Housing
Housing
Building declaration, internal regulations and unit subdivision in Peru: what order do they go in?
First the municipality issues the conformidad de obra y declaratoria de edificación. Then the declaratoria de fábrica is registered at Sunarp. Only after that is the reglamento interno registered, and that registration splits each unit into its own registry file; the parent file keeps the common areas.
✓ Verified against the official sourceBuying a home in Peru: how arras (earnest money) work and when you actually own it
You become the owner of a home in Peru the moment you take on the obligation to buy it — usually when you sign the sale contract or the minuta — not when you register it with Sunarp; registration only protects you against third parties, it isn't what makes you the owner. If you paid confirmatory earnest money (arras confirmatorias) and the seller breaches, you can demand double that amount back; if you paid withdrawal earnest money (arras de retractación) on a preliminary contract and you're the one who backs out, you simply lose it.
✓ Verified against the official sourceBuying a home in Peru: what to check before you sign, pre-construction or already built
If you're buying from someone who sells real estate habitually — a developer, builder, or promoter — you're not only protected by the Civil Code: the Consumer Protection Code (Law N.° 29571) also applies, requiring the seller to give you specific information before you sign (different depending on whether you're buying pre-construction or an already-built unit), to draft a contract with mandatory minimum content, and to answer for structural defects for at least 10 years. If the property or the seller don't deliver what was agreed, you have five ways to complain: the Complaints Book, Indecopi's Reclama Virtual, the Real Estate Client Ombudsman, an administrative complaint to Indecopi, or consumer arbitration.
✓ Verified against the official sourceBuying a Techo Propio home from a developer in Peru: what to check before you sign
Under Techo Propio's new-home track (Adquisición de Vivienda Nueva), you can only buy from a developer whose project is in the Fondo MIVIVIENDA's Registro de Proyectos. Before signing, confirm that registration, that the price is under the current cap, that the contract states price, grant, savings and loan, and how your savings are recorded.
✓ Verified against the official sourceCan a developer in Peru change the project after you sign?
Not on its own say-so. The contract binds both sides, and what the developer offered in its advertising and brochures binds it too, even if the contract leaves it out. A clause letting it change the project at will can be an unfair term. Municipal approval of the change does not release it from what it promised you.
✓ Verified against the official sourceCan a developer in Peru mortgage the land your home is being built on?
Yes. The landowner may mortgage the land, and the mortgage extends to the property's integral parts. It is indivisible: your unit stays encumbered even after you pay for it, and only the lender can release it. Check the land's registry entry before signing and get a contract term requiring your unit to be handed over free of that mortgage.
✓ Verified against the official sourceCan my landlord keep my security deposit? When it must be returned
The Civil Code does not regulate the rental security deposit at all: no cap, no return deadline, no requirement that it earn interest. What your contract says is what governs. The one exception with written rules is a contract made on the Formulario Único de Arrendamiento (FUA) under Decreto Legislativo 1177, where the deposit sits in a bank account and is returned, without interest, when you hand back the property.
✓ Verified against the official sourceCan my landlord raise the rent during a lease in Peru? When an increase is valid
While your lease is running, the rent is what you both agreed: the landlord cannot raise it alone unless the contract already provides for the increase. If the term has ended and you stay on, the same terms apply. What the landlord can do is ask for the property back and offer a new lease.
✓ Verified against the official sourceCan you sell or transfer a home bought with Techo Propio or Mivivienda in Peru?
Not in the first five years. Ley 32379 bans transferring a social-interest home for five years from when the sale is registered with SUNARP, and under Techo Propio selling or lending it earlier means repaying the grant with interest. If a mortgage is still owed, the bank must accept any new debtor.
✓ Verified against the official sourceCommon areas and private areas in a building in Peru: roof terrace, parking space, rooftop and storage unit
The building's internal regulations and each unit's Sunarp record decide. If your parking space, storage unit or terrace is not registered as a private unit in your name, it is presumed common. Turning a common area private, or handing it to one neighbour, needs a two-thirds vote, and some areas cannot be transferred.
✓ Verified against the official sourceHidden defects in a Peru property sale: what you can claim
If you buy real estate in Peru and later discover a defect you couldn't have detected when buying — or a hidden charge, like an undisclosed mortgage — the Civil Code gives you two paths: ask for the contract to be voided (acción redhibitoria) or a price reduction (acción estimatoria), plus damages if the seller acted in bad faith or negligence. The deadline to claim is short: just 6 months from when you received the property.
