Land for business and commercial construction in Uzbekistan

A business obtains land in Uzbekistan through an electronic online auction on the E-auksion platform: either on a lease for up to 100 years or straight into ownership. Foreign companies and enterprises with foreign investment may hold land only under a lease, for up to 25 years. Building a commercial facility means an architectural and planning assignment, a design that passes expert review, registration of the site with the inspectorate and a commissioning permit.

In brief:

• Vacant plots are sold only through an electronic online auction; the exception is a lease granted by a Cabinet of Ministers resolution for projects of USD 10 million and above
• Uzbek legal entities may buy out the plot under their own building at a price of 10 base land tax rates in Tashkent, Nukus and the regional capitals and 5 rates elsewhere; foreign persons and enterprises with foreign investment cannot privatize land
• Rent for state-owned land is equal to the land tax; land under an unfinished building is taxed at double the rate
• A facility of more than 300 m³ may not be built without expert review and registration with the construction supervision inspectorate; the fine for building without notifying the inspectorate is 66.000.000 soums for individuals and 88.000.000 soums for officers
• A plot bought at auction has to be built up within 2 to 5 years depending on its size, otherwise the khokimiyat (the local administration) is obliged to reclaim it through the courts and put it back up for auction

Updated: 02 September 2026

What rights to land a business can hold

Uzbek legal entities may hold land plots under a right of ownership, permanent use or lease, and individuals under a right of ownership or lease. Permanent use is today granted only to state bodies, institutions and enterprises for public purposes, so private business has two workable options: a lease, or ownership through privatization.

Foreign citizens, stateless persons, foreign legal entities and enterprises with foreign investment may hold land plots only under a lease. They acquire no right of ownership over land, neither through privatization nor by buying a building at a public sale: the Law on privatization of state property expressly excludes the transfer of land to persons that are not eligible to privatize land plots. If such a person does end up owning a plot — by inheritance or through a reorganization, for example — the plot has to be disposed of within six months, failing which it passes to the state, the former owner keeping a pre-emptive right to lease it.

Rights to land acquired before 1 August 2021 (permanent possession, lifetime inheritable possession, fixed-term use) remain valid. Any right to a plot arises only once its boundaries have been marked out on the ground and the right has been registered by the state; the document evidencing the right is an electronic extract from the State Register of Rights to Real Estate.

When a building is bought, the right to the plot underneath it passes to the buyer to the extent needed to use the building, and in proportion to the share where only part of the property is bought. The same rule applies to leasing a building: for the term of the lease the rights to part of the plot pass to the tenant, and the rent for the building includes the payment for the land unless the contract says otherwise.

Land categories and permitted uses

The land fund is divided into eight categories: agricultural land; land of settlements; land for industry, transport, communications, defense and other purposes; land for nature conservation, health resorts and recreation; land of historical and cultural value; forest fund land; water fund land; and reserve land. Industrial enterprises, roads, communication lines and power lines are allotted non-agricultural land, or land unsuitable for agriculture or of inferior quality.

Since 1 January 2025 every plot, including those allotted earlier, has a permitted use type under the Unified Classifier approved by Cabinet of Ministers Resolution No. 614 of 30.09.2024. A permitted use may be principal, conditionally permitted or auxiliary, and the designation of a building must match the permitted use of the plot. The holder changes the auxiliary use on their own; the principal use is changed on application through a public services center or the Unified Portal; and a conditionally permitted use requires a decision of the territorial architectural and town-planning council following a public discussion, and may carry a fee. A plot with no principal permitted use established may not be sold or leased out; once the principal use has been changed, the owner has three months to repurpose the buildings standing on the plot.

Land is transferred from one category to another by the khokims of the regions and of Tashkent, except for agricultural land: non-irrigated land is transferred by the Cabinet of Ministers, and irrigated land only by presidential order on the opinions of the Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Water Resources and the Cadastre Agency, coupled with an obligation to bring no smaller an area of irrigated land into use within two years. Especially valuable irrigated land (a soil quality score more than 20 percent above the district average) is not converted into non-irrigated land. Anyone allotted farmland for non-agricultural purposes compensates the losses of agricultural production separately from the price of the plot; at auction the amount is stated in the lot.

