Unpermitted building in Serbia: what to do and how house legalization works
Own an unpermitted building (nelegalan objekat)? How house legalization works under "Svoj na svome", which deadline runs and what if you never applied.
Unpermitted building: what to do first
If you own an unpermitted building (nelegalan objekat) and wonder what to do, first establish two things: how the building is recorded in the cadastre, and whether an application has been filed for it under the new law. Since 24 October 2025 the Law on Special Conditions for Recording and Registering Rights in Real Estate (Zakon o posebnim uslovima za evidentiranje i upis prava na nepokretnostima, Sl. glasnik RS, Nos. 91/2025 and 80/2026), publicly known as "Svoj na svome", has been in force. On the same day the Zakon o ozakonjenju objekata ceased to apply, and procedures before municipalities were discontinued (Art. 27).
The cadastre record is checked on the eKatastar portal. It shows whether the building is drawn in, whether it carries a note that it was built without a permit or without an occupancy permit, and who is registered on the parcel. That determines which evidence you will need.
The law covers buildings built by the day it entered into force that are visible on satellite imagery or contained in the databases of the Agency and the Republic Geodetic Authority (Art. 1 para. 3). Anything built after that day cannot be registered under this law.
How house legalization works under the new law
House legalization (legalizacija kuće) is now an electronic procedure before the Agency for Spatial Planning and Urbanism. The application is filed through the digital platform, separately for each property. The Agency does not assess whether the house fits the urban plan. It checks whether the building exists on imagery, who its de facto owner is, and whether it stands on land where the law permits registration.
When it finds that the conditions are met, the Agency calculates the fee and sends a payment notice. After payment it issues the confirmation, and the Republic Geodetic Authority registers ownership on that basis, free of charge. There is no appeal or administrative dispute against the confirmation, but a lawsuit before the court of general jurisdiction where the property is located is allowed (Art. 12 para. 11).
Registration comes with a note that ownership was registered under this law. The state does not guarantee the safety of the building, and the owner accepts the risk of use and liability for damage to third parties (Art. 5).
If no application was filed in time
The regular window lasted 60 days and expired in early February 2026. The law leaves room for a late application within one year of entry into force, but only for people who could not apply earlier for objective reasons and who can prove it (Art. 20 para. 2). Since the law does not list which reasons are acceptable, the outcome depends on the evidence you attach.
If there is no application, the law does not leave the building as it was. The Agency sends the Geodetic Authority a list of unreported buildings so that ownership is registered in favour of the owner of the cadastral parcel, and the list also goes to the local tax administration (Art. 11 paras. 9 and 10). This matters when the building stands on a parcel registered to someone else, for example a deceased ancestor, a co-owner or an earlier seller.
Common obstacles: land, competing applications, protected zones
The most common obstacle is the land. If the house is on someone else's private parcel and you have no evidence of a right to the land, the procedure stops until that question is resolved, and the period is five years (Art. 13 para. 1). The same applies when several people apply for the same building and the owner cannot be established beyond doubt (Art. 11 paras. 2 and 3).
The second obstacle is location. On buildings on land for public use, in the first protection zone of a natural asset, in the protection zone of cultural property of great or exceptional importance, on water land, in the railway belt and in the expropriation belt of a motorway, ownership of the Republic of Serbia is registered (Art. 2 para. 1). Ownership is also not registered on buildings that are not structurally complete, or on prefabricated structures and canopies (Art. 2 para. 2).
When to contact a lawyer
Legal help is useful when the land is disputed, when the building was inherited and the estate has not been settled, when several people have applied for the same building, or when the Agency has notified you that the conditions for registration are not met. Those situations decide who is registered as the owner, and the five-year period for resolving the preliminary question runs from the Agency's notice.
A lawyer can also assess whether the reasons for the delay can be proven in a late application, and whether filing a lawsuit against the Agency's confirmation is justified.
Sources
- Tariff on Attorneys' Fees and Expense Reimbursement (Tarifa o nagradama i naknadama troškova za rad advokata), items 13, 70
- Law on Special Conditions for Recording and Registering Rights to Real Estate (Zakon o posebnim uslovima za evidentiranje i upis prava na nepokretnostima), Arts. 7, 8, 11, 12 and 20 (paragraf.rs)
- Law on the Trade of Real Estate (Zakon o prometu nepokretnosti), Art. 4a
What to do
- Check how the building is recorded in the cadastre: on the eKatastar portal, see whether the building is drawn in, whether it carries a note that it was built without a permit, and in whose name the parcel is registered.
