About Slovenia.

A few guidance notes on buying Slovenian property
and other matters under various headings.

Bled and Bohinj

Clients are writing to us in very large numbers asking for property in these two locations. This is understandable. Clearly there are not enough properties available and you must remember that these are not highly populated areas and correspondingly there are not many properties available. For many of you - your search will be fruitless or very expensive.

Property in general

Please try to understand that this is a really tiny country with barely two million inhabitants. (There are 62 million people in the UK.) Consequently there are a lot less houses available to buy because there isn't the housing stock in the first place. We will always try to help, but asking us for a particular type of property in a particular location doesn't really help. On our web pages we have listed the properties that we actually have available. There isn't much more that we can do.

That said, we think that prices in Slovenia are set to rise significantly as the supply of small properties to renovate will quickly disappear because there is currently great demand and pressure to buy them.

Registration

Before you can buy property you need to visit the local authority and obtain a tax number. Some of the banks will also ask for this tax registration number before they will open an account for you. You just need your passport and have to complete a few forms. Language is a real barrier here, and you may well need help from a friend or agent.

Banks

We have found Slovenian banks to be friendly and helpful. Many of the staff speak German or English so our discussions have usually been straightforward. We were quite amazed that our bank was able to open an account and then print off all the terms and conditions in English within about half an hour.

We were even more amazed when they set up the account in several different currencies. We can hold Dollars, Sterling, and Euros quite separately and move between currencies as required.

We use SKB BANKA D.D. - part of Societé Générale Group

The Euro was introduced on 1st January 2007.

The banking system is modern with cash points everywhere and your bank will offer you a debit card (chip and pin ) to pay your local accounts

We understand from some of our banking contacts that mortgages to foreigners are now possible. This is not widespread but there is an improving chance that we can arrange it. It must get easier with the coming of the euro.

Border controls

Since becoming E E C members, the border controls have been significantly reduced. Travel is now completely unrestricted between Austria, Italy and Slovenia. The borders are no longer manned.

Notaries

Slovenian Notaries seem to offer an efficient service. We have been present on several occasions when contracts were signed. The sale contracts have been very straightforward, and the land registry appears to be functioning well. The law in Slovenia requires an official court translator to be present in order to ensure that the purchaser fully understands the contract. You pay the translator in cash in the day. ( About £25 ). You also pay the Notary on the day and this has usually been quite a modest amount in the region of £200. Sometimes the vendor pays and sometimes the purchaser. It seems to vary.

Tax

The vendor pays a government tax of 2% - a sort of "Stamp duty" - and if you buy a property and re-sell within ten years then you not only pay the 2% tax as normal but from 1st January 2005 you are eligible for capital gains tax on the gain. This depends, of course, on the tax regime in the country where you are tax resident and you should seek advice on the matter.

Estate agents

Estate agents fees are controlled by law and the permitted figure is a maximum of 4%. The usual practise is that the vendor pays 2% and the buyer pays 2%. Be aware of this as it is different to the UK. Make absolutely sure that the agent you are dealing with is properly licensed. The Slovenian authorities have tightened this up recently but you should still make sure.

Language

The Slovenian language is very difficult. We speak English French and German which is absolutely no help at all. Not a single word is recognisable and it is very difficult without a friend to translate. However, English is widely taught in schools and many people speak German because they have been welcoming German speaking tourists for many years. As the population of the whole country in only about 2 million, we think that the language is probably not worth learning apart from a few words of greeting or thanks unless you are planning to live there full time in which case it would be essential.

Business

We now have several years experience of dealing with various business matters in Slovenia. On the whole we find the Slovenians friendly and charming and the country as a whole is a delight. However, they are a very young democracy and an even younger member of the EU. Our experience is that their administration is lengthy and tedious. Their laws are complex and not very friendly. Their court procedures take ages, and the language is very difficult to learn. Examples of the sort of problems encountered are

One client now lives there permanently. He bought a brand new minibus. It sat in his drive for months because no-one in the local authority knew how to register a car to a foreigner.
Foreigners cannot easily borrow from Slovenian banks. Mortgages are still difficult although getting easier.
It has taken us three years to resolve a probate matter through the court in Ljubljana. There was no dispute between the parties, the inheritance was quite clear, but the court administration is a complete catastrophe. Goodness help you if you become embroiled in any legal process.
A member of our family bought a holiday cottage to rent out. We asked the tourist board if we could advertise in their brochure. This was their reply...

"According to Slovenian tourism law, you must rate your cottage from 1 to 4 stars if you want to offer it for tourism purpose. Otherwise it is not possible to advertise at all, it is forbiden because it is black market. You have to registrate your bussiness in Slovenia if you want to earn money here. Sorry, it is unfair competition in your case. "

Well thanks a bundle !! They should manage to polish off any initiative very quickly and actually stifle the growth of tourism. It sure won't grow with that sort of attitude. They are supposed to develop business within the EU.

Read the following article published by the World Bank . .

http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/COUNTRIES/ECAEXT/0,,contentMDK:21042430~
pagePK:146736~piPK:146830~theSitePK:258599,00.html

Three years nine months to deal with a court case??

So don't take things for granted !!

Essentially, we consider it far too early to contemplate starting a business in Slovenia. Wait a while ! Do it after you have fully researched what you are planning to do.

Tedious things

Should you be buying agricultural land, or land within a national park or protected area, you may well have to post a statutory 28 day notice of your intentions. This can delay your completion date as some of these notices have to be posted successively. Farmers have the right to buy agricultural land ahead of anyone else and a statutory notice to that effect also has to be displayed.

Useful link

The following website has a number of useful topics on Slovenia and other countries

http://europa.eu.int/eures/main.jsp?catId=7286&acro=living&lang=en&parentId=7250&countryId=SI