How to obtain a plot: the electronic auction

Vacant non-agricultural plots for business and town-planning activity are allotted in every region exclusively through an electronic online auction on the E-auksion platform, either into ownership or on a lease. Since 9 June 2021 district and city khokims have no power to allot land by their own decisions. A businessperson may themselves propose a plot and a construction project to be put up for sale through the YERELEKTRON system; such applications are handled as a priority, and the khokimiyat must put a vacant plot up for sale within ten days of the date it is recorded.

The single E-auksion rules have applied since 1 September 2021 (PP-5197 of 24.07.2021): the digital signature certificate needed to take part is issued free of charge, including to foreign citizens; the notice is published 30 days before the sale; the sale goes ahead only if there are two or more bidders; and payment is due within 10 working days where the lot price is below 5,000 BRV, the base calculation unit, and within 15 working days above that. A winner who fails to pay, and any company they found, is barred from auctions for a year, and permanently on a repeat failure.

The starting price of a plot sold into ownership is its market value per a valuer's report; the starting price of a lease right is calculated by a formula based on the land tax rate with coefficients for the district category, connection to utility networks, permitted use and area (Cabinet of Ministers Resolution No. 71 of 14.02.2022). The permitted-use coefficient raises the price for retail, catering and services (1.4) and lowers it for manufacturing (0.9) and for the food and pharmaceutical industries (0.8). Plots for which town-planning documentation has not yet been drawn up are offered on a lease only.

After a win, the lease contract is signed with a digital signature within 10 working days, the right is registered in 2 working days and the boundaries are marked out on the ground in 3 working days; where the plot is bought into ownership, the State Assets Agency issues the state warrant on the working day following the protocol. Using the plot before the boundaries have been marked out and the extract obtained is prohibited.

Instalments and the early-payment discount

The price of a plot, whether ownership or a lease right, may be paid in equal monthly instalments with interest at the Central Bank's key rate: up to 1 year in Tashkent; up to 3 years in Nukus and the regional capitals, with a down payment of at least 35 percent; up to 5 years in other settlements; and up to 10 years in category 4 and 5 districts, with a down payment of at least 15 percent. The first payment is due within 15 working days. Paying in full within those same 15 working days earns a 20 percent discount, except on lots sold after the starting price was cut by more than half. Until the price has been paid in full, a ban on disposing of the plot is registered against it.

Mandatory construction deadlines

The document allotting the plot states the types and number of buildings and the deadlines for design, for starting and for completing construction. The final deadline for putting the facility into service runs from the date of allotment and depends on the size of the plot:

Outside Tashkent, Nukus and the regional capitals, a land tax rate of 50 percent applies for the construction period, but for no more than three years; if the deadline is missed, the relief is clawed back in full with interest at the Central Bank rate. Time spent on permit procedures, and delays caused by state bodies and confirmed by a court, are deducted from the period. Where the deadline is breached, the district khokimiyat is obliged to file a claim to cancel the right to the plot and put it back up for auction; the person who loses the right is refunded what they paid, less the costs of the sale, and pays for the demolition of whatever was built. The construction deadline follows the plot when the lease right is transferred or pledged.

Land without an auction: investment projects, SEZs and industrial zones

The Cabinet of Ministers grants land on a lease directly to individuals and legal entities carrying out a large investment project worth at least USD 10 million and selected through a best-offer procedure. The size of the plot is set by the amount of the investment, and the tenant pays into the budget an amount expressed as coefficients of the appraised market value of the lease right; the sum is stated in the Cabinet of Ministers resolution. Since September 2025 the price of the right may be paid in a lump sum, in instalments or contributed as the state's stake in the charter fund of the tenant company. Enterprises with foreign investment are granted land on a lease by the Cabinet of Ministers for up to 25 years, but for no less than the term stated in the application for carrying out the project.

In special economic zones, plots are leased directly by a Cabinet of Ministers resolution following a best-offer selection by the Government Commission, for up to 49 years; enterprises servicing a zone obtain land through an ordinary auction and without incentives. In industrial zones, plots and buildings are put up for auction by the zone's directorate together with investment obligations; only legal entities may bid, and the lease term is at least 10 years with a condition of subsequent privatization or extension. If within six months of the selection a participant has not started on its obligations without good reason, the lease is terminated and the plot returns to the directorate.