- Work out which group you fall into: a building with no permit at all, a building with a building permit but no occupancy permit, an added or built-up part, or a legalization procedure that was started and then discontinued on 24 October 2025.
- If you applied within the regular window, check the status on the digital platform and keep following the Agency's messages and notices.
- If you did not apply, collect evidence of the reasons for the delay (for example medical treatment, a stay abroad, an unresolved inheritance) and file a late application before the one-year period expires. Your municipality or city must provide help with filing (Art. 25 para. 2).
- Prepare evidence of how you acquired the building and evidence of a right to the land: a contract, an inheritance decision, an old land register or possession sheet.
- If the building is not visible on the satellite image for technical reasons, or is missing from the Republic Geodetic Authority's database, engage a surveying firm for a geodetic survey report.
- After receiving the notice with payment instructions, pay the fee within 30 days. The confirmation is forwarded to the cadastre only after payment.
- After registration, check the real estate sheet and the notes on it. If you also acquired the land beneath the building under this law, the period for forming a parcel for regular use is five years (Art. 16 para. 9).
What it costs
The fee for a family house up to 400 m² or an apartment is EUR 100 to 1,000, depending on the city and zone (Art. 8 para. 2), and certain categories of owners are exempt. Registration in the cadastre is free of charge. Extra costs are the geodetic survey report, when required, and any dispute over the land or over who owns the building.
Basis for the attorney fee: The Tariff has no dedicated item for an application under the 'Svoj na svome' law, so an application or objection to the Agency falls under tariff item 70 of the Tariff on Attorneys' Fees and Expense Reimbursement (Tarifa o nagradama i naknadama troškova za rad advokata) (other proceedings with a monetary value - fee based on the value of the building, as for a claim under item 13). A lawsuit before a court of general jurisdiction against the Agency's confirmation (Art. 12 of the law) or in a land dispute falls under item 13, based on the value of the dispute.
FAQ
What if I did not report my unpermitted building in time?
The law allows a late application within one year of entry into force if you provide evidence of objective reasons why you did not apply earlier (Art. 20 para. 2). For buildings with no application, the Agency sends the cadastre a list so that ownership is registered in favour of the owner of the parcel on which the building stands (Art. 11 para. 9). If the building is on public land or in a protected zone under Art. 2 para. 1, a provisional entry is made in favour of the state and a removal order is issued (Art. 15 paras. 4 and 5).
Can I legalize a house built on someone else's plot?
If the land is privately owned by another person and you have no evidence of a right to the land, the Agency directs you to resolve that question before the competent body within five years (Art. 13 para. 1). An exception applies to a house you have lived in for at least 20 years, for which tax has been paid continuously for at least 10 years, for which no removal order has been issued, and if you have no other residential property (Art. 13 para. 3).
Will an unpermitted building be demolished?
The law provides for removal of buildings built without a permit after 24 October 2025 (Art. 20 paras. 3-5) and of buildings on land for public use and in the protected zones under Art. 2 para. 1, unless the Government decides to take the building over (Art. 12 paras. 9 and 10). For other buildings, the consequence the law attaches to not applying is registration in favour of the parcel owner, not demolition.
Can I sell a house that has not been legalized?
A notary public must warn the parties when the subject of the sale is a building without an occupancy permit or a building undergoing legalization, and must enter that warning in the deed (Art. 4a of the Law on the Trade of Real Estate, Zakon o prometu nepokretnosti). Whether and how the buyer can be registered as owner depends on how the building is recorded in the cadastre, so this calls for careful assessment before signing. The buyer can also file the application with the Agency as an interested party, with the contract as proof of acquisition (Art. 7(1) of the Zakon o posebnim uslovima za evidentiranje i upis prava na nepokretnostima), but after the regular window only as a late application, within the period and on the conditions of Art. 20(2).
My legalization request was pending. What happened to it?
Procedures started under the Zakon o ozakonjenju objekata were discontinued on 24 October 2025 by a collective decision, without individual decisions (Art. 27). The old request does not count as an application under the new law, so a new electronic application to the Agency was needed. The municipality delivers the documentation from the old case file to the Agency at its request (Art. 6 para. 5).
Can I finish the facade and installations on a registered building?
The 2026 amendments (Sl. glasnik RS, No. 80/2026) allow works to complete structurally finished buildings that lack installations, joinery or a facade, on the basis of a report on the existing condition prepared by an authorized professional. After the works are finished, the owner notifies the Agency and the building inspector, with a statement by a qualified professional that the building is fit for use.