Buy, rent or develop property in Romania through a Romanian SRL

Who this guide is for

This guide is for investors from abroad who want to buy, let out or develop property in Romania through a Romanian company, and for founders opening a real estate agency. It also has a short section for construction companies.

We have set up SRLs for founders in real estate. For one individual founder who buys, lets or sells property, it is usually a standard formation.

Why buy property through a Romanian company

The main reason is land. Under the Romanian Constitution (art. 44) and Law 312/2005:

• Citizens of EU and EEA countries can acquire land in Romania under the same conditions as Romanian citizens. Agricultural land has its own rules, explained below.
• Citizens and companies from countries outside the EU and EEA can acquire land only under the conditions of an international treaty, on a reciprocity basis, and not on better terms than EU citizens.

A Romanian SRL is a Romanian legal person, whatever the nationality of its shareholders. The limits in Law 312/2005 are written for foreign citizens, stateless persons and foreign legal persons, so a Romanian company buys land as a Romanian buyer. This is why many investors from outside the EU hold Romanian property through an SRL.

The limits concern land. Houses, apartments and other buildings usually come with land or a share of the land under them, so check the whole transaction with the notary and your lawyer before you sign.

Other founders use a company because they run the property as a business: several flats let out, co-investors who each hold shares, or a development project that will be sold unit by unit.

Agricultural land outside towns has its own rules

Agricultural land located outside built-up areas (extravilan) is sold under Law 17/2014, not under the general rules. In short:

• the land is first offered to people with a legal right of first refusal, such as co-owners, tenants farming the land, neighbouring owners, young farmers and the state;
• if none of them buys it, other buyers must meet conditions of their own. For a company these include, among others, a registered office in Romania for at least five years before the land is offered for sale and a record of agricultural activity.

A newly formed SRL does not meet these conditions, so setting up a company does not by itself open this route. If farmland is part of your plan, have a lawyer review the purchase before you sign anything or form a company for that purpose.

The notary is a separate step

Buying property in Romania is done before a Romanian notary. Contracts that transfer ownership of real estate must be in authentic form (Civil Code, art. 1244), and the transfer is then recorded in the land register (cartea funciară).

• The company signs through its administrator or a person the company authorises.
• The notary and your lawyer check the property: title, land register entries and any encumbrances.
• Notary fees and land registration are separate from our service. We do not handle property purchases.

The same applies if you want to bring a property into the company as capital. When a property is contributed to the share capital, the articles of association must be notarised (Law 31/1990, art. 5). Our standard formation uses share capital in cash, from the legal minimum of RON 500, so a contribution in kind is quoted separately after review.

Choosing the CAEN codes

Romania classifies business activities under CAEN Rev. 3, in force since 1 January 2025 and aligned with the EU classification NACE Rev. 2.1. The real estate codes separate owning, developing, letting and intermediating:

• 68.11 Buying and selling of own real estate. Buying and reselling property the company owns: flats, houses, commercial buildings and land. It also covers dividing land into lots without improving it.
• 68.12 Development of building projects. Bringing together the money, the technical work and the materials to build or redevelop buildings for later sale, and dividing and improving land for later sale. The construction work itself belongs to the builder's codes.
• 68.20 Rental and operating of own or leased real estate. Letting flats, houses, offices, warehouses or land for a year or longer, including buildings the company develops in order to rent them out.
• 55.20 Holiday and other short-stay accommodation. Letting holiday homes and apartments, visitor flats or rooms, typically by the day or week, with little or no on-site service. This is the code for flats let on booking platforms.
• 55.90 Other accommodation. Letting flats or rooms for periods shorter than a year, for example monthly lets, and accommodation for workers.
• 68.31 Intermediation service activities for real estate. Real estate agencies and agents who bring buyers, sellers and tenants together for a fee or commission, online or offline, including listing services.
• 68.32 Other real estate activities on a fee or contract basis. Property management for other owners, rent collection, valuation and advice on buying, selling or renting property.

The common mistake is to register 68.20 for every kind of letting. Code 68.20 excludes accommodation provided for less than a year, which belongs in division 55. A company that lets flats by the night or by the month needs 55.20 or 55.90. Accommodation with daily cleaning and on-site reception, as in a hotel or an apartment hotel, is 55.10.