This section covers only the land side of investment projects. The tax and customs incentives that come with the status of an SEZ participant or an enterprise with foreign investment are set out in the article on tax incentives: it shows who is exempt from property tax and land tax and for how long, and what conditions have to be met for the relief not to be withdrawn.

Leasing land: terms, renewal and transfer

A lease is fixed-term possession and use of a plot for a fee, under a contract that the district or city khokim signs on behalf of the state. The maximum terms are: up to 100 years for non-agricultural land, 30 years for agricultural land, and up to 25 years for plots granted to enterprises with foreign investment, to foreign individuals and legal entities and to international organizations. Rent for state-owned plots is equal to the land tax and is paid into the budget under the rules for land tax payers. For a privately owned plot the parties set the rent themselves, and the landlord pays the land tax.

A tenant in good standing has a pre-emptive right to a new term: they notify the landlord in writing within the period set by the contract, or, if none is set, three months before the lease expires. If the landlord does not give a reasoned refusal within a month, the contract is treated as renewed on the same terms. If, after an unjustified refusal, the plot is leased to someone else within a year, the tenant may ask a court to transfer the rights under that contract to them and to award damages. The total term including renewals may not exceed the statutory maximum.

A leased plot may not be sold, gifted or exchanged; the lease right may be pledged only to obtain a loan. Subleasing state land is prohibited, except for agricultural plots for up to a year and for privately owned plots. The rights and obligations under a non-agricultural plot leased at auction may be transferred to another person for no longer than the remaining lease term; and when the right to a building passes, the lease of the plot under it passes to the new owner without the landlord's consent.

A lease right ends on expiry of its term, on liquidation of the legal entity, where the plot is used otherwise than under its principal permitted use, on systematic non-payment of rent, and where the plot has not been used for two years for non-agricultural purposes or for one year for agricultural purposes. Termination for a breach is possible only by a court, on the khokim's claim and after a warning from the supervisory authority; khokimiyats have no power to terminate rights by cancelling the auction protocol.

Privatizing land: buying out the plot under your building

The Law on privatization of non-agricultural land plots (ZRU-728 of 15.11.2021) allows Uzbek citizens and legal entities to buy out a plot they already hold under permanent use, a lease or lifetime inheritable possession, or to buy a vacant plot at auction. Privatization is voluntary and always for a price; the plot and any state buildings on it are privatized together.

The buyout price is set as a multiple of the base land tax rate in force at the time of privatization: for legal entities, 10 base rates per square meter in Tashkent, Nukus and the regional capitals and 5 rates elsewhere (Cabinet of Ministers Resolution No. 71 of 14.02.2022). On top of that come the fee for registering the right and for preparing the topographic plan, charged at 2.200.000 soums per hectare. Payment is due within 10 working days of the notice of a positive decision; no instalment plan is available when buying out your own plot.

Example. A company in Samarkand buys out the 1,000 m² plot under its workshop. The base land tax rate for the Samarkand region is 51.8 million soums per hectare, that is 5,180 soums per square meter. The buyout price comes to 5,180 × 10 × 1,000 = 51.8 million soums, plus 220.000 soums for the topographic plan (0.1 ha) and the registration fee.

The application is filed through a public services center or the Unified Portal; the district branch of the State Cadastre Chamber, the construction department and the environmental authority each check the plot in parallel within 5 working days, after which the system generates a notice with an invoice. Only the boundaries and area recorded in the register may be privatized. The grounds for refusal are an exhaustive list: a court dispute, an attachment or ban over the property, a conflict with the master plan or the permitted use, a decision to expropriate for public needs, false information, and failure to pay on time. Once the reasons have been removed, the application may be re-filed within a month with no further fee. The state warrant confirming ownership is issued within one working day of payment in full and free of state duty, and the right itself arises on registration in the register.

The owner may sell, pledge, contribute the plot to charter capital and lease it out, and may build, rebuild and demolish buildings on it. The results of a privatization are not subject to review, and a privately owned plot may be bought for public needs only with the owner's written consent, under a sale contract with payment in advance. Since 2025 a plot leased at auction may be privatized once its price has been paid in full, provided it complies with the town-planning documentation approved later.

