A PT PMA can hold land in Indonesia, in the sense that matters, and the right it holds is called Hak Guna Bangunan. Most explanations stop at that sentence, which leaves out the part that actually decides whether a transaction works: the land has to change status before the company can be granted anything, and the step that makes that happen is done by the seller rather than the buyer.
What HGB actually is
Hak Guna Bangunan is the right to construct and own buildings on a plot of land that belongs to the state. It is a registered title, it appears on a certificate issued by the Land Office, it can be mortgaged, sold, inherited and used as security, and it is granted to Indonesian citizens and to legal entities established under Indonesian law. A PT PMA qualifies as the latter, whatever the nationality of its shareholders.
What it is not is freehold. Hak Milik, the closest Indonesian equivalent, is available only to Indonesian individuals and to a short list of legal entities that does not include a PT PMA. So the accurate description is that a foreign-owned company holds a strong, registered, time-limited right over the land rather than the land itself, and an agent describing an HGB as ownership is being loose with the word.
How the land gets there
This is the step that most explanations skip, and it is the one that catches people out, because the seller has to do something that a normal sale does not require.
Almost all land in Bali that a buyer would want is held by an Indonesian individual under Hak Milik. A PT PMA cannot be granted HGB directly over somebody’s Hak Milik as part of an acquisition. What happens instead is that the owner executes a release of rights, a pelepasan hak, before a notary, the Camat or the Head of the local Land Office, stating that the release is made so that the company can apply for new rights, and recording the compensation being paid. Once that is done the Hak Milik is extinguished and the plot becomes state land under the authority of ATR/BPN.
The same shape applies when the seller already holds an HGB rather than Hak Milik. The existing right is released, the plot returns to state land, and the company applies for a new grant in its own name, which starts its own term rather than continuing whatever was left of the seller’s.
The company then applies to the Land Office in its own name for HGB over that state land, supported by its corporate documents and its intended use of the plot. The grant is a decision of the Land Office rather than a transfer between two private parties, which is why the seller’s cooperation is needed all the way through to registration and why the sequence of the deeds matters as much as their contents.
The term
Once the HGB is granted over state land, Pasal 37 of PP 18/2021 sets the terms, and they run in three stages.
| Stage | Maximum | How it happens |
|---|---|---|
| Initial grant | 30 years | Decision of the Land Office on the company’s application |
| Extension | A further 20 years | Applied for before expiry, against the conditions attached to the grant |
| Renewal | A further 30 years | A fresh grant once the extended term has run |
That is where the figure of eighty years comes from, and it is a real statutory path rather than a private promise, which is the important difference between an HGB and a long lease.
What has to sit behind the company
The HGB is held by the PT PMA, so the PT PMA has to be a functioning company. That means a business classification consistent with what the land is used for, paid-up capital satisfying the requirement that applies to a PT PMA, a NIB and whatever licensing the risk level of that classification requires, quarterly LKPM reporting, and tax registration and filing. Property and accommodation classifications changed in 2025, which we covered in our note on the KBLI changes, and the code on the NIB should describe what the business genuinely does.
None of that is unusual for an operating company. It is worth having in order because the certificate is held by the company rather than by its shareholders, so the company’s standing and the land right travel together.
What to look at before signing
Read the certificate rather than accepting a summary of it. Check that the registered area matches the physical plot and that the zoning permits what is being built, since a plot inside a protected agricultural designation will not carry a villa whatever the certificate says.
If the land is still Hak Milik, treat the release as the central event of the transaction rather than a formality at the end of it. Establish who is releasing, that they have the authority to do so, that any heirs or co-owners are accounted for, and how the payment is staged against the release and the subsequent grant. Then look at the company that will hold the result, because a PT PMA with the wrong classification, unpaid capital or no filing history is a weaker holder of the same right, and those things are far easier to fix before the transaction than afterwards.
Correct at the date of publication. Terms are certificate-specific and should be read against the deed. See also why a PT PMA can hold land with full foreign shareholding, or know more about property.