Hungary: New public procurement rules affecting real estate

An extensive modification of the Act CXXIX of 2003 on Public Procurement came into force on 15 September 2010.

The most important change affecting the real estate market is that there is no need for carrying out public procurement in case of contracts for any purchase of an existing building or other property, or acquiring rights for such building structure or property, with the exception of an agreement for financial services relating to the financing of such acquisitions by public bodies. Therefore, the public bodies are now relieved from the obligation to call for tender in case they wish to sell or let an existing property and therefore may initiate direct negotiations and conclude the contract with the owner of the selected property.

Such exemption was already in place for public contracts whose value reaches the community limits, but thanks to the recent modification, this exemption is now also applicable for public contracts whose value only reaches the national limits. The national limit for services for the year 2010 is HUF 8 million.