A condominium (or condo for short) is an ownership structure whereby a
building
A building, or edifice, is an enclosed structure with a roof and walls standing more or less permanently in one place, such as a house or factory (although there's also portable buildings). Buildings come in a variety of sizes, shapes, and fun ...
is divided into several units that are each separately owned, surrounded by
common area
A common area is, in real estate or real property law, the "area which is available for use by more than one person..." The common areas are those that are available for common use by all tenants, (or) groups of tenants and their invitees. s that are jointly owned. The term can be applied to the building or complex itself, as well as each individual unit within.
Residential condominiums are frequently constructed as
apartment
An apartment (American English), or flat (British English, Indian English, South African English), is a self-contained housing unit (a type of residential real estate) that occupies part of a building, generally on a single story. There are ma ...
buildings, but there are also
rowhouse
In architecture and city planning, a terrace or terraced house ( UK) or townhouse ( US) is a form of medium-density housing that originated in Europe in the 16th century, whereby a row of attached dwellings share side walls. In the United State ...
style condominiums, in which the units open directly to the outside and are not stacked, and on occasion "detached condominiums", which look like
single-family homes
A stand-alone house (also called a single-detached dwelling, detached residence or detached house) is a free-standing residential building. It is sometimes referred to as a single-family home, as opposed to a multi-family residential dwelling ...
, but in which the yards (gardens), building exteriors, and streets as well as any recreational facilities (such as a pool, bowling alley, tennis courts, and golf course), are jointly owned and maintained by a
community association A community association is a nongovernmental association of participating members of a community, such as a neighborhood, village, condominium, cooperative, or group of homeowners or property owners in a delineated geographic area. Participation may ...
.
Unlike apartments, which are
lease
A lease is a contractual arrangement calling for the user (referred to as the ''lessee'') to pay the owner (referred to as the ''lessor'') for the use of an asset. Property, buildings and vehicles are common assets that are leased. Industrial ...
d by their
tenants
A leasehold estate is an ownership of a temporary right to hold land or property in which a lessee or a tenant holds rights of real property by some form of title from a lessor or landlord. Although a tenant does hold rights to real property, a l ...
, condominium units are owned outright. Additionally, the owners of the individual units also collectively own the common areas of the property, such as corridors/hallways, walkways, and laundry rooms, as well as common utilities and amenities, such as the
HVAC
Heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) is the use of various technologies to control the temperature, humidity, and purity of the air in an enclosed space. Its goal is to provide thermal comfort and acceptable indoor air quality. HV ...
system and elevators. Many shopping malls are industrial condominiums in which the individual retail and office spaces are owned by the businesses that occupy them, while the common areas of the mall are collectively owned by all the business entities that own the individual spaces.
The common areas, amenities, and utilities are managed collectively by the owners through their association, such as a
homeowner association
A homeowner association (or homeowners' association, abbreviated HOA, sometimes referred to as a property owners' association or POA), or a homeowner community, is a private association-like entity often formed either ''ipso jure'' in a building ...
or its equivalent.
Scholars have traced the earliest known use of the condominium form of tenure to a document from first-century
Babylon
''Bābili(m)''
* sux, 𒆍𒀭𒊏𒆠
* arc, 𐡁𐡁𐡋 ''Bāḇel''
* syc, ܒܒܠ ''Bāḇel''
* grc-gre, Βαβυλών ''Babylṓn''
* he, בָּבֶל ''Bāvel''
* peo, 𐎲𐎠𐎲𐎡𐎽𐎢 ''Bābiru''
* elx, 𒀸𒁀𒉿𒇷 ''Babi ...
. The word ''
condominium
A condominium (or condo for short) is an ownership structure whereby a building is divided into several units that are each separately owned, surrounded by common areas that are jointly owned. The term can be applied to the building or complex ...
'' originated in
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
.
Etymology
''Condominium'' is an invented
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
word formed by adding the prefix ''con-'' ‘together’ to the word ''dominium'' ‘dominion, ownership’. Its meaning is, therefore ‘joint dominion’ or ‘co-ownership’.
''Condominia'' (the Latin plural of ''condominium'') originally referred to territories over which two or more sovereign powers shared joint sovereignty. This technique was frequently used to settle border disputes when multiple claimants could not agree on how to partition the disputed territory. For example, from 1818 to 1846,
Oregon Country
Oregon Country was a large region of the Pacific Northwest of North America that was subject to a long dispute between the United Kingdom and the United States in the early 19th century. The area, which had been created by the Treaty of 1818, co ...
was a condominium over which both the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
and
Great Britain
Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...
shared joint sovereignty until the
Oregon Treaty
The Oregon Treaty is a treaty between the United Kingdom and the United States that was signed on June 15, 1846, in Washington, D.C. The treaty brought an end to the Oregon boundary dispute by settling competing American and British claims to t ...
resolved the issue by splitting the territory along the 49th parallel and each country gaining sole sovereignty of one side.