Agricultural land for business

Agricultural land is granted on a lease only: a right to it in any other form is neither recognized nor registered. Since 1 May 2026 a single nationwide system has been in place (UP-68 of 24.04.2026): plots of 3 to 50 ha are put up for online auction, and up to 500 ha for industrial plantations and livestock farming; the starting price is 50 percent of the normative value, and 1 percent for pastures and rainfed land; the payment for the lease right is due in full within 15 working days, the former 3- and 5-year instalment plans having been abolished. The winner must set up a legal entity in the region where the plot is located, or move its registered address there. The lease term at auction is 30 years; tenants of cotton and grain land who voluntarily return half of their area receive the remainder for 49 years.

Foreign investors, including enterprises with foreign investment, have been barred from a direct lease of agricultural land since 1 May 2026; they may not bid at the auctions and may not take a plot over by transfer, and disposing of a stake in the charter fund of a land-holding company to them is prohibited. The route open to them is a sublease of fallow, rainfed and pasture land through a dedicated directorate, with an obligation to bring the land back into use and a payment of at least twice the annual land tax.

Only facilities serving agriculture may be built on agricultural land, under an on-farm land management design and only on non-irrigated land; capital construction without changing the land category is not allowed. The rights under a leased agricultural plot may be transferred to another person only after the tenant has used it themselves for three years, or five years for plots obtained without a sale; since September 2025 part of a plot may also be transferred.

Registration of rights to land and buildings

Rights to land plots, buildings, structures and unfinished construction are registered by the State Cadastre Chamber of the Cadastre Agency under the Law on state registration of rights to real estate (ZRU-803 of 28.11.2022). A right, its transfer, restriction or termination take effect only once the entry has been made in the register; where rights compete, the one registered first prevails. A sequence rule applies: a right to a building is not registered until the right to the plot has been registered, and a transfer of a right is not registered until its creation has been.

Registration takes two working days from the day the documents arrive; if there are deficiencies, the registrar suspends the procedure for three working days. Documents are filed directly or through intermediaries — public services centers, notaries, banks; foreign documents require legalization or an apostille and a notarized translation. The fees are set by Cabinet of Ministers Resolution No. 186 of 10.07.2014: registering a legal entity's right to a non-residential property together with an extract costs 2.200.000 soums, cadastral documents for a plot for non-residential construction 550.000 soums, and a cadastral passport for a non-residential building of up to 100 m² 440.000 soums, rising with the area. Filing through the Unified Portal costs 90 percent of the amount.

The grounds for refusal are listed in the law as a closed set: a court dispute over the right, an attachment or ban, contradictory information, the absence of a cadastral file, an area in the passport exceeding the area in the title document, and non-payment. Where real estate is sold by a foreign legal entity or individual, registration is possible only after the seller has paid corporate income tax or personal income tax on the sale proceeds, except where the seller is a company registered in Uzbekistan. A refusal is appealed to a pre-trial commission (10 working days) or in court.

An unfinished construction project is registered after the right to the plot has been registered, on a certificate from the design organization; construction counts as started once the foundation and the walls of the first floor are complete. Unfinished projects on unlawfully occupied plots, and on auction plots carrying investment obligations, are not registered. Failing to apply in time to register a right to a plot or a building carries a fine of 4.400.000 soums for individuals and 6.600.000 soums for officers. Information on registered rights to any property is available to anyone after identification, within two working days; the cadastral number, address and designated use of a plot are open free of charge on the Cadastre Agency's geoportal.

Payment for land: land tax and rent

Using land is always paid for: owners and users pay land tax, and tenants of state land pay rent, which is equal to the land tax with the same rates, reliefs and deadlines. A non-resident holding a plot is also a taxpayer; where property is leased out, the landlord pays the tax, and under a finance lease it is the lessee.

For non-agricultural land the base is the area of the plot. The base rates per hectare are set by Article 429 of the Tax Code:

Regional councils apply coefficients of 0.5 to 2.0 to the base rates by district and city, and district and city councils coefficients of 0.7 to 3.0 by neighborhood and street; the resulting rates are communicated to taxpayers each year by 10 January. Agricultural land is taxed at 0.95 percent of the normative value of the holding.

