Choosing the right location, prospective buyers can enjoy significant benefits: in brownfield action areas VAT may be reclaimed, which means buyers only pay the net price of their homes. Budapest has significant brownfield development potential, and one location where buyers can save millions of forints is District 13.

In 2018, LIVING launched the Kassák Project in this district, just one block off Váci út, on a plot bounded by Apály utca, Angyalföldi út, Klapka utca and Kassák Lajos utca, the street the whole project is named after. The third and last phase of the 740-unit residential development, Kassák Terrace, will offer 246 newly-built apartments with a high energy-efficiency rating and is expected to be completed in the first half of 2025.  Another major LIVING development in District 13 is the Park West residential project in the Ferdinánd quarter with nearly 900 apartments, where the construction of the third phase, Park West 3, started in September 2022. Sales are underway in both projects.

‘Our priority with our residential projects is to create properties that meet all of our clients’ expectations. The Kassák Terrace and Park West 3 residential developments have a great location and offer environmentally friendly solutions and high-quality services. Moreover, prospective buyers can now also benefit from the brownfield classification of these projects: buyers can reclaim VAT, meaning they can save millions of forints when buying a home here,’ said János Martin, WING’s Deputy CEO and LIVING’s Director of Residential Development.

Brownfield classification brings significant benefits

A joint analysis by LIVING and Eltinga reveals that by choosing a brownfield location buyers can save millions of forints, even in the case of smaller apartments: calculating with the average market prices per square meter in Budapest, HUF 2 million, HUF 2.8 million, and up to HUF 3.5 million can be reclaimed when buying 30-square-meter, 40-square-meter and 50-square-meter apartments, respectively. With larger apartments, even larger refunds may be claimed: using the same calculation method, buyers can save HUF 5.5 million in the case of an 80-square-meter apartment and HUF 6.9 million in the case of a 100-square-meter apartment.

This means that homes in brownfield projects can cost significantly less than apartments in other projects, and claiming this benefit is simple. According to the amendment of the VAT Act, those who buy homes in multi-apartment buildings located in brownfield action areas can claim a refund benefit to the value of the 5% VAT applicable to newly-built homes through the Hungarian State Treasury.