Soneva Private Residences

A long-term strata sublease of one named villa inside the resort, not freehold. Maldivian law does not allow foreign freehold here. What transfers is a lease of the villa and its plot, carved out of the head lease Soneva holds from the Maldivian government, together with a management agreement putting Soneva in charge of running it. The sublease is registered with the Ministry of Tourism, which issues a strata title registry as the record of the interest. The term cannot run past the island head lease. The selling agent quoted 69 years remaining at Soneva Fushi in December 2025 and about 44 years at Soneva Jani. The remaining term is confirmed for the specific residence before you commit.

Owners use the villa when they want it, and Soneva lets it to resort guests the rest of the year, subject to availability. Soneva has published that its owners average about 30 days a year in their own villa. Joining the rental programme is compulsory for a villa already built and optional for a new build. When the villa is let, the resort keeps 10 per cent of room revenue for the costs of letting, and the remaining 90 per cent is split equally between the owner and the resort. Changing the floor plan, the exterior or the materials needs the developer's written approval. Owners outside the rental programme may alter interiors only.

The annual charge is assessed on the price paid, not on floor area. The published figures are 1.5 per cent of the purchase price a year for running costs and a further 0.5 per cent set aside for long-term improvements, billed quarterly and usually netted off rental revenue. That covers maintenance, replacing furniture and equipment, air conditioning, security, cleaning, gardening, insurance and guest linen. Letting brings tax: tourism goods and services tax at 17 per cent since 1 July 2025, green tax of USD 12 per guest per night, and Maldivian tax on rental profit. Transfer of a strata lease is exempt from goods and services tax. Current percentages are confirmed for the specific residence before you commit.

Since October 2024 a stay in one of these villas includes a villa manager and a villa attendant around the clock, a chef on call to cook in the villa, an electric buggy alongside the bicycles and tricycles, and dining and treatments brought to the villa. Everything else on the island is open to owners and their guests. The services list sets out what is there.

Soneva Fushi opened in 1995 on Kunfunadhoo in Baa Atoll, an island just under 1.5 km long. Villas sit in the jungle and on the beach and run from one to nine bedrooms, and from 145 sq m to 3,048 sq m (1,560 to 32,810 sq ft). Habita Architects drew the Crusoe Suite type and Soneva's own creative department does the interiors. Eight overwater Water Retreats opened in September 2020, at 584 sq m (6,286 sq ft) for one bedroom and 857 sq m (9,224 sq ft) for two, each with a slide into the sea and a roof above the bed that slides back. The AquaTerra coral and science centre opened in April 2023.

Soneva Jani opened in 2016 on Medhufaru in Noonu Atoll, a 150 acre (60 hectare) island in a five island lagoon 5.6 km across. Habita Architects designed the resort, including the first 24 water villas on a jetty running a kilometre out from the island, and the three storey central building called The Gathering. Studio Arne Boon designed the roof that slides back above the master bed, fitted across every overwater villa. Chapter Two added 27 more Water Reserves in December 2020, taking the overwater count to 51 across two jetties. In August 2026 the eastern side of the island, 0.41 sq km of reef, beach and mangrove, became a recognised conservation area, the first at a Maldivian resort.

Both resorts are reached from Velana International Airport at Male. Soneva Fushi is a 30 to 40 minute seaplane flight, or a 30 minute domestic flight to Dharavandhoo and a 10 minute boat. Soneva Jani is a 40 minute seaplane, or a 30 minute domestic flight to Maafaru, which takes private jets and runs around the clock, then a 10 minute boat. A boat runs between the two resorts in about an hour. Baa Atoll is a UNESCO biosphere reserve of 75 small atolls and islets holding 250 coral species and 1,200 reef fish. Hanifaru Bay, one of the largest manta gatherings anywhere, fills during the south west monsoon from June to November.

A foreign individual can hold the lease directly, in their own name, without a Maldivian company. The sale runs through a set of agreements: a reservation agreement, a sale and purchase agreement, the strata lease itself, a management agreement and, where the villa joins the pool, a rental agreement. The lease is then registered with the Ministry of Tourism, which issues the strata title registry. The rules changed in 2023, when regulation R-154/2023 on long-term strata leasing replaced the 2010 rules that Soneva's older material still cites, and existing leases had to be registered by September 2024. There are no local mortgages for foreign buyers. Use a Maldivian lawyer and check the head lease term yourself.

Avory deals with Soneva's villa ownership office and with the agents holding individual resales, and with the resort's reservations team for stays. After you enquire we confirm which villas are genuinely available, the remaining lease on each, the current annual charge and the letting terms, and we arrange a stay in a residence so you see it before deciding, subject to availability. Avory is not the seller and does not set the price. Request access.