Countries › Paraguay › Guide › 11. Real estate and land › Subdividing land, selling lots on instalments and developing housing in Paraguay: municipal approval, land contributions, buyer protections and permits

Subdividing land, selling lots on instalments and developing housing in Paraguay: municipal approval, land contributions, buyer protections and permits

Last verified: 2026-10-28 · Status: Stable

Any split of a property into two or more parts, even among heirs, needs municipal approval under the Ley Orgánica Municipal: provisional approval within 30 days, 30 days for the owner's works, and automatic approval if the municipal council is silent for 15 days, with 5 to 7 percent of tracts over 2 to 3 hectares given free to the municipality and a 360 square metre minimum urban lot. Instalment lot sales must be registered, which freezes the lot, entitles the buyer to title after paying 25 percent and bars rescission until more than ten instalments are late. Housing estates need 25 to 30 percent free space, flats' boletos must be registered within 30 days, urbanizations need an environmental license (tacitly approved after 90 days), and real estate firms carry AML duties.

USD figures use PYG 5,868.31 per US dollar, the Banco Central del Paraguay reference quotation in the planilla for Wednesday 28 October 2026, https://www.bcp.gov.py/webapps/web/cotizacion/monedas. Conversions are for orientation only.

Key facts

Minimum urban lot size	360 m2Ley 3966/2010 art. 227, as of 2026-10-28 · in force
Maximum built area of an urban lot	75 %Ley 3966/2010 art. 228, as of 2026-10-28 · in force
Free land to the municipality for squares or public buildings, tracts of 2 ha or more	5 %Ley 3966/2010 art. 247, as of 2026-10-28 · in force
Free land to the municipality for squares or public buildings, tracts of 3 ha or more	7 %Ley 3966/2010 art. 247, as of 2026-10-28 · in force
Deadline for provisional municipal approval of a subdivision	30 daysLey 3966/2010 art. 245 a, as of 2026-10-28 · in force
Junta Municipal deadline before automatic approval	15 daysLey 3966/2010 art. 245 b and c, as of 2026-10-28 · in force
Share of price after which an instalment lot buyer can demand title	25 %Ley 3966/2010 art. 255 b, as of 2026-10-28 · in force
Overdue instalments needed before the seller may rescind	10 instalments (more than)Ley 3966/2010 art. 255 c, as of 2026-10-28 · in force
Time for the seller to register sale contracts of flats	30 daysLey 3966/2010 art. 266, as of 2026-10-28 · in force
Environmental assessment approved if no declaration within	90 daysLey 294/1993 art. 10, as of 2026-10-28 · in force

The rule

1. Every subdivision needs municipal approval. Any division of a property into two or more parts is a loteamiento (also called fraccionamiento or parcelamiento), whoever does it, including divisions on inheritance or partition of a co ownership and splits made to annex part of a property to another; every one must be approved by the municipality before it is carried out. The application to the Intendencia must include an authenticated copy of title (signed by all co owners), a registry certificate of ownership conditions (with the mortgagee's consent if mortgaged; no approval if the property is attached or registered as in litigation), proof that the last property tax instalment is paid, a descriptive report by a surveyor licensed in the municipality with cadastral and registry data, areas and boundaries of every lot, street, square and public building plot, and a subdivision plan signed by the same professional. An environmental impact study is also required where Ley 294/1993 requires it, and a judicial survey (mensura judicial) where boundaries are unclear. Projects must follow the municipality's urban plan and street layout.
Cost to do it: Surveyor and plan costs are market priced; the municipal subdivision tax is set by the municipal tax laws and ordinances and was not verified.
Example: An heir who receives half of a family plot by partition still needs municipal subdivision approval before the half can be registered and sold as a separate lot. / A foreign developer buying 10 ha to subdivide must budget for the surveyor's report and plan, the environmental study where required, and the municipal subdivision tax before any lot can be sold.Ley Nº 3966/2010 Orgánica Municipal, Título Décimo, Capítulo IV (De los Loteamientos), Art. 239 to 244, 2010-02-08 official text · verified 2026-10-28

