Land register access was meant to require login. Parliament rejected the amendment: what applies now?

Recent months brought many articles repeating the same claim: from July 2026, viewing an ownership record would require login. They discussed the end of anonymous land register access, fees from 2027 and removing the register from freedom of information legislation.

None of that applies. The Cadastral Act amendment did not pass.

What was proposed?

Parliament received the government amendment to Act No. 162/1995 Z. z., prepared by the Slovak Geodesy, Cartography and Cadastre Authority, on 7 January 2026 as parliamentary print 1146. Its core was mandatory authentication or registration to access certain personal data on cadastral portals. Owner data (name, share, information on encumbrances) would have been available on the portal only after login, extended access was to be charged for, and freedom of information legislation was not to apply to the provision of cadastral data. The proposal would have introduced mandatory login from 1 January 2027, not from July 2026; only certain provisions were to apply from 1 July 2026, chiefly those on a non-public part of the cadastre for property important to national defence and security.

What happened?

Parliament considered the proposal on 23 April 2026 at its 49th session. 73 of 146 MPs present voted to advance it to second reading, which was insufficient. Resolution No. 1443 discontinued consideration. The legislative process ended, and the proposal was never published in the Collection of Laws.

Many articles predated the vote and described a proposal, not the law. Some nevertheless wrote as though it had already passed.

What applies now?

This part of the Cadastral Act was not amended. The previous regime continues:

• Everyone may inspect cadastral records and make extracts, transcripts, sketches or copies for personal use; property prices and the collection of documents are exceptions (§ 68(2) and (3)). A birth number or foreigner’s equivalent identifier is disclosed only to the person concerned (§ 68(1)).
• The access point publishes data free of charge, and the law does not require login; this covers maps and electronically kept ownership-record data, except birth numbers and property prices. This information is expressly informational only (§ 68(4)).
• Only an extract or copy issued by the cadastral authority is a public document (§ 69(3)). An informational portal extract does not have that status; whether an official extract is required depends on the particular proceedings or the recipient’s requirements.
• The collection of documents remains restricted. Owners and other entitled persons, their legal predecessors and successors, and bodies such as courts, prosecutors, police, notaries, enforcement officers and tax offices acting within their duties may access it (§ 68(3)).

Registration deadlines and entry rules are unchanged too. See how to identify a landowner, what an ownership record reveals and the difference between registration, record and annotation.

What this means for you

For clients and estate agencies, due diligence remains unchanged. A property’s legal status can still be checked through public data, and after transfer the buyer can request underlying documents as legal successor.

One point remains regardless of any amendment: an informational portal extract does not replace an official extract and does not carry the same evidentiary weight. Depending on the circumstances, however, it may serve as supporting material or documentary evidence (§ 187 of the Civil Dispute Procedure Code). Cadastral data are reliable (and selected data also binding) only until the contrary is proved (§ 70). When buying, it is therefore worth checking the legal status against current data on the signing date and again immediately before filing for registration. An enforcement lien or litigation annotation can appear between viewing and signing.

Will the issue return?

We expect so. The reasons behind the proposal, owners’ personal data protection and bulk automated portal downloads, have not disappeared. If the proposal returns, what will matter is its new wording, not that of print 1146.

Until then, check legislative status rather than relying on headlines about an “already effective amendment”. If you are buying, selling or disputing property, we can help you check its legal status through our property purchase service.