Three rules matter while you are building. Plots under unfinished construction are taxed at double the rates, and until construction is complete no reliefs or reducing coefficients apply to them; a project counts as unfinished if it has not been commissioned within the normative period set by its design, or, where no period is set, within 24 months from the month the construction permit was obtained. Where a plot is used without documents, or beyond the area shown in them, the rate is quadrupled. The unfinished building itself is subject to property tax at 3 percent instead of the usual 1.5 percent. Reporting on non-agricultural land is due by 20 January, and the tax is paid monthly by the 10th in one-twelfth shares of the annual amount, while turnover tax payers pay quarterly in one-quarter shares.

This section covers only how payment for land connects to obtaining and building on it. The full rules for calculating land tax and property tax, the reliefs by industry, the reporting and the payment deadlines are set out in the article on property tax and land tax; turn to it when you need to work out the annual payment for a particular plot.

How to build a commercial facility: the permits step by step

The procedure is set by the Town Planning Code (of 22.02.2021) and the single administrative regulations for construction (Cabinet of Ministers Resolution No. 200 of 20.04.2022). All services are handled through public services centers or the Unified Portal, and applications are accepted around the clock.

Step 1. The APA. The client — the owner, the tenant, or a design organization acting on their instructions — obtains the architectural and planning assignment, a pre-design document setting requirements for the exterior, the floor areas, parking, entrances, landscaping and utility routes. One of these has to be attached to the application: the auction protocol, a Cabinet of Ministers decision on an investment project, or a reconstruction permit, together with the technical conditions for connecting to utilities and a 1:500 topographic survey. No APA is needed for lightweight structures of up to 300 m³ or for changing the designation of a building without reconstruction. Designing without an APA is prohibited. For new buildings over 12 m tall or larger than 500 m², landscaping must cover at least 25 percent of the plot. From 1 September 2026 the APA and the related services merge into a single "architectural and town-planning requirement" service, which in settlements with a digitized master plan will be generated automatically.

Step 2. The design and its expert review. The design and cost documentation is drawn up by an organization licensed for architectural and town-planning documentation (category I complexity designs work on a notification basis). Expert review for seismic resistance and fire safety is mandatory; for facilities financed by direct investment, including foreign investment, the cost part needs no review. Review is not required for temporary structures, for individual facilities of up to 300 m³, for category I risk facilities or for current repairs. An opinion takes effect only once it is entered in the single register of expert opinions in the Transparent Construction system. Where the number of floors changes or an extension is added, the design goes through a further review covering the changes.

Step 3. Registering the site with the inspectorate. By law, construction and installation works begin after the client has notified the territorial inspectorate; the regulations frame this as registering the site and issuing a QR permit, which must be displayed on the site. Registration is required for non-residential buildings and structures over 300 m³ whatever the source of funding, and is not required for category I risk facilities, current repairs, temporary structures or stand-alone facilities of up to 300 m² that do not affect the utility networks. The application states the client, the designer and the contractor, the details of the APA, the approvals and the expert review, the value of the works, and the persons responsible for technical, author's and internal supervision with their certificate numbers; attached to it are the construction organization plan and the works execution plan, a contract with a construction laboratory and the client's order approving the design. A refusal is allowed only with a reference to a specific rule; refusal "as inexpedient" is prohibited. Building without registration is prohibited, and the number of floors may not be increased without a further expert review.

Step 4. Construction. Other than construction companies, a client may not build in-house, without a works contract, any facility of more than two floors, taller than 12 m or larger than 500 m². The contractor is a legal entity holding a license for those works that are licensed; general construction works need no license. On completion the contractor issues the client a declaration that the works conform to the design.

Step 5. Acceptance and commissioning — see the section on commissioning below.

When permits are not needed

The "small facility" threshold runs through all the regulations: a non-residential building or structure of up to 300 m³, and an individual dwelling of up to two floors, up to 12 m tall and up to 500 m² in area. Such facilities need no registration of the site with the inspectorate and no mandatory expert review, and the commissioning permit is issued by the district construction department in 4 working days. Outbuildings — garages, canopies, lightweight warehouses, greenhouses — do not count towards the 500 m². Converting premises from residential to non-residential without reconstruction requires neither an APA nor site registration, but does require a permit from the district construction department.

