Land acquisition

How land acquisition works in Chile, stage by stage

The plant site is secured by agreement with each owner: an option first, then a lease by public deed recorded with the Conservador de Bienes Raíces, the local land registry. Lines and access roads add easements along the route.

Tell us about your projectHow Chile differs from the US, Europe and China

Six stages of land acquisition

Stages one to four secure the plant site, stage five adds the line route and the land side of permits, and stage six runs for the life of the lease. Your Chilean counsel or ours signs off on every legal document; we do the field work, the negotiation and the coordination with notaries and the Conservador.

  1. 1. Site screening

    What we do
    We screen your target area against public data: substations and lines in the Coordinador's Infotécnica database, slope, mining concessions, protected areas, indigenous and state land, flood risk and the 35 m setback along national roads. Each candidate parcel is matched to its SII tax roll number (rol de avalúo) and apparent owner.
    What you receive
    A shortlist of parcels on a map, each with its tax roll number, apparent owner and the red flags found.
    What we need from you
    Target area or substations, technology and MW (MWh for storage), and any exclusion criteria you already use.

    Timing Depends on the size of the area and the number of parcels.

  2. 2. Title and encumbrance review

    What we do
    We order the Conservador certificates (current title; mortgages, encumbrances and prohibitions; litigation) and trace each chain of title back at least 10 years, the extraordinary prescription period (Civil Code, art. 2511). We flag estates without a grant of heirship (posesión efectiva), co-owned land, titles regularized under DL 2.695, and owners married under community property, whose wife must authorize a rural lease of more than eight years (Civil Code, art. 1749).
    What you receive
    A land matrix with owners, recordings, encumbrances and open issues for each parcel, with the certificates attached.
    What we need from you
    Your choice of project counsel, who reviews our findings and issues the title opinion.

    Timing Depends on the number of parcels and Conservadores involved, and on how many estates or co-owners turn up.

  3. 3. Landowner negotiation and option

    What we do
    We identify each owner or legal representative and make first contact with a message and an offer you approve. Terms stay consistent across the landowner group, so no owner holds out for what a neighbor got. Each option is signed by public deed, with a restriction on transfer and encumbrance recorded at the Conservador.
    What you receive
    Signed term sheets, then options to lease by public deed, with the recorded restriction showing on each parcel's certificate.
    What we need from you
    Commercial parameters (option payments, rent, term), your lease template and approval of each draft before it reaches an owner.

    Timing Depends on the number of owners, holdouts and unsettled estates.

  4. 4. Lease, easements and recording

    What we do
    When you exercise an option, we coordinate the lease and easement deeds with the notary and their recording at the Conservador. The lease is recorded ahead of any new mortgage, since only then does it bind the mortgagee (Civil Code, art. 1962). We pull fresh certificates just before signing to confirm nothing new was recorded.
    What you receive
    Recorded leases and easements, the certificates that show them, and a land file for your lenders' due diligence.
    What we need from you
    The exercise notice, powers of attorney for your signatory (apostilled if granted abroad) and sign-off on the final deeds.

    Timing Depends on notary and Conservador lead times, and on whether an existing mortgage must be released or its lender must consent first.

  5. 5. Permits and line routes

    What we do
    We collect the landowner signatures that permits depend on. Under the procedure of the SAG (Agricultural and Livestock Service), the owner applies for the rural construction approval (Art. 55 LGUC) and allows soil pits for the site visit. For gen-ties and access roads, we negotiate an easement with each owner along the route.
    What you receive
    The land documents for the environmental review (SEIA) and the municipal filings, and recorded easements for the line and the access roads.
    What we need from you
    Layout and route from your engineers, and your environmental consultant's filing schedule.

    Timing Statutory periods: owners notified of an electric concession request have 30 days to object (LGSE, art. 27 ter), and CONAF has 90 days to rule on a native forest management plan (Ley 20.283, art. 8). The rest depends on the route and the number of owners.

  6. 6. Land administration during operation

    What we do
    We keep the register of contracts and payments, apply rent indexation in UF (Chile's inflation-indexed unit of account), send notices, process assignments and lender consents, and coordinate access with other users of the land.
    What you receive
    A current register of contracts and payments, periodic reports, and the documents each assignment or refinancing needs.
    What we need from you
    Payment approvals, and notice of any change in the project company, its shareholders or its lenders.

    Timing Ongoing, for the life of the lease.

Sources, at the Library of the National Congress of Chile (bcn.cl) and the SAG: Civil Code · Ley del Registro Conservatorio · LGUC (Arts. 55 and 56) · SAG's rural construction approval procedure · LGSE · Ley 20.283 · Ley 20.711 (apostille).

Frequently asked questions

How long does it take to secure land for a project in Chile?

There is no public benchmark for the land work alone. It depends on the number of owners and Conservadores, unsettled estates, prior mortgages and, for lines, whether a concession is needed. A 2019 study for the National Energy Commission (CNE) put the whole development cycle at 35 to 64 months for 50–100 MW of solar PV and 53 to 85 months for 100–250 MW of wind.

Can a foreign company lease or buy land in Chile?

Yes. Foreigners may acquire any kind of property, and foreign investors follow the same legal regime as Chileans (Constitution, art. 19 No. 23; Ley 20.848, art. 9). Border zones are the exception: nationals of neighboring countries, and companies they control, cannot hold real estate there without a waiver decree (DL 1.939, art. 7), and rural land there cannot be leased to foreigners (DL 993, art. 3).

Is there title insurance or an ALTA survey in Chile?

Neither is standard practice. Comfort on title comes from a title study by Chilean counsel, built on the Conservador certificates, and boundaries from a surveyor's plan checked against the recorded plan, where one exists. Each Conservador keeps separate registers for ownership, for mortgages and encumbrances, and for prohibitions, indexed by the parties' names (Ley del Registro Conservatorio, arts. 31, 32 and 41).

What if the land belongs to an unsettled estate or to several co-owners?

Heirs cannot dispose of a property until the grant of heirship (posesión efectiva) and the special recordings are on file (Civil Code, art. 688). With an estate or co-owned land, we identify every heir or co-owner during the title review and agree with project counsel on who has to sign, and in what order, before any offer goes out.

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