Under Hak Pakai foreigners can lease land for a period of 25 years. They have the right to extend this another 25 years and then again for another 20 years. The new proposal was to extend this total 70 years to 90 years. Recently it has been announced that the original proposal has been watered down and is not to extend the term but simply to make it easier to renew the lease so that at the end of the first 25 years it will be possible to carry out both the 25 year and the 20 year extensions at the same time. Reports are confused. In the meantime the existing law is very clear and is enshrined in the constitution and the Agrarian law of 1960. Foreigners cannot own land in Indonesia.
As it happens there are many expatriates living on the island that do not want it to become easier for foreigners to buy land. They do not want the right of freehold title (Hak Milik) to be available to foreigners. The reason is quite simple, they love this island and its people and that is why they chose to live here. They see that the huge influx of people from overseas with large amounts of money that are building and buying villas are unwittingly destroying everything that is attractive about this place. The streets are being overtaken by bland architecture and the beautiful nature of this place and its people are becoming part of the global homogeneity.
The Balinese have rules that insist that all new buildings have elements of Balinese design in them. Sadly many new buildings simply do not honor this simple request from our hosts, a little present to an official, a blind eye is turned and the law is flouted. If the destruction of Balinese culture in the daily life of the island is not bad enough a far more serious threat is insinuating itself on these people.
The cost of land is spiraling out of control. Of course the capitalist system dictates that prices find their own level, if people are willing to pay then prices will increase. But, in an ever increasingly globalized world, what of the local people? They are suddenly having to compete with foreigners who think nothing of spending $300,000 on a house sitting on three or four are of land (an are is 100 square meters). Just to put this into perspective $300,000 is around Rp2,850,000,000 which to an Indonesian earning Rp2 million a month represents their full pay for a trifling 118 years!
The price of land is now getting beyond the reach of most Balinese. Sadly the high prices tempt them to sell their land not realizing that they will probably never be able to buy it back. In Balinese culture land belongs to the family and is passed on from generation to generation. Each generation are only the custodians of land.
Naturally land prices vary according to where the land is but as a rule of thumb prices that people may expect to pay at the moment are as follows: In outlying village areas land can still be bought for around Rp25 million an are (100 square metres). In developing areas of Canggu, and the Bukit around 170 to 190 million an are. Sanur tends to be more expensive at 180 million on the West side of the bypass to 210 million on the Eastern side while Jimbaran tends to be probably around 300 million per are. At Candi Dasa land costs around 90 million an are, around Lovina 50 million per are. As soon as you get near the beach or have sea views prices increase markedly rising to 400 million an are.