Special approvals

Buildings within 46 km of an aerodrome reference point, and any facility 50 m tall or higher, need a permit from Uzaviatsiya (a fee of 10.120.000 soums per facility, 15 days). The power supply design for a facility drawing more than 20 kW is approved by the state energy inspectorate within 5 working days. Roadside filling stations, access roads and facilities along highways are approved by the road safety service (10 working days). Hazardous production facilities need a positive industrial safety expert opinion before the site can be registered.

This section covers only the permits for the facility itself. Who in construction needs a license, which works run on a notification basis, what a design license costs (33.000.000 soums) and what operating without one entails are set out in the article on licenses and permits: useful if you are choosing a contractor or planning to do the design work yourself.

Risk categories and construction supervision

Facilities fall into four categories by hazard factor (the Law on ensuring seismic safety, ZRU-713 of 13.09.2021). Category I is a low factor: temporary pavilions, kiosks, warehouses, hangars, cold stores for farm produce. Category II is medium: buildings of up to three floors, garages, service stations, cafés and shops, gyms, farms, and the manufacture of furniture, confectionery and beverages. Category III is high: shopping centers, supermarkets, restaurants, covered markets, hotels of 3 to 12 floors, filling stations, business centers, banks, cinemas of up to 1,000 seats, and machine-building and textile plants. Category IV is very high: buildings above 12 floors, halls of more than 1,000 seats, covered stadiums, oil and gas, chemical and metallurgical facilities and power plants. The category determines the requirements for expert review, for specialists' certificates and for the contractor's rating: organizations rated "DDD" may build no higher than five floors and those rated "C" no higher than nine; category IV facilities are designed by organizations rated "C" or above and built by contractors rated "CC" or above. New category III and IV facilities undergo mandatory instrumental testing on commissioning.

Every site carries four kinds of supervision: state, technical, author's and internal. Technical supervision is carried out by a certified specialist of the client or by an engaged organization, author's supervision by the designer under a contract covering the whole construction period, and internal supervision by the contractor with its own laboratory; since 1 January 2024 all of them must hold a certificate. Both forms of oversight take part in signing off hidden works, keep logs and may suspend works where the reliability of structures is at risk. On completion, technical supervision issues an opinion on the quality of the works and author's supervision an opinion on conformity with the design.

State supervision is exercised by the Inspectorate for construction and utilities supervision and its territorial inspectorates. The supervision is selective; the inspectorate issues orders with a compliance deadline of up to 60 days, suspends works where structural breaches affect seismic resistance and, where permit procedures are ignored and two orders go unfulfilled, applies to a court for demolition. An enterprise's operations may be suspended only by a court, except where there is a threat to life, and then for up to 10 working days. From 1 September 2026, video surveillance cameras become mandatory on apartment blocks, hotels, retail, tourism and industrial facilities and category III and IV facilities built by businesses, and as-built documentation is kept in electronic form only. From 1 July 2026 parallel design and construction was abolished for new facilities; for facilities financed from own funds and from direct foreign investment, a pilot scheme of staged expert review and registration on a schedule has been introduced.

Commissioning and registering the completed building

The completed facility is accepted by the client once it is fully ready per the design and the as-built documentation, the contractor's declaration and the opinions of technical and author's supervision are in place; the handover certificate is signed by the contractor and the client. A state acceptance commission of the Cabinet of Ministers is set up only for facilities of state importance and those involving state secrets. The contractor notifies the client that the facility is ready, and the client files the application through a public services center the same day; within 10 working days the approving authorities visit the site to check that the works match the design, the connections to utilities, the equipment tests, fire and sanitary safety and the lifts, and issue QR opinions; no fee is charged for this service.

Commissioning is formalized by a permit from the territorial inspectorate, issued within 4 working days of a site inspection covering compliance with the town-planning documentation, the strength of the structures, accessibility for people with disabilities, energy efficiency and the as-built topographic survey. The date of the permit is the date of commissioning; using the facility without the handover certificate and the permit is not allowed. Sections and blocks may be commissioned in stages if the design provides for it and the part being commissioned is fully complete, connected and landscaped. The permit is sent to the registrar automatically: on a single form the cadastral passport, the commissioning permit and the extract registering the right to the building are issued together, and the registrar completes this in 1 working day. The commissioning permit is the basis for state registration of ownership of the building. The client is responsible for commissioning on time; breaching the acceptance rules carries a fine of 30.800.000 soums for individuals and 66.000.000 soums for officers.

