Cheap land is sometimes cheap for one reason: there is no proper road to it. Until now the owner has crossed a neighbour’s yard, used a lane of unclear status, or walked a wooden boardwalk (titian) over the swamp.
This guide is for anyone weighing up land like that, and for owners who want to sell it. It covers the consequences to count, how to check the status of the way in, and the three ways out.
What counts as a landlocked plot
The common forms:
- Fully enclosed. The plot is surrounded by other parcels and has no side touching a public road.
- Reached by an informal path. The owner crosses someone else’s land with spoken permission. That permission can be withdrawn at any time, including by the neighbour’s heirs or by whoever buys the neighbour’s land.
- Reached by a road that turns out to be private. It looks like a public lane, but legally it is still part of a neighbour’s certificate.
- Reached only by boardwalk or river. In Banjarmasin, some land can only be reached by titian or by boat. Ask the local authorities and the bank whether that kind of access is accepted for permits and financing.
Plots like this can come from dividing an inheritance, or from selling off the back part of a parcel without leaving a road.
What it means for owners and buyers
- Harder building permits. An application for a PBG (Persetujuan Bangunan Gedung, the building approval) can stall if the land has no legal access.
- Banks reluctant to lend. When valuing collateral, banks look at access. Land with no way in may be refused or valued low.
- Hard to resell. Fewer buyers are interested, and they will offer low.
- Prone to disputes. A route used for years can be closed when relations with a neighbour sour or the land changes hands.
- Harder power and water connections. Cables from PLN (the state electricity company) and pipes from the PDAM (regional water utility) need a route in too, and without a legal one the installation can stall.
- Higher building costs. Material trucks can’t get in, so materials have to be carried some other way.
How to check the status of the way in
- Look at the measurement drawing (surat ukur) in the certificate. Does one side of the parcel border a road directly? Compare it with what you see on the ground.
- Open BHUMI, the parcel map run by the Ministry of Agrarian Affairs and Spatial Planning (ATR/BPN). See whether the access road is a parcel of its own or lies inside a neighbour’s parcel.
- Ask the kelurahan or village office whether the road is recorded as a public or village road, or as a public facility handed over by a developer. For larger roads, the Dinas PUPR (public works and spatial planning office) can explain the status.
- Ask the owner of the land you cross. Do they object, and is there a written agreement?
- Measure the width. Is it enough for a car, and for a material truck during construction? Local rules may set a minimum road width for building permits or for splitting plots, so ask the office in charge.
- Look for gates or barriers that could be closed at any time.
- Ask about the history. How long has the route been used, and has there ever been a dispute?
Other checks for vacant land are in our guide to inspecting vacant land.
First way out: buy a strip of land for a road
The cleanest fix is to buy a strip of the neighbour’s land that links your plot to the public road. The way in then belongs to you.
The order:
- Agree on the location, width and price of the strip with its owner. Ask for enough width from the start, because widening it later means negotiating all over again.
- Measure the strip. How to measure and read a surat ukur is covered in measuring land area.
- Split the neighbour’s certificate at the Kantor Pertanahan (the district land office) so the strip becomes its own parcel. The process is explained in how to split a land certificate.
- Sign an Akta Jual Beli (AJB, the deed of sale) for the strip before a PPAT (Pejabat Pembuat Akta Tanah, a land deed official), then transfer it into your name.
- If needed, merge the strip with your main parcel.
The usual sale taxes apply: final income tax (PPh) for the seller and BPHTB (the land acquisition duty) for the buyer. Ask the Kantor Pertanahan and the PPAT for the measurement, splitting and deed costs.
Second way out: a right-of-way agreement before a notary
If the neighbour won’t sell, ask for a written right-of-way agreement (hak lintas). Have it made before a notary, so it carries more weight than a private letter.
What it should cover:
- The exact route and width, with a sketch.
- The use, on foot only or for vehicles too.
- The term and any compensation.
- Who maintains the route.
- What happens if either plot is sold or inherited. Ask the notary to state whether the right passes to heirs and later owners.
An agreement like this is weaker than owning the strip, and a bank may not accept it. But it is far safer than spoken permission. Keep a copy with your certificate, and hand it to the buyer if you sell.
Third way out: the right to demand a passage
Indonesia’s civil code (Kitab Undang-Undang Hukum Perdata) gives the owner of land that is enclosed, with no way out at all, the right to demand a passage over a neighbour’s land to the public road, against compensation.
In practice, the first step is still to negotiate the route and the compensation, for example with help from village or kelurahan officials. If that fails, the matter can go to court. That costs time, money and the goodwill of your neighbours.
This right is a last resort. Don’t treat it as a reason to buy enclosed land on the assumption that access can always be won.
How it affects the price
Landlocked land is usually priced lower. How much lower depends on how hard and how costly the access is to fix. On the other hand, settled access makes land easier to offer and more likely to be accepted as bank collateral.
As a buyer, build the cost of fixing access into your offer: the price of the strip, the splitting costs, the deed, taxes and time. Don’t pay as if the access already existed. If the seller promises to sort it out, make that a condition before the AJB, or write it into a PPJB (Perjanjian Pengikatan Jual Beli, a conditional sale agreement) with a deadline and the consequences if it fails.
Advice for owners who want to sell
- Fix the access first, by buying a strip or getting a written right-of-way agreement.
- Talk to the neighbour with road frontage. They may be the most natural buyer, since your land adds to theirs.
- Be open about the access with buyers, and show the documents.
- Keep evidence of how the route has been used, such as a neighbour’s letter of consent, to show buyers.
- Set a realistic price for the access as it stands today.
If you want to market the land, send its details through Vorneo’s listing service page.
