Question: I am buying a property in Bulgaria and have been told that I have to buy the property in the name of a company. This can’t be right can it? After all, Bulgaria is now in the EU and I should be allowed to buy in my own name.
Answer: Before Bulgaria joined the EU at the beginning of 2007 then if a foreigner bought land in Bulgaria then they had to buy in the name of a Bulgarian limited company. This was not the case if you bought an apartment which did not have any element of actual land – which you can buy in your own name if you wish to. This is because when you buy an apartment you buy the apartment and not the land it is built on.
You are right that within the EU you should be allowed to buy in your own name. However, it is going to take some time for these arrangements to be put in as Bulgaria has taken advantage of the transition provisions permitted when joining the EU to preserve this situation. The system is scheduled to change in 2014. I suspect that you can’t wait that long!
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