Guaranteeing Property Handover in Hungary

One of the most common concerns buyers raise with us is this: once I pay the full purchase price, what actually guarantees the seller will hand over the property on time? The honest answer is that no mechanism is foolproof — but the risk can be minimised significantly with the right contractual tools.

Tool 1: Contractual delay penalty (késedelmi kötbér)

The purchase agreement should set a firm handover deadline for the seller, with a daily delay penalty payable for every day the seller fails to meet it.

The penalty should be set at a level that genuinely incentivises performance — not a token sum. As a benchmark, for a property worth HUF 30 million, a minimum daily penalty of HUF 15,000 is typical, accruing from the day after the missed deadline until the day the keys are actually handed over. A well-drafted clause removes any incentive for the seller to drag their feet.

Tool 2: Notarised eviction declaration (kiköltözési nyilatkozat)

An increasingly standard protection in Hungarian real estate practice is the notarised eviction declaration. In this arrangement, the seller signs a declaration before a notary, undertaking to vacate and hand over the property in the manner and by the date specified in the purchase agreement.

The key advantage: because it is executed before a notary, the declaration is immediately enforceable — if the seller fails to vacate, the buyer can proceed directly to enforcement without first having to bring a court action. This avoids a court process that can take several months.

In practice, serious defaults are rare

In our experience, deliberate refusal to hand over a property is uncommon. The delays we encounter in practice are typically a matter of days or a few weeks — moving complications, renovation overruns, or delayed alternative accommodation. A well-drafted agreement with clear obligations on both sides is usually sufficient to keep the process on track.

That said, the cost of including a delay penalty clause and requesting a notarised eviction declaration is negligible compared with the protection they provide. We include both as standard in the purchase agreements we draft.

If you are buying property in Hungary and want to make sure your interests are properly protected at handover, contact our firm — we will structure the agreement so that the seller has every incentive to hand over on time.