CEDER 2025 in review: Legal and Lease Evolution in Romanian Real Estate

Romania's real estate sector operates within a sometimes challenging legal and regulatory environment. Bureaucratic hurdles in the permitting process can cause significant delays. Adding to this is the challenge of local authorities sometimes interpreting urbanist regulations inconsistently.

Addressing these issues, Ioana Niculeasa, Head of Real Estate at NNDKP, highlighted a recent governmental effort: “It's a government emergency ordinance […] that actually simplifies the measure in respect to urbanism and construction, and its aim is to accelerate real estate investments. […] So, they have enacted this emergency ordinance in order to […] give maybe more predictability, to give, let's say, certain timelines. Because they saw the problem with the issuance of the permitting documentation and building permit.” The hope is that this “brand-new piece of legislation […] will be correctly implemented by the relevant authorities, and we will see the permitting process being accelerated and enabling an acceleration of the real estate investments in general”.

Parallel to regulatory changes, lease agreements are also evolving, particularly in the retail sector. Ioana Niculeasa observed the shifts since the pandemic: “the retail landscape has changed a bit, mostly after the pandemic. And everybody, I mean tenants and lenders together, they are aiming to find maybe more creative and flexible solutions, trying […] to enhance occupancy or to balance the risk”. This has led to practical changes: “in retail agreements, for example, there is a hybrid rent structure […], base rent and turnover rent. And this is pretty much a standard […] in shopping centres and in high street locations. More importantly […] the terms are no longer 10-year lease terms, […] they are shorter, the renewal terms are being more flexible. There are more […] midterm break options, in order to enable or to address the market volatility and the tenants’ opportunities as well”.

Furthermore, sustainability is gaining legal traction in leases. Ioana Niculeasa noted the rise of “sustainability link provisions […], the green lease agreements, they are gaining more legal weight. I mean, landlords and tenants are shifting the ESG responsibilities. Everybody speaking about waste management, about CO2 tracking, utility efficiency”.

In sum, the Romanian real estate legal and contractual landscape is actively adapting to market pressures and the need for increased efficiency and flexibility, from governmental efforts to landlords and tenants restructuring lease terms and embracing sustainability.