Overview
The difference between a complex of residences, such as an apartment building, and a condominium is purely legal. There is no way to differentiate a condominium from any other residential building simply by looking at it or visiting it. What defines a condominium is the form of ownership. A building developed as a condominium (and ''sold'' in individual units to different ''owners'') could actually be built at another location as (for example) an apartment building (the developers would retain ownership and ''rent'' individual units to different ''tenants'').
Where a condominium is in essence an apartment building, as a practical matter, builders tend to build condominiums to higher quality standards than apartment complexes because of the differences between the rental and sale markets. They are typically slightly larger than apartments and are often constructed in a
townhouse
A townhouse, townhome, town house, or town home, is a type of terraced housing. A modern townhouse is often one with a small footprint on multiple floors. In a different British usage, the term originally referred to any type of city residence ...
style in regions where
single-family detached home
A stand-alone house (also called a single-detached dwelling, detached residence or detached house) is a free-standing residential building. It is sometimes referred to as a single-family home, as opposed to a multi-family residential dwelling ...
s are common.
Technically, a condominium is a collection of individual home units and
common area
A common area is, in real estate or real property law, the "area which is available for use by more than one person..." The common areas are those that are available for common use by all tenants, (or) groups of tenants and their invitees. s along with the land upon which they sit. Individual home ownership within a condominium is construed as ownership of only the air space confining the boundaries of the home. The boundaries of that space are specified by a legal document known as a Declaration, filed on record with the local governing authority. Typically, these boundaries will include the walls surrounding a condo, allowing the homeowner to make some interior modifications without impacting the common area. Anything outside this boundary is held in an undivided ownership interest by a corporation established at the time of the condominium's creation. The corporation holds this property in trust on behalf of the homeowners as a group—it may not have ownership itself.
Condominiums have conditions, covenants, restrictions, and often additional rules that govern how the individual unit owners are to share the space.
Some condominium complexes consist of single-family dwellings. There are also "detached condominiums" where homeowners do not maintain the exteriors of the dwellings or yards, and "site condominiums", where the owner has more control and possibly ownership (as in a "whole lot" or "lot line" condominium) over the exterior appearance. These structures are preferred by some
planned neighborhood Neighborhood planning is a form of urban planning through which professional Urban planner, urban planners and communities seek to shape new and existing neighborhoods. It can denote the process of creating a physical neighborhood plan, for example ...
s and
gated communities
A gated community (or walled community) is a form of residential community or housing estate containing strictly controlled entrances for pedestrians, bicycles, and automobiles, and often characterized by a closed perimeter of walls and fences. ...
.
Homeowners association
A
homeowners association
A homeowner association (or homeowners' association, abbreviated HOA, sometimes referred to as a property owners' association or POA), or a homeowner community, is a private association-like entity often formed either ''ipso jure'' in a building ...
(HOA), whose members are the unit owners, manages the condominium through a board of directors elected by the membership. This exists under various names depending on the jurisdiction, such as "unit title", "sectional title", "
commonhold
Commonhold is a system of property ownership in England and Wales. It involves the indefinite freehold tenure of part of a multi-occupancy building (typically a flat) with shared ownership of and responsibility for common areas and services. It ha ...
", "strata council", or "
tenant-owner's association
A housing cooperative, or housing co-op, is a legal entity, usually a cooperative or a corporation, which owns real estate, consisting of one or more residential buildings; it is one type of housing tenure. Housing cooperatives are a distinc ...
", "body corporate", "Owners Corporation", "condominium corporation" or "condominium association". Another variation of this concept is the "time share", although not all time shares are condominiums, and not all time shares involve actual ownership of (i.e., deeded title to) real property. Condominiums may be found in both
civil law and
common law
In law, common law (also known as judicial precedent, judge-made law, or case law) is the body of law created by judges and similar quasi-judicial tribunals by virtue of being stated in written opinions."The common law is not a brooding omnipresen ...
legal systems as it is purely a creation of
statute
A statute is a formal written enactment of a legislative authority that governs the legal entities of a city, state, or country by way of consent. Typically, statutes command or prohibit something, or declare policy. Statutes are rules made by le ...
. Among other things, the HOA assesses unit owners for the costs of maintaining the common areas, etc. That is, the HOA decides how much each owner should pay and has the legal power to collect that.
Unit description
![The Cosmopolitan Singapore](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c4/The_Cosmopolitan_Singapore.jpg)
The description of the condominium units and the common areas and any restrictions on their use are established in a document commonly called a "Master Deed" (also known as the "Enabling Declaration", the "Declaration of Conditions", or the "Condominium Document"). Among other things, this document provides for the creation of the HOA. Rules of governance for the association are usually covered under a separate set of bylaws that generally govern the internal affairs of the condominium. Condominium bylaws usually establish the responsibilities of the owners' association; the voting procedures to be used at
association meetings; the qualifications, powers, and duties of the board of directors; the powers and duties of the officers; and the obligations of the owners with regard to assessments, maintenance, and use of the units and common areas. Finally, a set of rules and regulations providing specific details of restrictions on the conduct of unit owners and residents are established by the HOA.
