Housing

Steps

1. Look for a home on listing portals (byty.sk, nehnutelnosti.sk, etc.) or through an agency, which charges a commission. Running costs (heating, water, electricity, building management) are generally added to the rent (EURES).
2. Check which lease you are offered:
   • Civil Code lease (nájom bytu): fixed-term or open-ended; the law calls it "protected";
   • short-term lease (krátkodobý nájom, Act 98/2014): in writing, 2 years at most, extendable twice by 2 years, 6 years in total.
3. Check the contract: description of the home, rent, amount of running costs or how they are calculated. A lease with no term is deemed open-ended.
4. Pay the deposit (peňažná zábezpeka): in a short-term lease, it cannot exceed 3 months' rent and running costs, and the landlord must return the balance no later than one month after you leave and the accounts are settled. For a Civil Code lease, no ceiling appears in the text read: negotiate.
5. To buy: check the property extract (list vlastníctva) at the land registry (encumbrances, co-owners), sign the sale contract, then file the application for entry (návrh na vklad). The land registry office decides within 30 days of receiving the application (Act 162/1995, § 32); you become the owner on entry, once the decision is final (§ 28).
6. After the purchase, declare property tax before 31 January of the following year (sheet SK-IMPOTS-TOUS-002).

Documents

• Identity document; often proof of income.
• For a purchase: sale contract, land registry extract, application for entry.

Costs and timelines

• Deposit: 3 months' rent and running costs at most (short-term lease).
• Land registry entry (2026 scale): €100 per application, €50 online; the fee is due for each legal act entered (for example sale and mortgage separately). It falls by €15 if a notification was made to the land registry under § 30, para. 3 of the land registry law (Act 145/1995, annex, item 11, version in force at 20/10/2026, unchanged since at least 01/01/2025). Beware: an old ÚGKK scale (PDF on skgeodesy.sk) still shows €66 and €33; the law prevails.
• Accelerated decision in 15 days: €300 instead of €100, or €150 if the application is filed online; the supplement is paid on the day of filing. If the office does not decide within the deadline, it refunds the difference; if the procedure is stopped or the application rejected, nothing is refunded. The deadline is suspended during an interruption of the procedure (Act 145/1995, annex, item 11).
• Transfer tax: the Slovak tax on real estate transfers (Act 554/2003) no longer applies to transfers where the obligation arose after 31/12/2004 (§ 18 of that law); no other transfer tax appears in the texts read. Plan for the land registry fees and, where applicable, those of the notary or lawyer who drafts the contract, and an agency's commission (EURES).
• Prices (EURES): asking prices up 12 to 12.8% in 2025; flats at €3,262 per m² on average. Studio in Bratislava: €400 to €1,000 per month.

Common pitfalls

• Confusing the two leases. In a short-term lease, the landlord can terminate for more than 2 months of arrears, damage after a warning, an incomplete deposit or a reason provided for in the contract, with at least one month's notice (at least 15 days if it concerns damage or more than 2 months of arrears). You can terminate if the home becomes uninhabitable, if your employment contract ends, or for a reason provided for in the contract.
• Letting the deadline to challenge pass: in a Civil Code lease, you have 3 months after receiving the notice to challenge it before the court; the notice takes effect only after the judgment.
• Arrears: more than 3 months of unpaid rent or running costs is a ground for notice in the Civil Code lease. If you are in great difficulty for objective reasons, the notice period may be extended by 6 months.
• Agricultural land from third countries: law 140/2014 prohibits purchase by a State or a person from a country that itself prohibits Slovaks from buying agricultural land (inheritance is an exception); this ban does not target the EU, the EEA and Switzerland. Gardens and plots within a built-up area are not agricultural land within the meaning of the law, nor, outside a built-up area, plots of less than 2,000 m² (§ 2).

What changes by country of origin

• EU, EEA and Swiss citizens: the ban in law 140/2014 on agricultural land does not target you (§ 7, para. 2); the law allows any foreigner to buy real estate, except what particular laws restrict (Act 202/1995, § 19a).
• British citizens (Scots included) and other non-Europeans: purchase of agricultural land depends on the reciprocity of their country (Act 140/2014, § 7); for a home or a building plot, Slovak law allows any foreigner to buy real estate, except what particular laws restrict, for example for agricultural land, forests, protected heritage or protected natural areas (Act 202/1995, § 19a and its note 19).