Business premises

General

A legitimate interest exists if the land to be acquired serves the acquirer wholly or to a substantial extent to establish or expand the permanent establishment of his or her legally licensed domestic business thereon, or if the land to be acquired serves the acquirer wholly or to a substantial extent to exercise a trade, business or profession, and the acquirer does not have a corresponding domestic real property for this purpose.

Intitled Persons

The acquirer must be the business owner himself/herself.

If the acquirer is a legal entity, it must operate a business conducted in a commercial manner. In addition, the purpose of the business must provide for the intended activity.

In any case, a valid business license or other special legal authorization (e.g. from the Financial Market Authority (FMA) or the Office of Public Health) must be available to carry out the intended activity.

Under certain conditions, the acquisition of a property may be approved if the legally licensed business is not run by the acquiring company itself, but by its parent, subsidiary or sister company.

Business interest or business use

The proposed use must be related to the business.

The property to be acquired must be used wholly or to a substantial extent (i.e., considerably more than half) for business use. If the business is in steady expansion, some reserve may be acquired.

Zoning and Building Code Conformity

The zoning classification must conform to the type of use applied for. This must be confirmed by the relevant municipality.