Guide · from Ask Dalam market data
Off-plan villas in Bali: the risks and how to check (2026)
Short answer. An off-plan villa is sold before it's built, so you pay for a building that doesn't exist yet. What goes wrong is usually the zoning, the permits, the land title or the timing. Before paying, check the plot's zone code, the building approval (PBG), the landowner's certificate, and how the contract ties each payment to construction.
Published Updated Data: Ask Dalam sale listings, checked 2 October 2026 · Rules checked 30 September 2026By Maya Santoso
How much of the market is off-plan?
839 villas for sale on Ask Dalam are listed as off-plan: the listing itself says so. We count one entry per property, so the same villa posted in several places counts once.
What we can't tell you is when any of them will be finished. None of those listings gives a completion date we can read and track. So we publish no handover times and no delay rates. If someone quotes you a failure rate for Bali off-plan projects, ask where the number comes from.
What can go wrong, and what to check
| Risk | What to check before paying | Rule behind it |
|---|---|---|
| The plot can't legally carry the villa | The zone code for the exact plot in the regency plan (RDTR or RTRW), confirmed by a KKPR in the OSS licensing system. The colour on a sales map is not the test. In tourism areas the provincial plan caps buildings at 50% plot coverage and 15 m height | PP 28/2025; Perda Bali 2/2023 Art. 95; Permen ATR/BPN 14/2021 |
| The land is protected farmland | Whether the plot is productive farmland in the regency plan. Converting it is barred, and in September 2025 Bali's government told regencies to stop approving new hotels and villas on productive farmland and water-catchment land | Perda Bali 4/2026 Art. 13(2) |
| No building approval | A PBG (building approval) must exist before construction starts. The finished villa needs an SLF (certificate that it's fit to use) | PP 16/2021 |
| The seller doesn't hold the land | The landowner's certificate: whose name is on it, and whether it matches the plot. Before the deed, the PPAT checks the original at the land office and must refuse to draw the deed if it doesn't match | UUPA Art. 23; PP 24/1997; PMNA/Ka BPN 3/1997 |
| A nominee sits behind the deal | Who really owns the land. A nominee arrangement for a foreigner is void, and since February 2026 the province can impose administrative sanctions, from warnings and permit cancellation to demolition, on anyone who brokers or facilitates one | UUPA Art. 26(2); Perda Bali 4/2026 Art. 14, 20 |
| The lease runs while the villa is being built | For a leasehold, the date the lease years start and the extension terms (years and price or formula), written into the notarial lease deed | KUHPerdata Art. 1338, 1548 ff. |
| The rental income promised can't be earned legally | Who will hold the holiday-rental licence. The small-villa licence is reserved for Indonesian co-ops and small businesses, and since May 2026 Bali's OSS has been closed to new foreign-owned applications for small hotels and other accommodation | Perpres 10/2021 jo. 49/2021; Bali Provincial Government, 22 Jul 2026 |
| Payments run ahead of the building | A payment schedule tied to stages you can verify, in a bilingual contract that says which language prevails, read by a notary you chose | UU 2/2014 Art. 16(1)(a), 43 |
Two of these deserve a second look.
The first is the rental promise. A foreigner's Hak Pakai home is granted for use as a residence (PP 18/2021 Art. 72), and a foreigner can't hold the licence needed to run it as a holiday rental. The Tourism Ministry said in May 2026 that about 1,600 unlicensed properties across Indonesia could be removed from booking platforms from 1 August 2026 (Kemenpar, 26 May 2026; Permenpar 6/2025). A projected yield means little if nobody in the deal can hold the licence. Our holiday rental licence page covers the basics.
The second is the permit. With an off-plan villa there's nothing to inspect yet, so the paperwork is all you have. No PBG means the building has no approval.
