Registering a building in Latvia will become significantly simpler and less expensive, with costs falling by more than 90% in some cases. The Saeima has adopted in the final reading amendments proposed by the Ministry of Justice that will expand the unified building registration process, enabling individuals and businesses to complete within a single process procedures that previously had to be carried out separately with several authorities.

For example, in the case of a 36,000-square-metre warehouse or commercial building, registration costs could fall from EUR 10,273 to EUR 1,048. This represents a saving of EUR 9,225, or more than 90%.

Minister of Justice Edvards Smiltēns says: “The role of the state is to make processes simpler, not more complicated. We are continuing our work to ensure that individuals and businesses face fewer formalities, shorter waiting times and greater clarity about how to deal with property-related matters.”

The amendments will enter into force on 8 January 2027 and will expand the unified building registration process already available in Latvia. The unified building registration process has been in place since January 2026, but until now the simplified procedure has primarily been available in cases where construction takes place on land owned by the person initiating the construction. In future, the process will be available regardless of land ownership, including for buildings constructed on land owned by another person or on the basis of building rights.

This will apply, for example, to residential rental buildings constructed on state or municipal land, as well as manufacturing facilities, warehouses and engineering structures.

New opportunities will also be available to developers of apartment buildings. The unified process will make it possible not only to register a newly constructed building, but also to initiate its division into apartment properties and the registration of those apartment properties in the Land Register. Use of this option will be voluntary.

In practice, this means that individuals and businesses will no longer need to apply separately to several authorities. An application for a construction project submitted through the Construction Information System will simultaneously serve as the basis for registering the building or changes to it in the Cadastre and, in the case of a new building, also in the Land Register. The exchange of information and documents between the relevant authorities will be handled through state information systems.

Costs will also decrease because a separate cadastral survey of the building will no longer be required before the building is commissioned. The amount saved will depend on the type and size of the building. For example, the current cost of a cadastral survey for a 4,200-square-metre apartment building is EUR 10,955, while registration of cadastral data under the unified process will cost EUR 8,067, resulting in savings of EUR 2,888.

The process itself will also become faster. Registration of cadastral data under the unified process is expected to take 10 working days, or 15 working days in exceptional cases. Currently, a cadastral survey of a building can take more than a month.

The changes are provided for by amendments to the Construction Law, Land Register Law and the Law on the Registration of Immovable Property in the Land Register.