I am Lebanese and live abroad: can I buy property in Lebanon without restrictions?

Key facts#

Who the limits apply to

Foreigners, meaning anyone who does not hold Lebanese nationality^[1]

The law

Legislative Decree 11614 of 1969, as amended by Law 296/2001^[1,2]

Foreign buyers without a licence

Up to 3,000 m²^[1,2,3] in total; above that, a Council of Ministers decree

Registration fee

3% of the value for Lebanese buyers, 5% for non-Lebanese^[4]

What decides 3% or 5%

The buyer's nationality only, according to Kallas Law Firm (May 2026)^[9]

Buying through a foreign company

A company set up outside Lebanon counts as foreign^[1,10]

When you own it

Only once the sale is registered at the Land Registry^[5]

How to buy from abroad as a Lebanese citizen#

1. 1
   Ask the notary what proves you are Lebanese. Before you sign a POA or pay a deposit, write to the notary (kateb adel) who will draw up the deed. Ask which Lebanese documents they accept and how recent they must be. We found no published list, so get the answer in writing.
2. 2
   Get the property's full identifiers from the seller. A certificate request needs the governorate, district, real estate zone, property number, section and block^[23,24], where they apply. For an apartment, the unit has its own number added to the plot number, with its own folio^[25]. Ask for a copy of the title deed too, but do not rely on it alone.
3. 3
   Have someone you trust get an official extract (ifadeh aqariyeh). The official certificate is issued in person at the land registry office for the property's area^[24,26]. Online and OMT copies are unofficial and are for reference only^{[23,24,27,28]}. According to the law firm Legalmondo (June 2025), anyone may request one without showing a legal interest, and no certificate is issued while a lien or a registration on the plot is still in process^[24]. The same firm puts the cost at USD 5. Kallas (October 2025) puts the wait for a physical certificate at about 2 business days, but it varies with the office's opening days^[28]. In April 2025 some Mount Lebanon offices worked only on set days^[29], so check the schedule first. Send your own lawyer or agent, not the seller's, and if the office will not issue a certificate, find out why before you pay anything.
4. 4
   Read the extract before you pay anything. It lists the owners, the source of their right, their shares, mortgages, seizures and pending court actions^[24,28]. Shares are fractions of 2,400, so 2,400 shares^[2,24,30] is the whole property. Any charge on the folio passes to you unless it is cleared before the purchase^[5]. The seller's name must match the owner on the extract, but a match proves little on its own: in the Halat case the forger used a fake ID in the owner's name^[18]. Read about fake owners and forged deeds and how to check a title deed.
5. 5
   Check the plot on the ground. Where the boundaries on the cadastral plan differ from those on the ground, the plan prevails^[14,30]. The Cadastre monitors sworn surveyors^[31], but we found no published procedure or fee for ordering a plan or a survey. Ask the Land Registry office how to get the plan, and have a sworn surveyor mark the boundaries. For land, the seller needs a municipal statement of contents and a location map^[26,32]. Kallas advises checking the plot's municipal master plan as well^[12]; no source names the office, so ask the municipality or the Directorate General of Urban Planning.
6. 6
   Sign a power of attorney if you cannot travel. Sign it at a Lebanese embassy or consulate, or before a local notary followed by local authentication and Lebanese legalisation^{[15,17,33,34]}. It should name the property number and location, plus a copy of the deed or a Land Registry extract^[16,33,34]. Consular fees vary by mission, for example USD 50 special, USD 100 general^[15,16,33] at US missions. According to Kallas Law Firm, the agent who registers for you must show a POA dated no more than five years earlier^[35,36]. The full detail is in how to give a power of attorney from abroad.
7. 7
   Sign the deed and register without delay. The sale contract is drawn up before a notary or Land Registry assistant head^[35,37]. Registration at the Lebanese rate costs 3% of the value^[4]. Kallas Law Firm (May 2026) puts total buying charges at about 4% (Lebanese), about 6% (non-Lebanese)^[9], before broker commission, lawyer fees and the extract. Once the sale is registered, get a new extract that shows your name.

It depends on#

• A second passport. The law defines a foreigner as anyone who does not hold Lebanese nationality^[1], but no source we read says how a dual national is treated at the notary or the registry. Have the notary confirm before you sign.
• Your civil registration. If your records are old or you were never registered, no source says how you are treated as a buyer. Ask the notary, and take registration questions to the Personal Status directorate.
• Whose name goes on the deed. A company set up outside Lebanon counts as foreign^[1,10], so buying through one brings back the foreign rules. A non-Lebanese spouse buying in their own name is a foreign buyer, with the 3,000 m²^[1,2,3] limit and the 5% fee^[4].
• Where the property is. As of late April 2026, the Finance Minister said the Bint Jbeil and Ain Ebel registry offices could not be reached^[38]. As of late September 2026 the ban on sales in occupied southern towns was still a draft awaiting Parliament's approval^[6,7]. Reports then differed on its stage: LBCI said it had been referred to Parliament, while Arab News said it had not reached Parliament or any committee. Check with a lawyer or the Land Registry office whether Parliament has voted on it.
• The kind of land. Amiri land gives a right of tasarruf, not full ownership^[12]. UN-Habitat/GLTN (May 2024) says communal mushaa rights are generally not registered in the Land Registry^[2]. A property lawyer can tell you what the extract's entry means for your plot.

Common questions#