What to have in hand before each payment
| Stage | Have this first | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Deposit to reserve the villa, if the seller asks for one | A copy of the landowner's certificate, the seller's identity, and the zone code for the plot | Know the plot can carry a villa before any money moves |
| Signing the PPJB (the binding agreement to buy and sell, signed before the final deed) | A notary or PPAT you chose, a bilingual text, and a payment schedule tied to building stages | In Badung, BPHTB (the buyer's 5% acquisition tax) falls due when the PPJB is signed, on a purchase of a land right (Badung Perda 7/2023 Art. 15(1)(a)) |
| Each construction payment | The PBG, and proof the stage in the contract is actually done | Paying ahead of the building leaves you with the risk |
| Handover | The SLF | The finished building needs it before use (PP 16/2021) |
| Final deed and registration | The PPAT deed (a sale deed, or a deed granting Hak Pakai or HGB over the owner's Hak Milik), or the notarial lease deed | A Hak Pakai or HGB only exists once it's registered at the land office (PP 18/2021 Art. 39, 54). A lease is a contract and gets no land certificate |
You can and should choose your own notary. Notaries must by law act independently and impartially (UU 2/2014 Art. 16(1)(a)). Check a notary on AHU Online (ahu.go.id) and a PPAT on the land agency's (ATR/BPN) list for the regency.
Taxes that can land before the keys
| Tax | Applies to | When | Rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| BPHTB (buyer) | Buying a land right such as Hak Pakai or HGB. Not a lease | In Badung, on signing the PPJB | 5% of the price or the official land value (NJOP), whichever is higher, minus IDR 80 million (Badung Perda 7/2023 Art. 12, 13) |
| VAT (PPN) | Buying from a VAT-registered developer | Charged on the sale | 12% on a base of 11/12 of the price, so 11% in effect (UU 7/2021; PMK 131/2024) |
| 2026 VAT waiver | New homes up to IDR 5 billion, ready to occupy | The deed or fully paid PPJB and the handover must both fall in 2026 | Government pays the VAT on the first IDR 2 billion, until 31 December 2026 (PMK 90/2025) |
| Final income tax on a lease | Lease payments for land or a building | Withheld by the tenant if the tenant is a company, otherwise paid by the landowner | 10% of the gross lease price (PP 34/2017 Art. 2 to 3) |
The waiver is the one to read twice. An off-plan villa that won't be ready and handed over by 31 December 2026 doesn't qualify, and neither does a leasehold, because a lease isn't a home purchase. The taxes and fees guide works through the sums.
One year of lease, in rupiah
Most villas for sale in Bali are leasehold: 80% of the listings that state a tenure across the 11 areas we track. A leasehold price buys the years left on the lease, so a year spent waiting for the building has a price. This table shows what one year of lease is worth at each area's median.
| Area | Median lease left | Median asking price per year of lease left | Leasehold listings with a stated term |
|---|---|---|---|
| Canggu | 25 years | IDR 198M | 2,213 |
| Uluwatu | 26 years | IDR 168M | 1,416 |
| Ubud | 26 years | IDR 186M | 466 |
| Tabanan | 27 years | IDR 176M | 328 |
| Pererenan | 25 years | IDR 196M | 247 |
| Seminyak | 24 years | IDR 221M | 238 |
| Sanur | 27 years | IDR 205M | 139 |
| Nusa Dua | 25 years | IDR 155M | 77 |
| Seseh | 27 years | IDR 186M | 59 |
| Kuta | 25 years | IDR 220M | 41 |
| Denpasar | 29 years | IDR 126M | 25 |
So in Uluwatu, if the lease starts counting on the day you sign and the villa takes a year to build, that first year is worth about IDR 168M of the median asking price, and you can't live in it or rent it out. The contract decides when the lease starts. Read that clause before anything else.
What the numbers don't tell you
- "Off-plan" is the seller's word. We flag a villa as off-plan only where the listing says so. A villa whose listing doesn't use the word isn't in the count, whatever state it's in.
- These are asking prices, not agreed prices. The per-year figure divides the asking price by the years left. It treats the whole price as lease value and ignores what the building itself is worth.
