Commonhold, your rights and obligations : The legal system governing commonhold enables the ownership of an apartment building to be divided between several people called co-owners. The system also determines the rules for running the small community to ensure the people live together in harmony. The co-ownership Virtually all apartments are governed by the commonhold system which applies to all co-owners and their tenants. Under certain circumstances, houses and commercial or professional premises may be governed by this legal system. Irrespective of the type of property in commonhold, it always comprises two components that are intrinsically linked from a legal point of view: - privately owned areas (accommodation rooms for example) - a share expressed as a proportion (often thousandths) of commonly owned areas, (green areas, elevators, boiler room, etc). These two components, i.e. the privately owned areas and a share in commonly owned areas, constitute a section that cannot be divided. The law also sets compulsory rules for the use and management of buildings governed by the commonhold legal system. The rules are included in the commonhold regulations that contain both information on the building in general and the intended use of the private areas in your section. You must therefore comply with these regulations. For example : if you live in a building intended solely for residential use, it is prohibited to use it as business premises. There may be a certain leeway for self-employed people. You should therefore check the commonhold regulations to make sure. In theory, the basic administrative domiciliation of an individual company’s registered office on premises intended for residential use is, however, permitted. For a company, only temporary domiciliation is possible. Even though there are similarities between commonhold regulations, you should be aware of any specific rules in your own. They may include restrictions in the use of your commonhold sections and protect you against abuses from the other co-owners. If in doubt, contact the property manager, the owner if you are a tenant or your notaire. The co-owners associations All the co-owners of a building form the co-owners’ association. Co-owners’ associations have the same legal capacity as companies. They meet each year at the co-owners General Meeting which takes major decisions for the coming year (elect the property manager, vote on one-off repair work, etc.) and determine the operating budget, i.e. the quarterly provision for charges each co-owner will pay. Depending on the type of decision to be taken, the law imposes various majority rules at the General Meeting and even unanimity for the most important decisions. By law, the co-owners’ association is made up of two bodies: the property manager (professional or voluntary) and the co-owners’ association board (comprising volunteer co-owners) with a view to implementing decisions taken by a General Meeting. The co-owners’ association board is responsible for assisting the property manager and overseeing its management. The co-owners’ association is authorised to enforce and amend the commonhold regulations, either when the law changes or when requested by a co-owner. For example : If you decide to divide your commonhold unit in two or combine two units to make a single one, the commonhold regulations have to be amended by a notarised instrument. Contact your notaire who will tell you the procedure to follow to ensure you comply with the legislation in force. Under certain circumstances, particularly if your repair work affects the commonly owned areas (drilling through a load-bearing wall for example) or has an impact on the general appearance of the building (screening off a balcony for example), the General Meeting has to give its approval and you must send your application to the property manager for it to be included on the next meeting’s agenda. Remember that there is usually only one meeting a year and you can only carry out the works once you have been authorised to do so! Under certain circumstances (dividing a unit for example), a chartered surveyor will need to be appointed and a notarised instrument drawn up amending the commonhold regulations. Ask your notaire to estimate the total cost of the amendment you plan before beginning the works. Updating commonhold regulations The deadline for complying commonhold regulations (according to the SRU - Urban Solidarity and Renewal Act) with the various laws brought in since the regulations were drawn up was extended to 13 December 2008. It should be noted that elevators must be brought into compliance with laws by 31 December 2010.
Posted on: Wed, 29 Jan 2014 09:20:27 +0000
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