Where foreigners cannot own land, and what they can hold instead: a map of 26 countries

Foreign ownership is the quiet rule behind every island listing and every bargain castle. In some countries a foreigner buys freely. In others the land is closed, and a foreigner can hold only a building, a lease or a right of use. This page sorts 26 countries into five regimes, using what our country articles found. It is not legal advice. Every line below is summarised from secondary sources such as law-firm guides, press reports and agency pages, usually without the statute itself, and rules change. Treat each line as a pointer and ask a local lawyer for the statute and its date.

1. Broadly open, with limits on certain land

• United Kingdom: the sources we read describe no general ban, but we did not check official guidance. Non-residents pay a 2 percent stamp duty surcharge in England and Northern Ireland, according to the government's page.
• USA: no general federal ban. About 36 states had restricted foreign ownership of some real property by the end of 2025, mostly land (Mintz, January 2026).
• Brazil: urban property is generally open. Rural land is restricted under Law 5,709 of 1971, according to broker and law-firm sources, and doctrine is reported to diverge.
• Czechia: no general ban, but the type of land matters, notably agricultural and forest land. Sources conflict on whether 2026 changes tightened the rules.
• Bulgaria: apartments can be bought in your own name. Our earlier guides say land is generally bought by non-EU citizens through a Bulgarian company; confirm that with a lawyer.
• Montenegro: apartments, houses and commercial premises in your own name. Limits are reported on agricultural, forest and border-zone land, up to 5,000 square metres and only with a residential building, according to one agency guide.

2. Designated zones, permits or quotas

• UAE: freehold only in designated areas, dozens in number. Sources disagree on the count, so check the address against the Dubai Land Department list.
• Bahrain: non-GCC buyers can hold freehold in designated zones (Trowers, April 2026). Lists in commercial guides differ, and the SLRB maps are the reference.
• Saudi Arabia: a law-firm summary says the foreign-ownership law took effect on 21 January 2026, with regulations approved on 23 June 2026 and published on 3 July 2026. Ownership is limited to designated zones, and Makkah and Madinah stay under extra controls.
• Switzerland: under the Lex Koller, non-residents are generally barred from residential property, with exceptions for holiday homes in some cantons within quotas. A tightening draft of 15 April 2026 is not law, and we did not find the outcome.
• Austria: decided state by state. Law-firm guides say non-EU citizens need approval in each state, and second-home limits apply even to EU citizens.
• Mauritius: residence by property needs at least 375,000 US dollars in approved schemes, according to an Expat.com summary of the Finance Act 2026 (18 August 2026).
• Cyprus: non-EU buyers need a Council of Ministers permit, usually described as a formality. A bill to restrict third-country buyers was reported for a vote on 2 April 2026; we did not find the outcome.
• Italy: non-EU citizens may need reciprocity under Article 16 of the preliminary provisions to the Civil Code unless they hold an Italian residence permit, according to law-firm and agency guides.

3. Land closed, buildings or condos open

• Thailand: foreigners cannot own land in their own name. The usual routes are a registered lease of up to 30 years or a condo unit within the 49 percent foreign share. Proposals for 99-year leases and a 75 percent quota were not enacted in the newest sources we saw (to May 2026).
• Cambodia: guides say only Khmer persons and Khmer-owned companies can own land. A foreigner can hold a condo unit above the ground floor, with a cap that guides describe differently.
• Armenia: foreigners can buy apartments, houses and commercial premises but not agricultural land, and the cadastral classification decides. Sources differ on how far the limit reaches.
• Georgia: foreigners have been banned from agricultural land since the constitution of 16 December 2018, with exceptions set by law. One guide counts homestead land too, so a village house may sit on land a foreigner cannot buy.
• Azerbaijan: law-firm guides say foreigners can buy buildings but not land, citing Article 48 of the Land Code, and that the land under a bought building is leased. We did not open the statutes.

4. Lease or right of use only

• Maldives: land belongs to the state, and a foreign buyer gets a leasehold. Three commercial sources disagree on the terms (30 to 50 years, 50 years, 99 years for resort leases), so treat them as unverified.
• Indonesia: no freehold. The routes are a long leasehold, the right of use called Hak Pakai (which needs a valid residence permit) or a company. Guides disagree on its term, giving 70 to 80 years. A legal scholar wrote in Hukumonline on 29 July 2025 that no mechanism exists to own a whole island.
• Leases also matter in Thailand and Cambodia above, and in Bahrain, where outside the zones leasehold or usufruct may be available (Trowers, April 2026).

5. Restricted areas: military, border, coast and islands

• Turkey: a government investment-office guide says no property in military forbidden zones and security zones, and at most 30 hectares in total and no more than 10 percent of a district.
• Greece: commercial sources say non-EU buyers need Ministry of Defence approval in border areas. We could not confirm it against an official source.
• Spain: non-EU buyers may need prior Defence Ministry authorisation in designated zones. The newest guides we saw are from 2021.
• Latvia: older guides report that non-EU citizens and their companies cannot acquire land in the state border strip, in coastal dune protection zones or in some agricultural and forest areas. These sources are old.
• Estonia: according to the ELRA contact-point page (undated), non-EEA persons are barred from the sea islands other than Saaremaa, Hiiumaa, Muhu and Vormsi, and from certain municipalities in four counties, unless the Government authorises it. Agricultural and forest land have a separate permit regime.

Company and nominee structures: a warning, not a workaround

Where land is closed, structures appear: nominee Thai companies, 51/49 Cambodian companies, a local company owned by a foreigner. Our country articles report them and do not recommend them. One source says Thai investigations of nominee structures escalated to raids since late 2025. Cambodian guides warn that a dispute with the local nominee can end with the foreigner losing control. In Switzerland, a Bär & Karrer overview of 3 June 2026 reports a ban on holding holiday homes indirectly through trusts or companies. See nominee ownership risks.

What this means for a normal buyer

• Start with the legal form, not the view. Freehold, a condo, a lease, a right of use and a company are different risks.
• Ask your lawyer for the statute and its date in writing. Everything above is secondary and may be out of date.
• Check the exact plot: land category in the cadastre, the zone list, military or border status and protected-area status.
• Price a lease by the years left and the renewal terms, and check that it is registered.
• Rules move: Switzerland's tightening is a draft, Cyprus's bill had a vote date with no outcome we found, and Latvia reportedly closed its residence-by-property route in 2026. Do not buy on a promise of residence.
• Use a lawyer you chose yourself, not one supplied by the seller or the agent.

If you are weighing an unusual property abroad, an independent buyer-side adviser such as D.H. Realting, based in Warsaw, can help line up local lawyers who have been checked first.