Learning to read a Montenegrin listing starts with decoding a handful of short Montenegrin phrases. Some are harmless; some change the whole file. The most expensive is "legalizacija u toku": legalisation in progress. This article takes the listing phrases first, then the statute behind them, and finally what 14 August 2027 means, precisely, for a buyer.
Five phrases in the listing
Papiri uredni / čisti papiri. "Paperwork in order." It has no legal content; nobody moves on without asking for the title extract (list nepokretnosti) and the use permit.
Bez upotrebne dozvole. No use permit. The building is not legally complete; registration, sale and the use of the flat as proof of housing in a residence file are all problematic. In a new project it may be a temporary state; in an old building it is usually permanent.
U postupku etažiranja. Unit registration in progress. The apartments have not yet been separated into individual title units; you may hold the keys, but in the cadastre there is no apartment in your name.
Nadogradnja / prošireno. Added floor, extended. The part of a permitted building that exceeds the permit; the statute treats only the excess as illegal, but if the flat you are buying is that excess, the distinction does not help you.
Legalizacija u toku. An application has been filed; no decision. Everything below is about this phrase.
The statute: 91/25 and two amendments in 2026
Montenegro's legalisation law (Zakon o legalizaciji bespravnih objekata) was passed in 2025 (91/25) and amended twice in 2026 (18/2026, and 117/2026, published on 7 August and in force from 15 August 2026). The first thing the law asks for is visibility: the structure must appear on the July 2025 aerial imagery (orthophoto) the ministry published on the Geoportal. A structure that is not visible cannot be registered in the cadastre, and an existing registration is cancelled (Article 48, paragraphs 3 and 4). For an extra floor added after the orthophoto, "legalizacija u toku" is the name of a process that cannot legally exist.
For a visible structure the second question is degree: is the whole building unpermitted, or is it the part of a permitted building that exceeds the permit (Article 2, paragraph 2)? In the second case only the excess is illegal; the file is smaller, but where the apartment sits is decisive.
14 August 2027 is not an application deadline
Online, this date circulates as "the last day to apply for legalisation". Under the 2026 text of Article 48, 14 August 2027 is the end of the period an owner of an illegal structure has to initiate cadastral registration; the period ran from 14 August 2025 and was set first at six months, then at twelve in February 2026, then at twenty-four in August 2026. After the date, municipal inspectors are obliged to issue demolition orders (Article 48, paragraph 2). The same amendment put the cost of the on-site inspection onto the owner (paragraph 1). So in a listing that says "legalizacija u toku", the question is not whether an application has been filed but whether cadastral registration has been initiated and whether the survey report (elaborat) is ready. The old and new wording of Article 48 side by side is in Legalisation Act 117/2026: what Article 48 now says.
The real cost is not the fine but the title and the annual charge
The most corrosive item for the owner of an illegal structure is not a fine but the annual use charge that accrues (Article 26). With a survey report filed, 0.5 to 2 percent per net square metre a year; without one, 1 to 3 percent per gross square metre; the base is the previous year's average new-build price (about 2,081 euros per m² on the coast for 2025). That is 10 to 42 euros per square metre a year; for a 150 m² house, a four-figure sum every year. Even after a demolition order, property tax and this charge keep running (Article 31, paragraph 5).
For a buyer the real wall is Article 33: an illegal structure cannot be transferred and cannot be used for economic activity. The prohibition is entered as a note in section G of the title. But the cadastre has 36 months to enter it (Article 51); a section G that looks clean today shows not that the building is legal but that the administration has not reached it yet. The orthophoto check therefore does not replace the title check; it sits beside it. Using a structure without a use permit is prohibited in any case (Article 60); putting it on Airbnb is a separate breach as "economic activity". What all this costs the person who buys anyway is in Illegal construction in Montenegro: the buyer's cost.
If it is legalised, what is paid
If the application succeeds, a legalisation fee (urbana sanacija) is paid to the municipality per net square metre; the municipality sets the tariff with government approval. Up to 120 monthly instalments, 360 for a primary residence; 80 percent of the fee goes to the municipality and 20 to the state (all of it local in the northern municipalities). Reductions do not stack: 50 percent for a primary residence, up to 90 percent for vulnerable groups, 20 percent for a lump sum. For four- and five-star tourist facilities the fee is fixed in the statute at 400 to 800 euros per square metre with at most 60 instalments. Coastal municipalities add a separate water-supply charge, in up to 36 instalments.
Read those figures from the buyer's side: a seller's offer of "legalisation has started, you can take over the instalments" is an empty offer for as long as Article 33 makes transfer impossible. Transfer opens only with the decision, and at that moment the whole fee and the remaining instalments are on the table. The full sequence, from survey and structural report to the entry in the title, is in RoNa Legal's owner checklist for the 14 August 2027 deadline.
The reading order for a listing
| Phrase | Document to ask for | Decision |
| Papiri uredni | List nepokretnosti (A, B, G) + upotrebna dozvola | No progress until the documents arrive |
| Bez upotrebne dozvole | Permit + technical inspection status | New project: a date; old building: walk away |
| U postupku etažiranja | Etažiranje decision and unit registration | No payment before the decision |
| Nadogradnja | Permit + orthophoto comparison | If the flat is the excess, withdraw |
| Legalizacija u toku | Elaborat, cadastral application, orthophoto visibility | No transfer until the decision |
How the use permit is obtained on the developer's side, and which document carries it into the register, is in Upotrebna dozvola: the permit that decides a new build; a building with a permit that has lapsed or a project left half-built follows a different route, which the fourth gate of our land and villa article describes. Where the register already holds a wrong entry, a note entered in error, or an illegal structure that surfaces after a completed transfer, the matter leaves legalisation and becomes a title cancellation and registration action.
We ask sellers on Fijaka's property listings to state the use permit position; where it is missing, let your first message be not the price but "is there an upotrebna dozvola". The general checklist for a resale purchase is in our title and debt check. For buyers who would rather have the orthophoto and section G read by a lawyer, RoNa Legal's Budva office does that as a standard part of pre-purchase screening; the scope is described on the real estate lawyer page.
Information only; not legal advice. The legalisation law changed twice in 2026; have the text in force on the listing date confirmed by your lawyer.