✓ Verified against the official sourceHome handover certificate in Peru: what to check before signing "conforme"
Signing "conforme" on the handover certificate does not take away your right to claim hidden defects: Ley 29571 voids any waiver of consumer rights. But visible defects you approved in writing become hard to claim later. Inspect everything and write each observation down.
✓ Verified against the official sourceHow do you check a real estate project before buying in Peru?
Check three things in official sources before you pay: at Sunarp, who owns the land and what charges or mortgages it carries; at the municipality, where the building permit stands; and in the housing ministry's developer database and Indecopi's sanctions register, the company's track record.
✓ Verified against the official sourceInternal regulations of a building in Peru: what the owners association can and can't impose
A Peruvian building's internal regulations (reglamento interno) can impose real limits on how you use your own unit — not just the common areas — as long as the rule is lawful, but the Constitutional Court has set a key limit: a new rule cannot retroactively take away a use you were already exercising before the rule was approved.
✓ Verified against the official sourceLand invasion and property trafficking in Peru: what to do if someone occupies your property
If you find out within 15 days of the occupation, the law lets you recover the property yourself, with mandatory police support, no lawsuit needed. If that window has passed, you have up to a year to sue for a recobrar interdict. And if there was violence, deceit, or organized land traffickers involved, it's also the crime of usurpación, punishable by up to 12 years if aggravated.
✓ Verified against the official sourceMy neighbor dumps rubble or garbage in the street, or burns waste, in Peru: what can I do?
Dumping rubble or garbage in the street and burning waste are banned under Peru's solid waste rules. Your district municipality is the authority that inspects and sanctions the neighbor, with fines set by its own ordinance. Report it to its inspection office with photos, dates and the exact address.
✓ Verified against the official sourceMy neighbor's branches, wall or rainwater are coming onto my property in Peru: what can I do?
The Civil Code lets you cut branches and roots that reach into your property, bars your neighbor from making water from their property run onto yours, presumes the wall or fence between you is shared, and splits the cost of keeping it up. If there is damage, it must be compensated.
✓ Verified against the official sourceNoise and neighbor disturbances in Peru: what the law says
Article 961 of the Civil Code prohibits noise and other disturbances that exceed the normal tolerance owed between neighbors, and Supreme Decree N.° 085-2003-PCM sets technical noise limits in decibels by zone (residential, commercial, industrial, or special protection). The district municipality is the first authority responsible for enforcement, and only serious, repeated noise can rise to the environmental contamination crime under Article 304 of the Criminal Code.
✓ Verified against the official sourceOff-plan purchase contract in Peru: which clauses should you check before signing?
Buying off-plan in Peru is buying a future good: the contract depends on the property coming into existence. Before signing, check who bears the risk that it is never built, the delivery date, the area and finishes, the penalties, how the price is set and when the contract can be terminated.
✓ Verified against the official sourceOwners' association and common expenses in Peru: what the law says about paying (or not paying) them
If you live in a building, row-house complex, or condominium with shared areas and services, you're subject to the exclusive-and-common-property regime (Law N.° 27157 and its regulations). The Owners' Association (Junta de Propietarios) manages the common property and approves common expenses, which you must pay according to the percentage set in the building's Internal Regulations. If you fall behind on three ordinary fees or one extraordinary fee, you lose your right to vote in the Association until you catch up.
✓ Verified against the official sourcePaying a developer in installments in Peru: what must the contract say?
If the developer finances the price itself, it must first give you a summary sheet signed by both sides with the interest, extra charges, payment schedule, total cost, your right to prepay without penalty, and any guarantees. Interest is capped at a maximum set by Peru's central bank.
✓ Verified against the official sourcePenalty for cancelling a home purchase in Peru: is it valid?
It can be. If you signed the purchase contract and then back out, you are in breach, and the developer can charge the agreed penalty. But the contract had to state it and its amount, you had to be told beforehand, and a judge can reduce it if it is manifestly excessive. Unfair terms in standard contracts are unenforceable.
✓ Verified against the official sourceRent-to-own housing in Peru: what an option-to-buy lease protects — and what it doesn't
In Peru, "alquiler-venta" (rent-to-own) can legally mean two different things: an informal arrangement where the rent you pay automatically becomes the purchase price (Civil Code, articles 1583 to 1585), or a formal, registered contract — the FUAO, under Legislative Decree N.° 1177 — where rent and the purchase price are separate, and nothing transfers until you pay the price and sign the deed.