- Open doesn't mean permitted. In July 2025 the authorities demolished 48 villas, restaurants and homestays at Bingin Beach that stood on state land without permits (Badung Regent order 600.1.15.2/14831/SETDA/SAT.POL.PP, 15 Jul 2025). A long-running business doesn't prove the title or the permits are valid.
- We have no completion data. Nothing on this page says how often Bali projects finish late, because we can't measure it.
FAQ
Is it safe to buy an off-plan villa in Bali?
It depends on the paperwork, because there's no building to inspect. Before paying, check the zone code and a KKPR for the plot, the PBG building approval, and the landowner's certificate. Then make sure the contract ties each payment to a stage you can verify, with a notary you chose.
Does an off-plan villa qualify for the 2026 VAT waiver?
Only if it's ready to occupy and handed over by 31 December 2026. The waiver covers VAT on the first IDR 2 billion of new homes priced up to IDR 5 billion, and the deed or fully paid PPJB and the handover must both fall in 2026 (PMK 90/2025). Leaseholds don't qualify.
Can I get a bank loan for an off-plan villa?
A leasehold can't carry a registered mortgage (Hak Tanggungan), so most leasehold villas can't be financed by an Indonesian bank. Most foreign buyers pay cash or use the developer's instalment plan, which makes the payment schedule in the contract your main protection. See can foreigners get a mortgage.
General information, not legal or tax advice. Checked 30 September 2026. Confirm with a licensed notary (PPAT) before you sign or pay.
How we measured
- Off-plan count: villas, houses and townhouses for sale on Ask Dalam whose listing says they are off-plan, one entry per property, from property platforms, agency sites, and Facebook and Telegram groups. The count refreshes with the live pages every hour. No listing has a readable completion date, so we publish none.
- Lease figures: the live leasehold pages for each area, checked 2 October 2026. "Lease left" is the median years left on leasehold listings that state it. "Per year of lease left" is each listing's asking price divided by its years left, then the median. An area appears in the table only with at least 20 such listings.
- Rules: only regulations and official releases checked on 30 September 2026, listed below. Where our rules check doesn't cover a question (for example, how buyer payments must be held), this guide doesn't answer it.
- PP 28/2025 (risk-based licensing, KKPR first); Perda Provinsi Bali 2/2023 (RTRW 2023 to 2043), Art. 95; Permen ATR/BPN 14/2021. Map viewer: gistaru.atrbpn.go.id
- Perda Provinsi Bali 4/2026 (farmland conversion and nominee ban), Art. 13, 14, 20. jdih.baliprov.go.id
- PP 16/2021 (PBG and SLF). simbg.pu.go.id
- UUPA 5/1960 Art. 21, 23, 26(2), 44 to 45; PP 18/2021 Art. 39, 52 to 54, 72; PP 24/1997; PMNA/Ka BPN 3/1997.
- UU 30/2004 jo. UU 2/2014 (notaries), Art. 16(1)(a) and 43. bphn.go.id · PP 37/1998 jo. PP 24/2016 (PPAT). Notary register: ahu.go.id
- Perda Kabupaten Badung 7/2023 (BPHTB), Art. 10, 12, 13, 15. bapenda.badungkab.go.id
- UU 7/2021 (HPP) and PMK 131/2024 (VAT); PMK 90/2025 (2026 VAT waiver). djpp.kemenkum.go.id
- PP 34/2017 (final tax on lease payments).
- Perpres 10/2021 jo. 49/2021 (business fields reserved for co-ops and small businesses); Bali Provincial Government, 22 Jul 2026. baliprov.go.id
- Permenpar 6/2025; Ministry of Tourism statement, 26 May 2026 (ANTARA). peraturan.go.id
- Bingin demolition: Bali Provincial Government, 21 Jul 2025. baliprov.go.id
- UU 4/1996 (Hak Tanggungan), Art. 4(2).
- Ask Dalam: leasehold villas for sale in each area above, checked 2 October 2026.