Step 1
Zoning first
Confirm the spatial-plan designation and the coastal setback line for the exact plot, before price.
Invest · Land & permits
Indonesia land ownership for foreigners: Berau & Derawan
What you may legally hold and build across the archipelago, and in what order the approvals arrive. General information for orientation, not legal advice.
- Freehold: citizens only
- Hak Milik
- Titles a company holds
- HGB · Pakai
- Needed for over-water builds
- KKPRL
- Due-diligence sequence
- 6 steps
Land titles
What a foreign investor can actually hold
Indonesian agrarian law separates the right to own from the right to build and the right to use. The question is never "can I buy this beach" but which title your structure can carry, and for how long.
| Title | Who may hold it | Term | Practical use in Berau |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hak Milik (freehold) | Indonesian citizens only | Perpetual | How most village land on Derawan Island and Maratua is held |
| Hak Guna Bangunan (right to build) | Indonesian companies, including foreign-owned (PMA) | Granted, extendable, renewable; commonly cited as 30 + 20 + 30 years | Standard title for a licensed lodge, dive centre or resort |
| Hak Pakai (right to use) | Companies and qualifying resident foreigners | Granted, extendable, renewable; commonly cited as 30 + 20 + 30 years | A residence, or a use-right where no commercial building right fits |
| Hak Sewa (lease) | Anyone, by contract | Whatever the contract states | Small projects and land still being certified |
| Nominee arrangement | Not a title: a citizen holds Hak Milik for a foreigner | No legal term | Widespread and legally fragile: an unsecured risk |
A beachfront seller usually holds Hak Milik, so the deal is a conversion into HGB or Hak Pakai in your company's name, and that is where deals stall. Verify current terms and renewal rules with a licensed land notary (PPAT) before you sign.
Hak Pakai
The title most foreign buyers end up discussing
Hak Pakai is the right to use and collect from land belonging to the state or another party. Regulation points resident foreigners toward it, and companies can hold it too.
On a Derawan project it usually covers a manager's or owner's residence, a use-right over state land, or an interim position while a longer-term structure is licensed.
- Time-bound: plan the exit and the renewal cost from day one
- Conditional: it depends on residence or licensing status
- Not a business licence: paying guests need the tourism licensing chain
- Must be registered: an unregistered agreement is a contract, not a title
Tourism business permits
The licence chain begins with the company
Indonesia licenses businesses through a risk-based online system. Every accommodation, dive or boat operator in Berau follows this sequence; skipping a step usually means redoing the one before it.
| Stage | What it establishes | Level | Why it matters here |
|---|---|---|---|
| Company formation (PT or PT PMA) | The entity that holds land and licences | National | A foreign investor cannot hold operating rights personally |
| NIB via the OSS system | Registration and business classification (KBLI) codes | National | KBLI decides which permits, thresholds and standards apply |
| Standard certificate or licence | Permission to operate lodging, tour, dive or boat services | National, verified regionally | Each activity has separate requirements |
| Spatial-plan conformity | The use matches the regency spatial plan | Regency (Berau) | Conservation, village and tourism zones differ |
| UKL-UPL or AMDAL | Environmental management commitments, by scale | Regency or provincial | Building near reefs and nesting beaches is screened |
| PBG and SLF | Permission to build, then to occupy | Regency | Covers jetties and dive facilities too |
| KKPRL | Permission to use sea surface or seabed | National, marine authority | Over-water villas, jetties, pontoons, moorings |
Foreign-owned companies also face a minimum investment threshold per classification and location, revised from time to time. Do not build a capital plan on a figure you read online, including this page: ask a licensed Indonesian corporate lawyer.
Building over water
Over-water builds trigger a second approval chain
The water villa is the most requested product and the most heavily regulated. Anything occupying sea space needs marine spatial approval on top of land permits, tested against zoning that carries regency-level conservation status over the reef and island cluster.
Three sensitivities shape what is approvable: green turtle nesting beaches, the closed lake system on Kakaban where construction is not the expected use, and the manta grounds around Sangalaki, where the viable business is interpretation and marine operations.
Berau spatial plan
Zoning decides what you may build, before price
A plot zoned for village settlement, fisheries or conservation will not be re-designated for a resort, and a seller need not tell you the zone. The islands that generate demand are often where you may not build.
| Location | Realistic approval path | Read |
|---|---|---|
| Derawan Island: established village | Small lodges, homestay upgrades, dive centres; usually a Hak Milik conversion | Where to stay |
| Maratua: largest island | Higher-value lodging and dive resorts; over-water parts need marine approval | Maratua Island |
| Kakaban: lake system | Visitor management, guiding and services, not construction | Kakaban Island |
| Sangalaki: manta and turtle grounds | Marine operations and interpretation licensing | Sangalaki Island |
| Talisayan: mainland launch point | Boat operations and stopover lodging on ordinary title | Talisayan whale sharks |
| Labuan Cermin: mainland lake | Eco-lodge and touring capacity, subject to lake protection | Labuan Cermin |
| No land title at all | Vessel-based capacity | Derawan liveaboard |
Due diligence
Six steps that protect a land position
On remote Kalimantan coasts the land-office certificate and the community's view of who owns a beach can disagree. Customary (adat) claims are the largest hidden risk. Run these in order: each is cheaper than the next.
Transaction costs
Taxes and fees sit outside the purchase price
Rates and thresholds are set by national and regency regulation and amended periodically. Treat any figure you read as a prompt to ask: a licensed Indonesian tax advisor should confirm current Berau rates before you commit.
Budget as a separate workstream
- Acquisition duty paid by the buyer (BPHTB), on an assessed value
- Annual land and building tax (PBB)
- Notary and PPAT fees
- Survey costs
- Conversion and registration fees
- The environmental document
- Legal opinions
Also confirm with your advisor
- The seller's final income tax on the transfer
- The assessed value that applies to your plot
- The corporate tax position of the holding company
Site inspection
The cheapest due diligence available
A land file cannot tell you what the road from Kalimarau Airport (BEJ) to Tanjung Batu and the speedboat crossing mean for a guest. Travelling in the best season, April to November, tests a thesis before you spend on legal work.
The drive takes about 2.5 to 3 hours and the speedboat to Derawan about 40 minutes. Our Private Trip (3D2N or 4D3N) and Open Trip (4D3N) follow a published island route; Indonesia Juara does not offer land, investment or site-inspection services. We are a tour operator, not a law firm, a notary or a land agent.
Disclaimer: general information about land and licensing in Indonesia and Berau Regency, not legal, tax, financial or investment advice, and not an offer of any property, security or investment product. Rules change: verify every point with licensed Indonesian legal, notarial and tax advisors.
Answers
Land and permit questions
A foreigner cannot hold Hak Milik, which is reserved for Indonesian citizens. Foreign investors hold land through a locally incorporated company under Hak Guna Bangunan or Hak Pakai, both fixed, extendable and renewable terms; a registered lease suits smaller projects. Nominee arrangements are legally fragile.
Keep exploring
More in Invest
See the islands
See the islands before the paperwork
We do not arrange land or plot inspections. Our Private Trip (3D2N or 4D3N, 2 to 10 guests) and Open Trip (4D3N) visit Derawan, Maratua, Kakaban and Sangalaki; your licensed advisors handle the law.