Latvia is characterized by its business-friendly real estate market. The average rental price for A-class office space in Riga is 14 EUR/m2 - the lowest of all Baltic countries. For B-class offices, the average price is EUR 10, again the cheapest among the Baltic capitals. The average price of apartments in Riga is around EUR 664/km2 for medium-sized housing estates, and the average price for high-end housing in the center of Riga is around EUR 1 063/km2.

Buying real estate

Buying property in Latvia as part of the market entry process is a simple and straightforward task. The only thing worth noting here is that the property in question must be purchased separately from the land on which it is built. The acquisition of real estate by foreigners must be approved by the local government, with each acquisition case being examined separately.

Before buying a property in Latvia, the title of the property must be checked by the relevant authorities. It is an online procedure and costs either EUR 2.85 (online) or EUR 4.27 (in person).

When buying a property, the buyer and seller sign a preliminary contract. When both parties are happy with it, they sign the contract and the buyer pays 10% in advance as a deposit. The buyer's legal advisor (lawyer) then draws up the purchase contract. Both parties sign this final contract in the presence of a notary, after which the property is sold to the buyer.

Registration of real estate

Before a purchased property is legally transferred to the buyer, he must register it with the National Real Estate Cadastre of Latvia. The process is fairly simple, but it can take up to 10 business days. There is also a property registration fee, which consists of several parts:

14.23 EUR

title registration fee

7.11 EUR

registration certificate fee

2% of either the real estate price or the purchase price, whichever is higher

title registration stamp duty; cannot exceed 42 686.15 EUR

It should be noted that land and buildings are registered separately, the same as it is with selling them.

Real estate construction

If a business intends to build its own premises in Latvia, it must first acquire a building permit from the local municipality. The government will then decide if you building-to-be corresponds to the general layout and the planning of the city and does not violate any rules of that particular area. If the permit is issued, it will come together with technical requirements for the premises.

Then, there is a number of requirements, approvals and permissions to be acquired from the related specialist institutions:

technical requirements from the Latvian Environment Agency

technical requirements and design approval from a water and sewage company

an approval of the building design of the premises

an approval of the building conditions

After all the clearances have been acquired, the premises must be connected to the water and sewage system.

In the process of building, there will be three inspections from government agencies: the Latvian Environment Agency, the Fire Safety and Rescue Department, and the Acceptance Commission at the very end. The Acceptance Commission will issue a certificate, proving that the new building correspond to all the government standards. After that, the building must be registered with the National Real Estate Cadaster of Latvia.