Shrnutí: Common areas in an apartment building are parts of the building intended for use by all unit owners – typically hallways, stairwells, roof, utility rooms, basements or carriage houses. They are co-owned by the unit owners according to their shares. Normal management is decided by the owners or the HOA; a special regime may be determined by the owner’s declaration. Some common parts can be entrusted to a specific owner for exclusive use, but this should be clearly regulated by law.
Are you dealing with a dispute over a basement, carriage house, roof, common area lease or change of owner declaration? Take advantage of our Affordable Lawyer service for HOAs and BDs.
Common areas in a block of flats include the foundations, external walls, roof, staircases, corridors, entrance doors, lifts, boiler rooms, coach houses, wheel houses, cellars, water, gas, electricity, heating and other technical installations. These premises are considered to be co-owned by all owners of flats in the building. They jointly decide on the management and maintenance of these common areas. All owners have the right and obligation to use the common areas in such a way as not to restrict the rights and interests of other owners. When using the common areas, owners should take care to avoid damage or deterioration of the common areas.
However, they may decide to give a certain part to a unit owner for exclusive use. Such use of the common area must be stated in the declaration. Which is actually a deed by which all unit owners have agreed to divide up what is common and what is not in the building, or to whom the premises have been given for exclusive use. This means that no one else can use this otherwise common space. As a rule, the person who exclusively uses such space also bears the costs of its maintenance and minor repairs.
We will provide you with a lawyer for HOA or housing cooperative for 6 or 12 months. He or she will be available at any time to represent you in court or with the authorities and help you with any legal issue. All this for a price you know in advance and the option to pay after the service is completed.
Most disputes arise precisely where it is not clear whether it is a common part, a separate unit or a common part in the exclusive use of a particular owner. If you are dealing with a basement, balcony, attic, carriage house, parking space or common area lease, we can help you review the owner’s declaration, the HOA bylaws and the minutes of the meeting. You can use the Affordable Lawyer service for HOA and BD.
In apartment buildings, there are often common areas that are not used by the unit owners. These are, for example, carriage houses, or even fallout shelters, or spaces intended for shops or business premises. The co-owners may decide to rent out these spaces, but the income from these rentals does not belong to the HOA, but to the co-owners themselves. These are their common parts. The profit is therefore divided between them according to their shares in the common parts of the building.
The use of common areas is also related to the possible installation of cameras. Read when the HOA or BD violates the law by installing a camera on the house.
The day-to-day management of such common property, including its rental and the disposal of its proceeds, shall be decided by a majority of all the co-owners, counted according to the size of their co-ownership shares. The co-owners may also decide to entrust the management of the house to a common representative, which may be e.g. a JVU. However, here the consent of an absolute majority of all co-owners is required. The JVJ will be authorised to enter into lease agreements, to control the performance of these agreements, to recover rent due and to submit bills to the co-owners. Sometimes it is even stipulated in the statutes that the income from the premises will be counted as a contribution from the members to their SVJ, which makes the accounting situation clearer. However, this is on the edge of the law.
In connection with common areas, it should also be pointed out that from 1 July 2020 you no longer have to offer your co-ownership share to other co-owners before selling it. The general right of pre-emption has been abolished again. However, this does not mean that the right of pre-emption has disappeared completely. For example, the law maintains it for a limited period of time in the case of co-ownership created by inheritance or other legal event beyond the control of the co-owners from the outset, and special rules also apply in certain other cases.
Therefore, if you find a buyer for your quarter of the property, you can file a petition for registration with the competent cadastral office as soon as the purchase contract is concluded.
However, this regulation has never applied to the common parts of the house – these are directly part of the unit by law. Therefore, if you owned the flat separately, you did not have to offer it to others (even if you had a share in the house). Apartment units were previously only affected if more than one person owned a particular apartment directly (for example, as a result of inheritance).
The abolition of the right of pre-emption has accelerated the transfer of residential units and the associated shares in other premises.
We were approached by a condominium in which one of the owners had long used a locked room in the basement as his private storage. He kept tyres, tools and old furniture there and claimed that the space had been allocated to him by the previous committee. The problem arose when the new committee discovered that the room was listed in the owner’s declaration as a common area of the house and the other owners wanted to use it as a wheelhouse.
We first went through the owner’s declaration, the HOA bylaws and the minutes of the meetings for the past few years. It turned out that there was no valid decision on the exclusive use of the space. Therefore, we prepared an eviction notice, a draft resolution for the assembly and simple rules for the future use of the room by all owners. We also advised the HOA to clearly state in the minutes who is responsible for the room, how it will be locked and how items left in violation of the rules will be dealt with.
The owner eventually vacated the room without litigation. As a result, the HOA avoided unnecessary costs and the room began to be used as a common bike room for all residents of the building.
Common areas in a condominium building belong to all unit owners according to their shares. It is therefore not a space that can be freely disposed of by one owner, committee or building manager. Any use, lease, alteration or assignment of the space to one owner must comply with the law, the owner’s declaration, the HOA bylaws and the owners’ decisions.
The most common problems arise with basements, corridors, carriage houses, attics, balconies, parking spaces or spaces that the HOA wants to rent out. Owners should check the legal regime of a particular part of the house before they start to modify, rent or change the use. Otherwise, it is easy for the assembly to pass an invalid resolution, for the HOA to enter into a bad contract or for one owner to unduly restrict the others.
If you are not sure who owns the space, who is allowed to use it or how to make the right decision about renting or repairing it, it pays to have the documentation of the house checked beforehand. This will save the HOA and the owners time, money and often unnecessary neighbour disputes.
We prepared this article for the Lidové noviny series “Law & Housing”. See also other articles from the series:
Common areas are usually co-owned by all unit owners according to their shares in the common parts of the building.
Not without consent and legal reason. The corridor is usually a common area and its use must not restrict other owners or violate safety regulations.
If it is indeed a common part of the house, the proceeds usually belong to the co-owners according to their shares, not automatically to the HOA.
Yes, but it must be clear that it is a common area, and the decision must be taken in the correct way according to the law, the statutes and the owner’s declaration.
This is a part of the house that legally remains common, but only the specific owner is allowed to use it. Typically a balcony, terrace, cellar or parking space.
In the declaration and, if applicable, in the purchase contract, the articles of association of the JVU or in the land register.
It is usually paid for by contributions to the management of the house. However, if the common area is entrusted to one owner for exclusive use, he or she may bear some of the costs.
We will provide you with a lawyer for HOA or housing cooperative for 6 or 12 months. He or she will be available at any time to represent you in court or with the authorities and help you with any legal issue. All this for a price you know in advance and the option to pay after the service is completed.
Ondřej is the attorney who came up with the idea of providing legal services online. He's been earning his living through legal services for more than 15 years. He especially likes to help clients who may have given up hope in solving their legal issues at work, for example with real estate transfers or copyright licenses.
Ondřej is the attorney who came up with the idea of providing legal services online. He's been earning his living through legal services for more than 15 years. He especially likes to help clients who may have given up hope in solving their legal issues at work, for example with real estate transfers or copyright licenses.
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