Establishment of condominium ownership
Service description
Condominium/partial ownership - certificate of completion
Certain requirements must be met for an apartment to become a condominium.
On the one hand, the apartment must be self-contained. Secondly, a construction drawing (partition plan) approved by the building authorities is required. Furthermore, the owner must submit a publicly certified declaration to the land registry that he or she is dividing ownership of the property into co-ownership. According to the German Condominium Act, residential ownership can be established for apartments and partial ownership for rooms in a building that are not used for residential purposes. A special land register sheet is created ex officio in the land register for each co-ownership share.
A certificate issued by the building authority and a construction drawing signed and sealed or stamped by the building authority are required at the land registry to form the condominium/partial ownership.
There are various forms of ownership for condominiums:
Common property
In the case of common property, the homeowners' association regulates its use. Common property includes the entire plot of land (developed and undeveloped area), parts of the building that are necessary for its existence or safety (e.g. foundations, foundation and exterior walls, firewalls, windows, roof, chimneys, roof covering, etc.), facilities and equipment for common use (e.g. gardens, courtyards, drying areas, elevators, stairwells, etc.) as well as administrative assets, consisting for example of common funds or administrative items (heating oil stock, lawn mowers, etc.). If common property is to be subsequently converted into separate property, this requires the agreement of all condominium owners.
Co-ownership
The condominium owner is entitled to co-ownership of all the items listed under common property on a fractional basis. The co-ownership share according to fractions can be expressed in various ways. In the declaration of division, the size of the co-ownership shares is determined at the discretion of the owner. In general, however, the value of the individual apartments (based on the living space) roughly corresponds to the ratio of the co-ownership shares. The entry in the land register is then made in accordance with the determination of the co-ownership shares.
Special property
Special property is the real property or sole property of the condominium owner. This may include apartments or non-residential and self-contained rooms, provided they are not intended for the common use of the condominium owners. It also includes components of the building belonging to rooms that can be altered, removed or added without affecting the common property (non-load-bearing walls, wallpaper, built-in wardrobes, radiators, awnings and kitchens, etc.).
Partial ownership
Partial ownership differs from condominium ownership only in that it involves special ownership of rooms in a building that are not used for residential purposes (e.g. stores, workshops, office, storage or practice rooms).
Special rights of use
Areas or parts of buildings with special rights of use are jointly owned. They are entered in the land register. This involves the granting of benefits of use. Special rights of use can, for example, relate to parking spaces, garden use, roof terraces or cellar rooms. It is therefore possible, for example, for a condominium owner to be granted the right to sole use of the garden.
Applications / Forms
At least two copies of the complete as-built drawings (floor plan, elevation, section) are required. As one copy remains with the building inspectorate, one copy is required by the land registry and the applicant usually wants to keep at least one copy for their records, it is recommended that at least three copies are submitted. In addition to the copies of the complete building documents (floor plan, elevation, section), a site plan at a scale of no smaller than 1:500 showing all buildings on the property is also required.
Further information
If you need several copies, but your notary does not want to or should not make certified copies of the certificate of completion himself, submit two more copies of the above-mentioned building documents than you want to create condominiums (per purchaser as well as land registry office and building supervisory authority).