced the 2017 Law on Spatial Planning and Construction of Structures. The national General Regulation Plan (Plan generalne regulacije Crne Gore) that the 2017 law promised was never adopted, and the 2025 law dropped it.

Now there are state plans, such as the Spatial Plan of Montenegro to 2040 (adopted June 2025) and the coastal zone plan, and municipal ones: the spatial-urban plan (PUP), detailed regulation plans and urban projects. Until new plans are adopted, with deadlines into early 2027, the existing registered plans apply. Bar’s PUP is being amended, so ask the municipality’s Secretariat for Urbanism and Spatial Planning which version is in force.

Example: on a 600 m² urban parcel, a plot coverage index of 0.3 and a floor-area index of 0.8 allow a house covering up to 180 m² of ground, with 480 m² of gross floor area in total.

Also compare the plan’s urban parcel with the cadastral parcel you are buying. They can differ, and the owner must accept the plan’s boundaries, so you may need to buy a neighbour’s strip or lose one to a planned road.

What permits should a house have?

• Built before October 2017: a building permit (građevinska dozvola) and a use permit (upotrebna dozvola).
• October 2017 to March 2025: a construction notification (prijava građenja), which replaced the permit then, and the final supervision report.
• Since March 2025: a building permit again, then a use permit before anyone moves in.

The municipality issues permits for houses, within 30 days of a complete application. A family house of up to 300 m² net for the owner’s household is simpler: no independent design review, and the use permit rests on the contractor’s statement, not a technical inspection.

The floor area and floors on the title deed (list nepokretnosti) should match what you see. A floor or extension added beyond the permit is itself an illegal building.

What if the house was built without a permit?

You can’t buy it until it is legalised. The Law on Legalisation of Illegal Buildings, in force since 14 August 2025, bans the sale of any building built without a permit, or against it, until it is registered in the cadastre and legalised. Notaries won’t process such sales.

• Only buildings visible on the state’s satellite and aerial images from July 2025 can be legalised.
• Owners must start cadastre registration, with a complete survey, by 14 August 2027 (extended in August 2026).
• The building must not stand on land reserved for public infrastructure, and land ownership must be settled. Houses up to 200 m² net generally need 1 m from the neighbour’s boundary (2 m if larger), unless the neighbour consents.
• The owner pays a municipal urban rehabilitation fee per m², plus a special regional water supply fee on the coast. Refused buildings face a demolition order.

A clean title deed isn’t proof: the cadastre has until August 2028 to note sale bans. Ask for the legalisation decision (rješenje o legalizaciji) itself, and pay no deposit before it exists.

Does the plot have road access, water, power and sewage?

By law an urban parcel needs vehicle access from a public road or street, as set in the plan. Check that the road reaches the plot and, if it crosses someone else’s land, that a right of way is on the title deed.

• Electricity: CEDIS sets the connection conditions and fee, based on connection power. A Montenegrin consumer site put a standard house connection at €1,100 to €1,700 before VAT in January 2026, where the grid is close. Get CEDIS’s conditions in writing.
• Water and sewage: ask Vodovod i kanalizacija Bar for conditions and a price. Where no public sewer reaches the plot, check what the UTU allows instead.

What are komunalije, and how much are they in Bar?

Komunalije is the fee a builder pays the municipality for basic infrastructure: access roads, street lighting, water and sewers up to and including the connection. The 2025 law renamed it the construction fee (naknada za građenje), but Bar’s existing decision applies until it adopts a new one. That decision, from October 2020 and the latest we found, charges €70 per m² of net floor area times a zone coefficient:

Zones II and IV are €112 and €70 per m². A home of up to 200 m² net meeting the household’s housing need gets 50% off instead, if the household owns no other home in Montenegro. Ask the municipality for a written calculation.

For a finished house the fee should be settled, but it can be paid over up to 10 years secured by a mortgage, so check the title deed. The 2025 law also lets municipalities charge an annual “city rent” (gradska renta) on unbuilt serviced building land, once they adopt rules for it.

Why hire a licensed surveyor (geometar)?

Fences and cadastral maps don’t always agree. A licensed surveying firm marks the boundary points from the cadastre’s coordinates and shows whether the house, fence and access sit inside your parcel. Do it before the preliminary contract.

Which taxes apply when you buy?

On a resale house, or land without a building permit, you pay transfer tax: 3% up to €150,000, 5% on the part from €150,000 to €500,000 and 6% above. On the median house (€235,000) that is €8,750; on the median plot (€169,000), €5,450. Since 1 April 2026, land with a building permit is generally sold with 21% VAT, and building land sold with VAT is exempt from transfer tax. Ask the notary how your sale is taxed.

Checklist before buying a house

Checklist before buying land

Looking at a house or plot in Bar?

Albatros Real Estate has its office and local team in Bar. Send us the listing or parcel number of a property you like, and we can go through which documents to ask for.

Frequently asked questions

Can a foreigner buy land in Montenegro?

Yes, building land, in their own name. Foreign individuals can’t buy agricultural land or forest directly, except up to 5,000 m² of agricultural land with a residential house on it. A company registered in Montenegro can buy agricultural land, even if foreign-owned.

What are urban-technical conditions (UTU) in Montenegro?

The UTU sets what can be built on a specific parcel under the planning documents: use, building line, maximum floors or height, plot coverage and floor-area indexes, parking and utility connections.

Can I buy a house in Montenegro that was built without a permit?

Not until it is legalised. Since 14 August 2025, a building built without a permit or against it cannot be sold until it is registered in the cadastre and legalised. Only buildings visible on the July 2025 aerial images can be legalised.

How much are komunalije in Bar?

Under Bar’s October 2020 decision, the fee is €70 per m² of net floor area times a zone coefficient: from €126 per m² in zone I down to €42 in zone VI, and nothing in zone VII. Paying at once cuts it by 20%.

Do I pay transfer tax when buying building land in Montenegro?

Usually, yes: 3% up to €150,000, 5% on the part from €150,000 to €500,000 and 6% above. Since 1 April 2026, building land sold with VAT, which applies once a building permit exists, is exempt from transfer tax.

General information on the rules in force in October 2026, not legal advice. Confirm the details with a notary, a lawyer or the municipality.