Buying a Bulgarian house without the land: what use of the yard comes with it?

Bulgarian law allows a building and the underlying land to belong to different owners. Buying the house does not automatically give you ownership of the yard. Generally, the building owner may use the land only as necessary for the building's intended use, unless the original grant provides otherwise.

Necessary access is not the whole garden

Check arrangements for entry, servicing, repairs and existing installations. Unrestricted gardening, a new garage or exclusive parking do not necessarily follow from owning the house. A fence may reflect an informally tolerated arrangement rather than a legal entitlement.

Read the document separating ownership

It establishes the scope of the right and any term. Where building ownership is time-limited, the law addresses its transfer to the landowner when the term expires. Article 66 applies the Article 33 pre-emption rules correspondingly to sales of the building to a third party; the actual parties and conditions need assessment.

A cadastral plan identifies the property but does not replace the grant. Plans for extensions or additional units require separate checks: the existing land-use entitlement is not general permission for new construction.