Expropriation of land for public needs and demolition

The expropriation of plots held under a right of use or a lease is governed by the Law on the procedures for expropriating land plots for public needs with compensation (ZRU-781 of 29.06.2022). The list of public needs is exhaustive: defense and security, protected natural areas and SEZs, international treaties, mineral extraction, the construction of roads, airports, railways, bridges, the metro, power and communication lines, trunk pipelines and networks, master plans — but only as regards facilities financed from the budget, and buildings of state education, healthcare and culture institutions under state programs. Treating expropriation for any other purpose as a public need is prohibited, and expropriation is possible only where no other suitable plot is available.

The decision is taken by the council of people's deputies of the region or of Tashkent by a two-thirds vote after an open discussion with the rights holders, who are invited in writing at least 7 days in advance and whose meeting is valid if two thirds of them attend. An initiative that is rejected may not be resubmitted for five years. A decision to expropriate is not a ground for demolition: the khokimiyat then concludes a notarized agreement with the rights holder on the amount, form and timing of compensation, and until it is signed the property may not be cut off from water, electricity, gas and communications, nor access to it blocked.

Compensation covers the market value of the buildings, the market value of the right to the plot and of perennial plantings, the costs of moving and of temporary rent, lost profit until operations are restored but for no more than a year, and a one-off payment of 5 percent of the market value of the property for the inconvenience. The valuation is made by a valuation organization as at the position before the expropriation procedures began. In place of a non-residential property a business receives, at its choice, an equivalent non-residential property of no smaller an area, or money; monetary compensation is paid within one month and a replacement property handed over within 24 months, with temporary premises provided in the meantime and a penalty of 0.05 percent a day for delay. The property has to be vacated within six months of compensation being paid in full; demolition before full compensation is not allowed, and the owner is notified of demolition in writing at least six months in advance. Disputes over the amount of compensation go first to a compensation commission, which has three working days, and then to court; the council's decision is challenged in court.

This law does not touch a privately owned plot: buying one out for the same needs is possible only under a sale contract with the owner's written consent and with payment in advance. On 12 December 2026 the Law on urban renovation (ZRU-1149 of 10.06.2026) enters into force: a renovation concept is included in a program with the notarized consent of at least four fifths of the rights holders of each property, privatized plots are included only through a negotiated buyout, and compensation takes account of two years of lost profit.

Liability: unauthorized occupation, unauthorized construction and misuse

Unlawfully occupied plots are recovered without reimbursing the occupier's costs, and anything built is demolished at their expense by decision of the khokim or a court. No right of ownership can be established over an unlawfully occupied plot, or over any building on agricultural land not allotted for construction; such persons are not treated as acting in good faith, and connecting unlawful facilities to water, electricity, heat and gas is prohibited. A claim to recover a state plot and demolish a building on it is heard by the court within 20 days, and a settlement is not allowed in such cases.

A first-time occupier is spared imprisonment if within 30 days they return the plot and remedy the consequences. Since 1 January 2026 misuse, unlawful occupation and unauthorized construction have been detected solely through the E-YER NAZORAT system of the Cadastre Agency, with satellite monitoring twice a year; anyone can also use it to request a check on the lawfulness of construction started next door.

Old breaches are covered by the Law on recognizing rights to unlawfully occupied land plots (ZRU-937 of 05.08.2024): businesses located in small industrial zones before 9 March 2020, and holders of plots occupied in excess before 1 May 2018 for non-residential buildings, may obtain a 49-year lease right and ownership of what has been built, provided there is no dispute, no tax debt and no ban on construction at that location. The regional council decides within three months, and once registered such a plot may be privatized.