✓ Verified against the official sourceRenting an apartment in Peru: a general guide before you sign a lease
Peru's Civil Code doesn't require any special format for a lease, and it doesn't cap the security deposit — whatever you agree with your landlord binds both of you. But it does set a floor of rights no contract can take away: the landlord must deliver the property in the agreed condition and cover necessary repairs during the lease (unless you agreed otherwise), can only inspect with 7 days' notice and a justified reason, and if the lease expires and you keep living there, the law says that's continuation, not automatic renewal. If your lease is also in a public deed or the Formulario Único de Arrendamiento (FUA) under Legislative Decree 1177, your landlord can use the faster notarial eviction process instead of an ordinary lawsuit.
✓ Verified against the official sourceRenting and eviction in Peru: when you can be removed and what your landlord cannot do
Nobody can remove you by changing the lock or cutting your power: stripping someone of possession of a property by violence, threat, deceit or abuse of trust is usurpación and carries two to five years in prison. Eviction is ordered by a judge. There is a fast track — notarial eviction — but it only works if your contract is in a public deed or the FUA form and contains two specific clauses.
✓ Verified against the official sourceReservation payment (separación) on an apartment or house in Peru: do you get it back if you change your mind?
It depends on what you signed when you paid. The law gives the separación no single effect: the developer must tell you its terms in advance, including admin fees and penalties. It may only keep what it disclosed beforehand. If the sale falls through because of the developer, you get everything back.
✓ Verified against the official sourceSomething broke in your rented home: does the landlord or the tenant fix it?
The Civil Code's general rule: the landlord pays for the necessary repairs to keep the property in good condition throughout the lease, unless the contract says otherwise. The tenant pays for ordinary upkeep and for damage they caused, and must report any problem immediately. If it is urgent, the tenant can fix it themselves and get reimbursed, as long as they notify the landlord at the same time.
✓ Verified against the official sourceSubletting in Peru: when is it legal and what are the tenant's risks?
Subletting is legal only if your landlord consents in writing. If you sublet without that consent, or against what the lease says, the landlord can terminate your lease. You and your subtenant are jointly liable to the owner, and when your lease ends, the sublease ends with it.
✓ Verified against the official sourceTecho Propio housing bonus in Peru: who is responsible if it is not disbursed?
Fondo MIVIVIENDA pays the bonus, but never to your family: it transfers it to the developer, the bank or the project trust once they post guarantees and documents. If no one requests it within 24 months, your family loses the right, unless the Fondo approves an exception for causes not attributable to anyone.
✓ Verified against the official sourceTecho Propio or Mivivienda: how do Peru's housing programs differ, and which fits you?
Techo Propio gives a housing grant (Bono Familiar Habitacional) to buy, build or improve social-interest housing; in 2026 a new home cannot cost more than S/ 109,100 (house) or S/ 136,100 (apartment). Mivivienda is a mortgage with a Bono del Buen Pagador, for homes from S/ 69,900 to S/ 367,600. Neither grant is repaid.
✓ Verified against the official sourceTecho Propio: what happens if you sign for a home and then don't qualify for the grant?
Under Techo Propio you sign the purchase contract with the developer before the grant is assigned, and the Fondo MIVIVIENDA checks your income and property before assigning it. If you don't qualify or lose the grant, the contract is terminated. The regulation orders your savings returned, but in several cases on the terms of your contract.
✓ Verified against the official sourceUnfair terms in real estate contracts in Peru: examples and what to do
If you buy from a developer, terms you did not negotiate that put you at a disadvantage do not bind you. Examples named by the law or by Indecopi: the developer escaping liability for its own fault, ending the contract on its own, charging you for paying early, or making you waive complaints.
✓ Verified against the official sourceWater leaks between floors or apartments in Peru: what the law says
If water from the apartment above damages yours, Article 1969 of the Civil Code gives you a clear path: your neighbor must compensate you, and it is your neighbor who has to prove they were not at fault, not you. If the leak comes from a shared installation in the building, the responsible party is usually the Owners' Association, not one specific neighbor.
✓ Verified against the official sourceWhat do I need to get a building permit (licencia de edificación) in Peru before I build?
