Real estate · Slovakia
Agricultural land transfers
Agricultural land transfers are complicated by fragmented co-ownership shares, unknown owners, usage arrangements with cooperatives and land administered by the Slovak Land Fund. We verify the actual legal position, prepare agreements and stay with the transfer until Land Register registration, including negotiations with the Fund and settlement of shares.
- Negotiations with the Slovak Land Fund
- Settlement of shares and unknown owners
- Fees agreed in advance
What we'll do for you
A land transfer can run into issues discovered only at the Land Register, such as inconsistent shares, duplicate ownership or a forgotten lease. That is why we identify them before signing and base the agreement on the actual position.
Select an item to see the details.
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Legal due diligence
Title deeds, co-ownership shares, encumbrances, leases and use — including E register parcels and how they correspond to the position on the ground.
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Contract documentation
A sale, gift or exchange agreement tailored to agricultural land — addressing shares, access and existing leases.
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Co-ownership relationships
Co-owners’ pre-emption rights, purchases of shares and settlement agreements — even with dozens of owners of a single parcel.
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SPF matters
Negotiations and submissions to the Slovak Land Fund concerning land it administers or manages — including litigation if necessary.
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Land Register
Authorisation of the agreement by a lawyer, the registration application and representation in Land Register proceedings through to registration.
Deliverablea valid land transfer registered in the Land Register, with shares, usage arrangements and relationships with the SPF checked
How it works
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- Due diligenceday 0
We establish the actual position of parcels and shares from title deeds and the register and identify obstacles to the transfer.
- Resolving obstacles
We resolve shares, pre-emption rights or relationships with the SPF — according to the due diligence findings.
- Agreement and signatures
We prepare the agreement and arrange signatures and authorisation; where several transferors are involved, we organise the entire process.
- Land Register registration
We submit the registration application and monitor proceedings until ownership is registered.
No-obligation enquiry
Ready to start?
Send us an enquiry. We usually reply within 24 hours with a price confirmation and next steps. The first 30-minute consultation is free and commits you to nothing.
- 1Send your enquiry via this form
- 2Usually within 24 h you get a price confirmation and plan
- 3We start work only after your approval
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What clients ask
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Why is transferring agricultural land more complicated than transferring a flat?
Because of its history: land has passed through generations, leaving sometimes dozens of co-owners with small shares in one parcel, some unknown or represented by the Slovak Land Fund. Add E register parcels, cooperative leases and pre-emption rights — each can stop a transfer unless addressed in advance.
What are E register parcels and why do they matter?
These are original parcels recorded according to historical cadastral records — their boundaries are not visible on the ground, and use often does not match ownership. A transfer requires precise identification of what is being transferred and how it relates to actual use. The agreement must identify the parcels, including whether each is a C or E register parcel (§ 42(2)(c) of the Slovak Land Register Act); an error in the identification can lead to the application for registration being refused.
A parcel has ten co-owners. Can it even be bought?
Yes — either by purchasing shares from individual owners or through a co-ownership settlement agreement. Pre-emption rights must be observed, and owners represented by the Fund must also be approached. We can organise the process even with large numbers of owners, including preparing consistent agreements.
When does the Slovak Land Fund become involved in a transfer?
The Fund administers state-owned agricultural property and deals with land whose owner is unknown, except forest land (§ 34(3) of Act No. 330/1991 Coll.). You will therefore often encounter it when buying, leasing or resolving ownership. We prepare negotiations with the Fund and any proceedings in which the Fund takes part.
Do pre-emption rights apply when selling agricultural land?
Co-owners have a statutory pre-emption right unless the share is transferred to a close person (§ 140 of the Civil Code); special rules apply to shares in common property of a land community. The special procedure for selling agricultural land (publishing the offer in a register, priority for local farmers and verification by the district office under § 4 to 6 of Act No. 140/2014 Coll.) was struck down by the Constitutional Court of the Slovak Republic in ruling PL. ÚS 20/2014, published as No. 33/2019 Coll., with effect from 11 February 2019. What remains is a ban on acquisition by states, and persons from states, that do not allow Slovak persons to acquire agricultural land; it does not apply to EU and EEA states, Switzerland or inheritance (§ 7 of Act No. 140/2014 Coll.). We check the position for your particular transfer during due diligence and prepare the agreement to meet Land Register requirements.
How much does a land transfer cost?
It depends on the number of parcels, owners and obstacles to resolve. We confirm the fee in advance after due diligence — and honour what we agree.
Legal Q&A
Common questions on this topic
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Our company is buying agricultural land. What restrictions apply today?
The familiar restrictions, mandatory publication of an offer, three years of farming in the municipality and priority for local buyers, no longer apply. In judgment PL. ÚS 20/2014 of 14 November 2018, the Constitutional Court declared them unconstitutional, and the Act no longer contains them. Obstacles remain, however: pre-emption rights, common-property rules and whether the plot qualifies as agricultural land under the Act.
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A cooperative farms our land without an agreement. How do we get it back for our own use?
If the land is used without an agreement, serve the cooperative with a written demand for its return. It must return it within 30 days after harvesting, or by year-end if no crop was planted. If the land is inaccessible or cannot be used rationally, as is typical for shares in the middle of a cultivated field, request allocation of substitute subleased land under Section 12a. If the cooperative does not conclude an agreement within 60 days, the district office decides on creation of the sublease. Beware of inaction: an owner’s silence can create both a tenancy and a right of use.
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What rent should we receive for agricultural land, and what is the usual rent figure?
For agricultural land leased to a business, the statutory minimum is 3% of its officially assessed value. The usual rent figure reflects local prices: district offices publish the average of actual agreed rents for each cadastral area by 30 June annually, in euros per hectare. This official figure supports negotiations on a new lease and unjust enrichment calculations where land is used without an agreement.
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Further reading
Buying arable land to build on: what has to happen before it becomes a building plot
Arable land on the edge of a village tends to be cheaper than a building plot, and sellers often give assurances that it will be possible to build there. This article explains why that is decided by the land-use plan and the agricultural land protection authority, what withdrawal of land from the agricultural land fund and the levy for it mean, and how to structure the purchase so that the buyer does not pay for land on which building is not permitted.
Read more →
Selling agricultural land farmed by a tenant: what the buyer takes over and when the lease can end
Agricultural land is often sold together with the tenant who farms it. This article explains why a sale does not end the lease, what minimum terms and notice rules apply to leases of land used in an agricultural business, why the tenant has no contractual pre-emption right, and what to bear in mind in the purchase agreement so that buyer and seller do not fall out over the rent.
Read more →
Duplicate ownership before the court: how to frame the claim and what decides the winner
Where a settlement agreement fails, only a court can remove the duplication between register C and register E parcels. This article explains why an owner recorded twice always has an urgent legal interest in a declaratory claim, how to frame the relief sought so that the court does not dismiss it on formal grounds, what has to be proved in the dispute and how the outcome reaches the title sheet.
Read more →