What changed in 2024–2026

• From 10 September 2024 UP-135 of 06.09.2024 introduced a single instalment scheme for buying land and lease rights (from 1 year in Tashkent to 10 years in remote districts), a 20 percent discount for paying within 15 working days, mandatory construction deadlines of 2 to 5 years, and permitted use types from 1 January 2025.
• From 8 November 2024 ZRU-937 of 05.08.2024 on recognizing rights to unlawfully occupied plots has been in force, including for businesses in small industrial zones.
• From 6 March 2025 UP-41 of 04.03.2025 established direct leases of land in SEZs for up to 49 years and an auction procedure in industrial zones with a lease term of at least 10 years.
• From 22 April 2025 UP-70 of 21.04.2025 allowed a plot leased at auction to be privatized once paid for in full, and guaranteed that privatization results will not be reviewed.
• From 12 September 2025 UP-172 made the lease the only form of right to agricultural land, abolished instalments for it and allowed the price of a lease right for a large project to be paid by contribution to the charter fund.
• From 1 January 2026 land supervision is carried out solely through E-YER NAZORAT (PP-287 of 18.09.2025).
• From 1 May 2026 UP-68 of 24.04.2026 extended agricultural land auctions to the whole country with a starting price of 50 percent of the normative value, and barred foreign investors from direct leases, from bidding and from taking such land over by transfer.
• From 5 June 2026 UP-104 of 04.06.2026 abolished parallel design and construction as of 1 July, and from 1 September 2026 introduces the single automatic architectural and town-planning requirement service and mandatory cameras on construction sites.
• On 12 December 2026 the Law on urban renovation (ZRU-1149 of 10.06.2026) enters into force, with a four-fifths consent threshold among rights holders.

Frequently asked questions

Can a foreign company buy land in Uzbekistan?

No. Foreign legal entities, foreign citizens and enterprises with foreign investment may hold land only under a lease for up to 25 years, and for large projects of USD 10 million and above by a Cabinet of Ministers resolution, paying for the lease right at market valuation. Such a company may buy a building at a public sale, but the land under it remains state-owned and is formalized as a lease. The only route to owning land is a company with no foreign participation in its charter fund.

How much does it cost to buy out the land under your own building?

For Uzbek legal entities it is 10 base land tax rates per square meter in Tashkent, Nukus and the regional capitals and 5 rates in other settlements, plus registration and the topographic plan (2.200.000 soums per hectare). In zone 3 of Tashkent the base rate of 196.6 million soums per hectare works out at 196,600 soums per square meter, that is 196.6 million soums for a 1,000 m² plot. Payment is due within 10 working days of a positive decision, and the warrant is issued the next working day.

Do I need a construction permit for a warehouse or a pavilion?

It depends on the volume. A non-residential facility of up to 300 m³ counts as small: it needs no APA (if it is a lightweight structure), no registration of the site with the inspectorate and no mandatory expert review, and the district construction department issues the commissioning permit in 4 working days. A facility of more than 300 m³ goes through the full chain: the APA, approval of the design, expert review for seismic resistance and fire safety, registration with the inspectorate and acceptance. Temporary structures for seasonal work and category I risk facilities need no registration, but the plot must have a suitable permitted use.

What happens if the facility is not built on time?

For plots allotted after 10 September 2024 the deadline for commissioning is 2 to 5 years depending on the area. If it is missed, the khokimiyat is obliged to go to court to cancel the right and put the plot back up for auction; the former holder is refunded what they paid, capped at the proceeds of the re-sale less its costs, and pays for the demolition themselves. On top of that, land tax on a plot under an unfinished building is charged at double the rate with no reliefs, and the unfinished building itself is subject to property tax at 3 percent.

How can I check who owns a land plot?

The cadastral number, address and designated use of any plot are open free of charge on the Cadastre Agency's geoportal. Information on registered rights and encumbrances is issued by the State Cadastre Chamber to anyone after identification, within two working days, in the form of an extract; copies of title documents go only to the rights holder. A certificate showing who holds a property and what buildings it comprises is issued in real time with a QR code for 22.000 soums.

Can a land lease right be transferred to another company?

Yes, but with limits. The rights and obligations under a non-agricultural plot leased at auction may be transferred to another person for no longer than the remaining lease term, the construction deadlines carrying over; and when a building is sold, the lease of the plot under it passes to the buyer automatically. The lease right itself may not be sold, gifted or exchanged, and may be pledged only to secure a loan. For agricultural plots a transfer is possible after three years of use by the tenant (five years for plots obtained without a sale) and is prohibited in favor of foreign persons.