2. Approval timeline and the land given to the municipality. Once all requirements are met, the Intendencia must approve provisionally, by reasoned resolution, within 30 days. The owner then has 30 days to mark and stake each lot, carry out required drainage works, open and clear streets, squares and public building plots, level street grades, transfer and register the public plots to the municipality and pay the subdivision tax. The Junta Municipal must then rule within 15 days of receiving the file; if it does not, the subdivision is approved automatically, and the Intendencia must certify this on request. On properties of 2 hectares or more the owner must also give the municipality free of charge 5 percent of the land for squares or public buildings (7 percent at 3 hectares or more), besides the streets. Minimum urban lot size is 360 square metres (municipalities may set more by ordinance, and less only for social housing or settlements predating the law); built area may not exceed 75 percent of the lot; avenues must be at least 32 m and streets 16 m wide including sidewalks; and subdivisions next to national or international roads need an internal street parallel to the road.
Cost to do it: The free land contribution is a real cost: 5 or 7 percent of the land plus the street area. Transfer and registration costs of the public plots are the developer's.
Example: A 10 ha tract (100,000 m2) must give at least 7,000 m2 to the municipality for squares or public buildings, besides the streets; at PYG 176,049 per m2 of raw land that is PYG 1,232,345,100 of land. / At US$30 per m2, the 7 percent contribution on 10 ha is worth US$210,000, and the minimum 360 m2 lot caps density at 27 lots per hectare before streets and public plots are deducted.Ley Nº 3966/2010 Orgánica Municipal, Art. 227, 228, 229, 245, 246, 247 and 248, 2010-02-08 official text · verified 2026-10-28

3. Selling lots in instalments. A developer who will sell lots on instalments must register in the Dirección General de los Registros Públicos the final municipal approval (as a marginal note on the parent title) and the standard sale contract; each signed contract must also be registered in the registry and in the municipal cadastre. Once a contract is registered the lot is unavailable to the seller: it cannot be sold again, leased or encumbered, and any such act is void, although both parties may assign their rights. Every contract must state the parties, the exact lot, price, term, instalment amounts and frequency, the municipal approval resolution and the parent title data. By law the buyer gets possession on paying the first instalment; once 25 percent of the price is paid, the seller must transfer title, with a mortgage for the balance; the seller can terminate for non payment only after more than ten instalments are overdue; on termination the buyer may remove improvements or be paid their appraised value within three months; and a clause giving improvements to the seller on termination is void. Transfer costs of lots are split equally between seller and buyer, and the deed may be signed before any notary in the municipality. Later attachments against the seller only reach unpaid instalments, and registered contracts are enforceable in the seller's insolvency once 25 percent is paid, when the trustee must sign the deed.
Cost to do it: Registration of the standard contract and of each sale contract is required; registry charges were not verified.
Example: A buyer who pays 25 percent of a PYG 88,024,650 lot (PYG 22,006,162) can demand the deed, with a mortgage for the PYG 66,018,488 balance; the developer cannot rescind until more than 10 instalments are late. / On a US$15,000 lot sold over 60 months, the buyer is entitled to title after US$3,750 is paid, and a developer's bank creditors cannot seize the lot once the contract is registered.Ley Nº 3966/2010 Orgánica Municipal, Art. 249 to 259, 2010-02-08 official text · verified 2026-10-28

4. Housing estates and flats. Housing estates (conjuntos habitacionales o residenciales) need municipal approval before work starts and must leave free space of at least 30 percent of the land on plots over 8,000 m2, and 25 percent on plots of 600 to 7,999 m2, with at least half of it for shared recreation; they must have drinking water, electricity, sewerage and storm drainage, street lighting and internal roads passable by emergency vehicles. Contracts or boletos for the sale of flats must be registered by the seller in the municipal cadastre, the registry and the Servicio Nacional de Catastro within 30 days of signing. Every construction, enlargement, renovation or demolition needs a prior municipal permit, which is a regulated act limited to checking compliance with laws and ordinances, and buildings must meet minimum fire and safety standards before occupancy.
Cost to do it: Construction permits carry the municipal construction tax; rates are set by the municipal tax laws and ordinances and were not verified.
Example: A gated community on 2 ha (20,000 m2) must keep at least 6,000 m2 free, 3,000 m2 of it for shared recreation. / On a 2 ha project, 30 percent free space is 0.6 ha that cannot be sold as lots, which belongs in the feasibility model from day one.Ley Nº 3966/2010 Orgánica Municipal, Art. 235, 236 and 260 to 266, 2010-02-08 official text · verified 2026-10-28

5. Environmental license. An environmental impact assessment is required for human settlements, colonization and urbanization projects and their master plans, for farming, ranching and forestry operations, and for construction, land clearing and excavation works, among others. The Ministry of Environment issues a Declaración de Impacto Ambiental approving, conditioning or rejecting the project; an assessment that receives no declaration within 90 days is approved without further steps.
Cost to do it: Consultant fees and any Ministry charges were not verified.
Example: A developer files the assessment for a 50 lot urbanization; if the Ministry is silent for 90 days, the assessment is approved by law. / Build at least the 90 day statutory review into the schedule for any urbanization.Ley Nº 294/1993 de Evaluación de Impacto Ambiental, Art. 7 lit. a, b and o, and art. 10, 1993-12-14 official text · verified 2026-10-28

