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Govt eases foreign home ownership, but only for high earners
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A worker cleans facilities at a low-cost apartment complex in Rawa Buaya in West Jakarta, in this file photo. (JP/Dhoni Setiawan)
T
he government has been easing regulations on home ownership since 2021, aiming to attract more foreigners to buy properties in the country, but the effort has produced few results because of regulatory misalignment and a lack of supply.
Agrarian and Spatial Planning Ministry Secretary-General Suyus Windayana said on Aug 1 that purchases have not been substantial, revealing that fewer than 200 foreigners bought properties throughout 2017 and 2023 and “only 36 registered foreign homeowners so far in 2023”.
Partly, he blamed the muted uptake on regulatory misalignments between those imposed by the central government and what regional administrations asked for when making a purchase.
For instance, a government regulation on land rights imposed in 2021 ruled out the prerequisite of providing proof of a limited or permanent stay permit (KITAS/KITAP), allowing foreigners to buy property using only a passport and/or visa.
In reality, however, regional authorities still often ask for a KITAS/KITAP, said Suyus.
The government has also imposed several limitations to make sure the property market for foreigners does not collide with that for citizens, he said.
The new regulation stipulates a foreigner is only allowed to have one plot of land with a surface area that does not exceed 2,000 square meters for a landed house.