Typical set-ups

These examples show how the codes usually combine. Your own list depends on what the company will really do.

• Buy-to-let investor with long lets: 68.20 as the main code, and 68.11 if you plan to sell properties later.
• Short-stay apartments: 55.20 as the main code, 55.90 if some flats go on monthly lets and 68.20 if others are let for a year or longer.
• Buying, renovating and reselling: 68.11 as the main code.
• Developer building for sale: 68.12 as the main code, with 68.20 if the company keeps some units to rent out.
• Real estate agency: 68.31 as the main code, and 68.32 if you also manage properties for owners.

You can check what each code covers, including what it excludes, in our CAEN code search in English.

What needs more than the Trade Register

The activity code does not grant any permit. Depending on the business:

• Short-stay accommodation needs a tourism classification certificate, obtained in a separate procedure with the tourism authority.
• Real estate agencies need no licence, but agents are covered by anti-money-laundering rules and have reporting obligations of their own.
• Development and construction need a building permit for each project and qualified technical staff on site.

These are separate procedures that we do not handle.

Construction companies

Construction does not have its own guide. The codes that matter most:

• 41.00 Construction of residential and non-residential buildings. Building complete houses, blocks of flats, offices or warehouses, and complete renovations that combine several specialised works. The company can subcontract part of the work.
• Division 43, specialised works. For example 43.21 electrical installation, including photovoltaic systems on buildings, and 43.22 plumbing, heating and air conditioning.
• 42.22 Utility projects for electricity and telecommunications. Power lines and solar or wind farms.

A developer that builds for sale usually needs 68.12 for the project and 41.00 only if it carries out the construction itself.

Registration alone does not allow a company to start work on a site. Construction work can need permits, authorisations and certifications that depend on the project and the type of work. Hiring workers from outside the EU is a separate immigration process, and an activity code does not by itself qualify a company to bring workers to Romania. We do not handle these steps.

Registered office and where the property is

The registered office in Romania is the company's legal address for the Trade Register and official mail. The properties the company owns or lets are its assets, not its office.

If the company runs short-stay accommodation or keeps an office in one of its properties, that place may need to be registered as a working point (punct de lucru). Tell us at the start where the activity will happen, and we will check with you what the registration file needs.

Local building tax depends on how each building is used. If a residential flat is used for business activity, the local tax office can treat it as non-residential. In 2026 that means a building tax of 1.5% instead of 0.1%. Ask your accountant how each property will be classified before you buy.

Your structure: alone, with partners or through your company

• One individual as shareholder and administrator is the standard case. You do not need Romanian residence to own or manage the SRL.
• Co-investors hold shares in the proportions set in the articles of association.
• Your company abroad as shareholder, a common set-up for investment groups, needs proof of the company's existence and of the signatory's authority, with translations where required. See Romanian SRL with a foreign legal entity shareholder.

Owning a Romanian company or Romanian property does not give a right of residence. Residence and work permits are a separate immigration process that we do not handle.

Tax and VAT are for the accountant

As general information for 2026, a micro-enterprise pays 1% tax on revenue up to €100,000 a year and must have at least one employee, among other conditions. A company can stay outside VAT until its turnover reaches RON 395,000, but buying, selling and letting property have VAT rules of their own. Settle the position with an accountant before the first purchase. We can refer you to an accountant who works with foreign founders.

What it costs

For an eligible standard case, the fixed €490 package covers the formation, lawyer-led representation at the Trade Register, a registered office for 12 months and the ONRC fee. It applies to one individual shareholder, one administrator and an ordinary activity such as letting or trading your own property.

Formation only starts from €300, and formation with a registered office from €450. Adding or changing activity codes later starts from €200. Several shareholders, a foreign company as shareholder or a property contributed to the capital are quoted separately after review. See the prices page, or book the €50 Case Review if you want your structure and documents checked before you decide.

After registration

You open a bank account in the company's name, appoint an accountant and settle the tax position; the purchase then goes through the notary and the land register. We do not handle these steps. Our after-incorporation checklist lists the usual company steps.

Check your case

Tell us on WhatsApp whether the company will buy, let, develop or sell, whether land or farmland is involved, and who will own the company. We will suggest the codes, tell you whether your case is standard and list the documents to prepare.