Almost every building job in Peru needs a permit from the municipality before work starts. Ley 29090 sets four approval tracks (A, B, C and D) by size and use. Under track A, the stamped filing receipt is itself your permit, once you pay the processing fee.
✓ Verified against the official sourceWhat documents must a developer give you when you buy off-plan in Peru?
Before you sign, the developer must give you, free, the registry record showing it owns the land, the status of the urban development or building permit, the floor plan, an itemised price and the project approval. At signing: the project approval and layout plan. Afterwards: the owner's manual.
✓ Verified against the official sourceWhat happens if a developer in Peru is late delivering your home?
If the developer misses the agreed delivery date, you can demand delivery plus any late-delivery penalty in your contract, without proving what you lost. You can also terminate the contract and claim damages. As a general rule, you first have to demand performance in writing to put the developer in default.
✓ Verified against the official sourceWhat happens if you stop paying installments on an off-plan home in Peru?
You do not lose everything automatically. Under the Civil Code, once you miss three installments, in a row or not, the developer can cancel the contract or demand the whole balance. If it cancels, it must return what you paid, though it can claim compensation and damages, or keep some installments if agreed. A judge can reduce an excessive penalty.
✓ Verified against the official sourceWhat happens to your money if a real estate project in Peru falls through?
It depends on who's responsible for the project not going through. If you bought from a real estate developer, construction company, or promoter (a proveedor inmobiliario) and the sale doesn't go through for a reason attributable to that company, the law gives you a clear right: demand a full refund of everything you paid, just by asking, with no need to prove any damage. If instead it was you who backed out or stopped paying, and you paid arras (earnest money), the Civil Code says the opposite: you lose it. When the problem is a denied municipal permit or financing that didn't get approved, the answer depends on what your contract says — and this guide explains what to check in each case.
✓ Verified against the official sourceWhat if your new home in Peru is smaller than the area you were promised?
It depends on how the price was set. If you paid per square meter, the seller must refund the price of the missing area; if you paid one total price, the price is only reduced when the gap exceeds one tenth. These Civil Code rights expire six months after you receive the property.
✓ Verified against the official sourceWhat is the partida matriz of a real estate project in Peru, and why should you check it?
It is the registry record of the land the project is built on. Until your apartment has its own record, it shows who owns the land, any mortgages or court orders, and whether the building and units were pre-registered. Charges still in force that affect your unit move to its record when it is split off.
✓ Verified against the official sourceWhen can a lease in Peru be terminated for unpaid rent, and how do you hand the property back?
A lease can be terminated if the previous month's rent is unpaid and another month plus fifteen days goes by, among other grounds. It is not automatic: the landlord asks a judge, sends a notarial letter, or invokes a termination clause in the contract. If you leave, hand the property back and get its condition in writing.
✓ Verified against the official sourceWho can build an extra floor on top of an apartment building in Peru? Air rights, extra storeys and basements
It depends on the building's internal regulations. If they say nothing, the roof terrace and, according to Sunarp, the air rights count as common areas: building on top needs an owners' vote and a permit. If the regulations reserved the air rights to one owner, they belong to that owner and cannot be removed without their consent.
Partly verifiedAcquisitive Prescription in Peru (Usucapión): Requirements and Deadlines to Become the Owner Through Possession
If you possess a property continuously, peacefully, and publicly as its owner for 10 years, you can ask a judge to declare you the owner; the period drops to 5 years if you have just title and good faith. It doesn't happen automatically: you need a court judgment (or, through the notarial route, a notarial instrument) to register the property in your name.
Partly verifiedBoundary disputes and deslinde between neighbors in Peru
Article 966 of Peru's Civil Code lets a property owner compel neighbors, whether owners or possessors, to carry out a boundary-fixing procedure (deslinde y amojonamiento) when the property line is unclear or the existing markers are wrong.
Partly verifiedBuilding without a license in Peru: what risk does the owner run
Building without a construction license (licencia de edificación) is an infraction subject to administrative sanction under Law No. 29090, but that law sets no nationwide fine amount or single procedure: each municipality sets its own fine in its own infraction table and can also order the work stopped or torn down.
Partly verifiedCertificate of completion with changes and regularization in Peru: what if the building does not match the permit?
If the work changed a little from the permit, you ask for the certificate of completion with changes, filing as-built drawings; it only works for non-substantial changes. If you built without a permit between 1 January 2017 and 17 September 2018, Law 29090 lets the municipality regularize it.