6. Real estate businesses are AML obliged subjects. Real estate companies (inmobiliarias) are listed as obliged subjects under the anti money laundering law and must apply the customer due diligence, record keeping and reporting duties set by SEPRELAD regulations. Breaches can lead to fines on companies of up to 5,000 monthly minimum wages or up to 50 percent of the transaction concerned, and on individuals of up to 500 monthly minimum wages or 1 to 10 percent of the transaction, plus removal and disqualification of managers for 3 to 10 years.
Cost to do it: Compliance programme costs are internal. The fine ceiling for a company is 5,000 monthly minimum wages, PYG 15,220,000,000 at the PYG 3,044,000 minimum wage in force since 1 July 2026.
Example: A real estate agency that fails to report a suspicious PYG 2,934,155,000 cash purchase can be fined up to 50 percent of the operation, PYG 1,467,077,500. / The company fine ceiling is about US$2,593,592; on a US$500,000 deal, up to US$250,000.Ley Nº 1015/1997, art. 13 as reworded by Ley Nº 6960/2022; art. 24 as reworded by Ley Nº 6497/2019, Ley 1015 art. 13 lit. k and art. 24, 2022-07-15 official text · verified 2026-10-28 · changed: Ley 6960/2022, promulgated and published on 15 July 2022, restated the list of obliged subjects in Ley 1015 art. 13 (inmobiliarias at lit. k) and added virtual asset service providers; Ley 6497/2019, promulgated on 26 December 2019, set the current sanctions in art. 24.

Step	Who	Deadline
File complete application (title, registry certificate, tax receipt, surveyor report and plan; EIA where required)	Owner	None
Provisional approval or reasoned rejection	Intendencia	30 days from a complete file
Staking, drainage, streets and squares opened, public plots transferred and registered, subdivision tax paid	Owner	30 days from provisional approval
Final approval or reasoned rejection	Junta Municipal	15 days from receipt; silence means approval
Register approval and standard contract before instalment sales	Owner	Before selling

Subdivision timeline under Ley 3966/2010 art. 245 and 246

Worked example

A developer buys 10 ha of urban expansion land for US$3,000,000 (PYG 17,604,930,000). It gives at least 7 percent (0.7 ha) for squares or public buildings plus the streets, and plans lots of at least 360 m2.
It sells lots for US$15,000 (PYG 88,024,650) on 60 monthly instalments. Each contract is registered; after the buyer pays US$3,750 (PYG 22,006,162), the buyer can demand the deed with a mortgage for the balance.
If a buyer stops paying, the developer can rescind only after more than 10 instalments are overdue, and must let the buyer remove improvements or pay their appraised value within 3 months.
Timeline in the best case: 30 days to provisional approval, 30 days of works, 15 days for the council, before the first sale can be registered; add the environmental assessment (up to 90 days) where required.

Step by step

Check zoning and the municipal urban plan, and ask the municipality for the street layout guidelines (art. 243).
Order the registry certificate of ownership conditions; clear any attachment or litigation note and get the mortgagee's consent.
Commission a surveyor licensed in the municipality for the descriptive report and plan; order a judicial survey if boundaries are unclear.
File the environmental impact assessment where Ley 294 applies.
Apply to the Intendencia; after provisional approval, finish the works and transfer the public plots within 30 days and pay the subdivision tax.
Obtain final approval from the Junta Municipal (or the Intendencia's certificate of tacit approval after 15 days).
Register the approval and the standard contract, then register each instalment contract in the registry and the municipal cadastre.
Set up AML procedures for buyers (identity, source of funds, suspicious transaction reports) if operating as a real estate business.

Common traps

Selling lots before final approval and registration breaches the law and leaves buyers without registrable title.
Once an instalment contract is registered, the lot cannot be sold again, leased or mortgaged by the developer; such acts are void.
Clauses that let the developer keep the buyer's improvements on termination are void, and termination needs more than ten overdue instalments.
Buyers who have paid 25 percent are protected in the developer's insolvency: the trustee must sign their deeds.
Even divisions among heirs or co owners need municipal approval.
The free land contribution applies on top of street areas, so net saleable area is materially below gross area.

Sources

← Property tax in Paraguay: the impuesto inmobiliario, fiscal values, vacant lot and rural surcharges, exemptions and the clearance certificateRural land in Paraguay: the Agrarian Statute, INDERT lots, unproductive latifundia, expropriation and adverse possession →

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