Notaries, PPJB and Lease Deeds: Bali Property Contracts Explained

In Bali, a notaris drafts and witnesses property agreements, and a PPAT, often the same person, executes land transfer deeds. Buyers sign a PPJB before completion on titled sales, an AJB at final transfer, or a notarised lease deed for leasehold purchases. The notaris is a neutral official, not your advocate, so bring your own lawyer for the negotiation.

What does a notaris actually do in a Bali property purchase?

A notaris is a state-appointed legal official who drafts, authenticates and records agreements, giving them the status of authentic deeds under Indonesian law. A PPAT (Pejabat Pembuat Akta Tanah) is the land deed official licensed to execute transfers of registered land, and in practice one professional frequently holds both appointments.

The point most foreign buyers miss is that the notaris is neutral by design. Their duty runs to the legality and validity of the document, not to either party's advantage. A notaris will not tell you that the lease term is short for the price, that the extension clause is weak, or that the payment schedule is aggressive. That is your lawyer's job, and on any substantial purchase you should have one working alongside the notaris, a distinction we flag throughout our 21-point due diligence checklist.

Choose a notaris with an established office in the regency where the land sits, and be cautious of any suggestion that you must use the seller's notaris without question. You are entitled to agree the choice of notaris as part of the deal.

What is a PPJB and when do you sign it?

The PPJB (Perjanjian Pengikatan Jual Beli) is a binding preliminary sale and purchase agreement, signed before a notaris when the parties are committed but the final transfer cannot yet complete. It is the standard instrument for off-plan purchases and for deals with conditions still outstanding.

A good PPJB records the price and payment schedule, the exact object being sold, the conditions that must be met before final transfer, remedies if either side defaults, and the deadline for completion. For off-plan buyers it should also fix the specification, the handover date and the compensation if the developer runs late. Where those payments sit inside the wider transaction is mapped in our step-by-step buying process.

Understand its limit: a PPJB binds the parties contractually, but it does not by itself move the land title. Until the AJB is signed and registered, the certificate still shows the seller's name, which is why the conditions and default clauses deserve close reading.

What is the AJB and how is it different from the PPJB?

The AJB (Akta Jual Beli) is the final deed of sale, executed before a PPAT, and it is the document that actually transfers a registered land right. After signing, the PPAT lodges the deed with the National Land Agency (BPN) so the certificate is reissued in the buyer's name or the buyer's PT PMA.

The AJB stage is also where the transaction taxes crystallise. The buyer pays BPHTB transfer tax of 5 percent of the assessed value and the seller pays a 2.5 percent final income tax, according to PwC's Indonesia tax summaries, while new-builds from developers carry VAT of around 11 to 12 percent. The PPAT will not execute the deed until the tax payments are evidenced, which in practice makes the notaris's office the checkpoint where the full costs of the purchase get settled.

Foreign buyers should note that an AJB route requires a land right foreigners can hold, in practice Hak Pakai for residence-permit holders or HGB held through a PT PMA. Most foreign purchases in Sanur do not use an AJB at all, because they are leaseholds.

What must a lease deed contain for a leasehold purchase?

For leasehold, the notarised lease deed is the entire purchase: there is no title transfer, so every protection you have lives in its clauses. The deed should be bilingual, with an Indonesian version as required by Law 24 of 2009, and signed by every party whose consent the land requires.

Five clauses carry most of the value. The extension clause, with a defined option, pricing mechanism and notice window. The assignment clause, letting you sell the remaining term, with consent not to be unreasonably withheld. The succession clause, passing the lease to your heirs. The binding-successors clause, so a sale of the freehold cannot displace you. And the dispute clause, setting governing law, forum and remedies. The commercial logic behind each is explained in our guide to leasehold versus freehold in Bali.

The demand side explains why this document is worth engineering well. BPS Bali recorded 6.9 million foreign arrivals in 2025, up 9.7 percent on 2024, and Sanur's leasehold market starts from around USD 175,000 per July 2026 listings. A deed with strong clauses is what turns those market conditions into a sellable asset later.

How do PPJB, AJB and lease deeds compare?

Each document does a different job, and confusion between them is behind many bad purchases. The comparison below is the one-screen version to keep beside any draft you are sent.

Who pays the notary and what should you agree upfront?

Notary and PPAT fees are negotiable and scale with the transaction, and in Bali practice the split between buyer and seller is itself a deal term. Agree three things in writing before work starts: the fee, the scope, and who pays which costs, including deed registration and tax administration.

Also fix the practical details early: whether you will sign in person or by power of attorney, which language versions will be produced, and how the signed deeds will be delivered and stored. Buyers who want an English-speaking notaris or independent lawyer in Sanur can start with our directory of English-speaking services in Sanur. At Sanuuri Residences, the developer Investland Bali works with established Sanur notaris offices and shares draft deeds with buyers before any signing is scheduled.