Partly verifiedExpedited eviction in Peru: when it applies and how it works
Peru has two fast-track eviction routes, from different laws: Ley N° 30201 creates an executory route (Article 594 of the Código Procesal Civil) for a contract with legalized signatures and a future-surrender clause; and Ley N° 30933 creates a separate notarial-then-judicial procedure. The Formulario Único de Arrendamiento (FUA) with executory force was created by Decreto Legislativo N° 1177, not Ley 30201, and it isn't the only way to qualify (a public deed also works for Ley 30933).
Partly verifiedHow do you correct a property's registered area, boundaries or measurements in Peru: notary or court?
Today, Ley 27333 lets you correct a property's registered area or boundaries in three ways: a public deed signed with every neighbor, a notary procedure if the real area is not larger than the registered one, or a court case if there is overlap or objection. Decreto Legislativo 1595 will replace it.
Partly verifiedIs building or fire insurance mandatory in Peru? When someone can require it
We found no law that requires homes or buildings in general to be insured against fire. Insurance comes in through other routes: the owners' association agrees on it or writes it into the internal rules, a bank makes it a condition of a mortgage, or a CAR policy is required while a multi-unit building is under construction.
Partly verifiedMinuta or escritura pública? When a private contract is not enough in Peru
A minuta is the contract a lawyer drafts and the parties sign; an escritura pública is the deed a notary enters into their register. A house sale is valid with the minuta alone, but to record it at Sunarp you need a public instrument. Some acts, such as gifting property, are void without an escritura.
Partly verifiedMortgage foreclosure in Peru: what it is and what rights the debtor has
It is the judicial process (Articles 720 to 724 of the Código Procesal Civil) through which a bank or creditor collects a debt by auctioning off the mortgaged property; there is no notarial route for this auction. The debtor can only object on very limited grounds.
Partly verifiedNuevo Crédito Mivivienda and the Bono del Buen Pagador in Peru: how they work and who qualifies
The Bono del Buen Pagador is a non-repayable grant added to a Crédito Mivivienda mortgage. To get it, the lender must approve you, your household cannot own another home, and the price must fall within the set ranges. You must pay it back if you are rated a bad payer or repay the whole loan within five years.
Partly verifiedOwners' association meetings in Peru: what quorum and majority do you need, and how can common areas be sold or de-designated?
Peruvian law leaves quorum and simple majority to your building's internal regulations. Selling, mortgaging, leasing or de-designating a common area needs a two-thirds vote, and owners who missed the meeting must be notified by notarial letter. Every resolution must go in the minute book.
Partly verifiedPhysical-Legal Title Regularization (Saneamiento) in Peru: What It Is and Why It Matters
It is the process of making a property's physical reality (boundaries, construction, occupation) match what is registered with SUNARP and the municipal cadastre, fixing title defects before you sell, mortgage, or inherit it.
Partly verifiedRight-of-way easements in Peru: what they are and how to claim one
If your property has no access to a public road, Peru's Civil Code lets you demand a right-of-way easement across a neighboring property, usually paying compensation, and generally along the route that causes the least damage.
Partly verifiedShort-term rentals and Airbnb in Peru: what rules apply
There is no special MINCETUR regime for Airbnb-style rentals; they are governed by the Civil Code as ordinary leases, and a host's income generally falls under first-category rental income tax.
Partly verifiedTestimonio, parte notarial or plain copy: what goes to Sunarp, and is there a deadline to register?
Sunarp registers from the parte notarial, not from the testimonio or a plain photocopy. We found no legal deadline to register a purchase, but if another good-faith buyer registers first, the law prefers them. Once filed, the presentation entry lasts thirty-five days, with extensions.
Partly verifiedThe developer in Peru will not give you your documents: what can you do?
Ask in writing and, if that fails, by notarial letter: the Civil Code requires a seller to hand over the property's documents unless agreed otherwise. You can complain to Indecopi, get the registry copy from Sunarp yourself and, if they will not sign the public deed, sue to make them sign it in a fast-track case.
Partly verifiedWhat is an anotación de demanda on a Peruvian property record, what does it do and how is it removed?
It is a court-ordered notice, entered on the Sunarp record, that a lawsuit concerns the property. It does not stop a sale or mortgage, but the person who obtained it takes priority if they win. The one-year expiry of other notices does not apply: as a rule, only another court order removes it.