Countries › Chile › Guide › 11. Real estate and land › Rural land in Chile: the 0.5 hectare minimum lot (DL Nº 3.516), the ban on urban use of subdivided farmland, access roads, exceptions, fines of 200 percent and nullity

Rural land in Chile: the 0.5 hectare minimum lot (DL Nº 3.516), the ban on urban use of subdivided farmland, access roads, exceptions, fines of 200 percent and nullity

Last verified: 2026-10-26 · Status: Stable

Farm, livestock and forestry land outside urban limits can be freely divided only into lots of at least 0.5 hectares, and the resulting lots keep a ban on changing to urban or residential use beyond what LGUC art. 55 allows. Every lot must have access to a public space or a land reform road, and notaries and registrars must refuse deeds that breach the rules. Breaches, including disguised ones through communities, condominiums or leases, are fined 200 percent of the plot's assessment and the contracts are void.

USD figures use the Central Bank exchange rate of CLP 986.58 per US dollar published in the Diario Oficial for 23 October 2026 (CVE 2891564). UF figures use the SII value of CLP 41,221.08 for 26 October 2026, UTM figures the October 2026 value of CLP 72,151 and UTA figures the December 2025 value of CLP 834,504. Conversions are for orientation only.

Key facts

Minimum lot size when dividing rural land	0.5 haDL Nº 3.516 art. 1, as of 2026-10-26 · in force
Fine for breaching rural subdivision rules	200 % of fiscal assessmentDL Nº 3.516 art. 2, as of 2026-10-26 · in force
Family home lot exception size	500 to 1,000 m2DL Nº 3.516 art. 1 letter j), as of 2026-10-26 · in force

The rule

1. Rural plots (land with agricultural, livestock or forestry aptitude outside urban limits or outside the intercommunal plans of Santiago and Valparaíso and the metropolitan plan of Concepción) may be divided freely by their owners if the resulting lots are at least 0.5 physical hectares. Exceptions include divisions by the SAG and Ministry of Agriculture, regularisation of small property under DL Nº 2.695, Ministry of Public Works projects, divisions under LGUC art. 55, annexing strips to a neighbouring plot, transfers to non profit entities, the State, municipalities, regional governments, community organisations and unions, and a one time transfer of a 500 to 1,000 square metre lot to a parent or child to build a home (only for plots not themselves created by a subdivision and assessed at up to 1,000 UF, with a five year ban on resale).
Cost to do it: 1,000 UF, the assessment cap for the family lot exception, is about CLP 41,221,080 (about US$41,782).Decreto Ley Nº 3.516 of 1980, Establece normas sobre división de predios rústicos (Diario Oficial 1 December 1980), Art. 1, first and second paragraphs, 1980-12-01 official text · verified 2026-10-26

2. Lots resulting from a subdivision must have access to a public space or to a road from the agrarian reform parcelling; common roads inside a rural community, whether easements or road lots, must be maintained pro rata by the owners. Unless otherwise agreed, road lots or transit easements shown on the SAG certified subdivision plans create a right of way under art. 881 of the Civil Code, which must be registered in the Conservador. The resulting lots are subject to the ban on changing their use set in LGUC art. 55 and 56. Notaries may not authorise and registrars may not register deeds that do not comply.Decreto Ley Nº 3.516 of 1980, as amended by Ley Nº 21.458 (Diario Oficial 20 July 2022), Art. 1, fourth to final paragraphs, 2022-07-20 official text · verified 2026-10-26 · changed: Ley Nº 21.458 of 20 July 2022 added the access requirement, pro rata maintenance of common roads and deemed rights of way.

3. Anyone who breaches the decree, even through communities, condominiums, leases or any other form whose result is to use the plots for urban or residential purposes, is fined 200 percent of the fiscal assessment of the divided plot at the time of payment, doubled on a repeat offence, and for building breaches the local police judge orders the works stopped or demolished at the offender's cost. Acts and contracts in breach are absolutely void; the regional housing and agriculture authorities and municipalities supervise, and the Consejo de Defensa del Estado brings the nullity actions.
Cost to do it: Fine of 200 percent of the plot's assessment: on a plot assessed at CLP 100,000,000, CLP 200,000,000 (US$202,721).Decreto Ley Nº 3.516 of 1980, Art. 2 and art. 3, 1980-12-01 official text · verified 2026-10-26

Worked example

A buyer is offered a 5,000 square metre 'parcela' carved out of a farm near Santiago's rural area, with a shared access road. The lot meets the 0.5 hectare minimum, but building a second home or selling shares to build a housing community would be an urban use that DL Nº 3.516 and LGUC art. 55 prohibit; the plan should show the SAG certification and a registered right of way.

Step by step

Ask for the SAG certified subdivision plan and the registration of the right of way.
Check that the lot is at least 0.5 hectares and has access to a public space or land reform road.
Confirm with the municipality and regional housing secretariat what may be built (LGUC art. 55).
Check water rights separately (see real-estate/water-rights).

Common traps

Shares in a rural lot sold as a de facto housing community can be void and fined at 200 percent of the assessment.
The family lot exception is one time, for parents or children only, and carries a five year resale ban.
Buying rural land does not include water rights unless they are transferred and registered too.

Sources

← Zoning and building permits in Chile: municipal works permits, review deadlines and silence, municipal fees, independent reviewers, final reception, permit expiry and building outside urban limitsIndigenous land in Chile (Ley Nº 19.253): what counts as indigenous land, the ban on sale to non indigenous buyers, leases of up to five years, the CONADI registry, land bought by the land fund and consultation under ILO Convention 169 →