What services does the Hungarian Land Register provide?
The Hungarian Land Register is managed by the Ministry of Agriculture (Földművelésügyi Minisztérium) and the Land Offices (Földhivatal) of Hungary.
The official website of the Land Offices of Hungary (magyarországi földhivatalok) provides information on the countrywide network of Hungarian land offices, and gives access to the entire network of land administration institutions, with details on:
- their tasks;
- their duties and the services they provide;
- new and important projects.
You can download administrative forms and read about our electronic services and the conditions for accessing the system on the website. The relevant legislation can also be found here.
Is access to the Hungarian Land Register free of charge?
Registered users (public administrative bodies, banks, lawyers, public notaries, municipal authorities, real estate agents, etc.) have had access to the online services (TAKARNET) of the Land Offices of Hungary since 2003. Data is provided for a fee, in line with relevant legislation.
Launched in June 2011, the Online Land Office (Földhivatal Online) service can be accessed directly by citizens through the Government Portal, by entering their central ‘client gateway’ (ügyfélkapu) ID. The site provides citizens and registered users alike with online services for a fee.
Users of the Online Land Office can access a limited range of data free of charge. The free service covers only descriptive data on the properties (the first section of the property sheet (tulajdoni lap)). The database can be searched by topographical lot number (helyrajzi szám) or the address of the property. Registered users and citizens alike can access these services online 24 hours a day.
How to do a search in the Hungarian Land Register
In general, you can do a search based on:
- topographical lot number;
- topographical lot number range; or
- the address of the property.
Users with special rights (police, investigating authorities, court executors, public notaries in inheritance cases) can do a search based on the name and personal data of the owner and/or authorised person.
History of the Hungarian Land Register
The official name of the legal and administrative system managing the register of real estate in Hungary is the ‘unified land registration system’ (egységes ingatlan-nyilvántartási rendszer). It is considered ‘unified’ because cadastral mapping data and legal data (telekkönyv, Grundbuch) have been recorded in an integrated format both legally and institutionally since 1971. A single institutional network covering all land offices is responsible for registering legal transactions and changes in land register maps, providing data and performing other tasks related to land and property. Hungary’s unified, title-based land registration system was the first of its kind in Europe.
The Hungarian system serves multiple purposes, since besides its activities covering the full spectrum of land registration activities, it also carries out a number of other tasks, such as creating and maintaining the geodesic control point network, topographic mapping, land conservation, land lease registration, or maintaining administrative boundaries.
This comprehensive public database containing information on agricultural land and property – some of the most important components of economic life, agriculture and lending – is managed by the land administration in an integrated way and covers the entire administrative territory of Hungary. The aim of the system is to help enforce the right to property, a healthy environment, and freedom of enterprise and competition, and to officially register natural and artificial landmarks by providing a unified, publicly authenticated land registration system and spatial data infrastructure.
The general aim is to officially register and manage data on all land and other property, while ensuring the security of ownership rights and other property-related entitlements by providing a uniform and publicly authenticated land registration system and infrastructure.
In addition, the unified land registration system has two specific objectives. The land register’s legal objective is to protect property-related rights and official documents, while at the same time providing certainty for bona fide owners and holders and promoting the beneficial use of property. The register’s economic objective is to provide a uniform basis for planning and for establishing financial obligations, to facilitate governance and property investment by supplying statistical data, and to provide services to society as a whole.
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