These are more readily amendable than the declaration or association bylaws, typically requiring only a vote of the HOA board. Typical rules include mandatory maintenance fees (perhaps collected monthly), pet restrictions, and color/design choices visible from the exterior of the units. Generally, these sets of rules and regulations are made available to residents and or as a matter of public record, via a condominium or homeowners association website, or through public files, depending on the state and its applicable laws. Condominiums are usually owned in
fee simple
In English law, a fee simple or fee simple absolute is an estate in land, a form of freehold ownership. A "fee" is a vested, inheritable, present possessory interest in land. A "fee simple" is real property held without limit of time (i.e., perm ...
title
A title is one or more words used before or after a person's name, in certain contexts. It may signify either generation, an official position, or a professional or academic qualification. In some languages, titles may be inserted between the f ...
, but can be owned in ways that other
real estate
Real estate is property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this (also) an item of real property, (more general ...
can be owned, such as title held in
trust
Trust often refers to:
* Trust (social science), confidence in or dependence on a person or quality
It may also refer to:
Business and law
* Trust law, a body of law under which one person holds property for the benefit of another
* Trust (bus ...
. In some jurisdictions, such as
Ontario
Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...
, Canada, or
Hawaii
Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...
USA, there are "leasehold condominiums" where the development is built on leased land.
In general, condominium unit owners can
rent
Rent may refer to:
Economics
*Renting, an agreement where a payment is made for the temporary use of a good, service or property
*Economic rent, any payment in excess of the cost of production
*Rent-seeking, attempting to increase one's share of e ...
their home to
tenant
Tenant may refer to:
Real estate
*Tenant, the holder of a leasehold estate in real estate
*Tenant-in-chief, in feudal land law
*Tenement (law), the holder of a legal interest in real estate
*Tenant farmer
*Anchor tenant, one of the larger stores ...
s, similar to renting out other real estates, although leasing rights may be subject to conditions or restrictions set forth in the declaration (such as a rental cap for the total number of units in a community that can be leased at one time) or otherwise as permitted by local law.
Non-residential uses
Condominium ownership is also used, albeit less frequently, for non-residential land uses: offices, hotel rooms, retail shops, private airports, marinas, group housing facilities (retirement homes or dormitories), bare land (in
British Columbia
British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...
) and
storage. The legal structure is the same, and many of the benefits are similar; for instance, a nonprofit corporation may face a lower tax liability in an office condominium than in an office rented from a taxable, for-profit company. However, the frequent turnover of commercial land uses in particular can make the inflexibility of condominium arrangements problematic.
By country
Australia
In Australia, condominiums are known as "
strata title schemes" or "community title schemes".
Canada
One in eight Canadian households lived in condominium dwellings, colloquially known as "condos", mostly located in a few censuses metropolitan areas according to
Statistics Canada
Statistics Canada (StatCan; french: Statistique Canada), formed in 1971, is the agency of the Government of Canada commissioned with producing statistics to help better understand Canada, its population, resources, economy, society, and cultur ...
Condominiums exist in most parts of Canada though more common in larger cities. They are regulated under provincial or territorial legislation and specific legal details vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. In most parts of Canada, they are referred to as Condominiums, except in
British Columbia
British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...
where they are referred to as a ''strata'' and in
Quebec
Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...
where they are referred to as ''syndicates of co-ownership''.
The townhouse complex of Brentwood Village in
Edmonton
Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...
,
Alberta
Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...
, was the first condominium development in Canada (registered in 1967).
With regular condominiums, the unit owner usually owns the internal unit space and a share of the corporation; the corporation owns the exterior of the building land and common area; in the case of a ''freehold condominium'' the owner owns the land and building and the corporation owns common shared roadways and amenities.
[ The ''Canadian Condominium Institute'' is a non-profit association of condominium owners and corporations with chapters in each province and territory.][ The ''Condo Owners Association'' COA Ontario is a non-profit association representing condominium owners with divisions across the province and districts within the various municipalities.
]
Denmark
Apartments (Danish ''ejerlejlighed'', literally "owner-apartment") comprise some 5% of Danish homes.
They are traded and mortgaged on the same markets as free-standing houses, and are treated legally much like other forms of real estate. Each owner-tenant directly owns their own apartment; the rest of the building and the ground on which it stands is owned jointly by the apartment owners who execute their joint ownership through an ''owner's association''. The expenses of maintaining the joint property are shared ''pro rata'' among the owners.
Another 5% of Danish homes are in housing cooperative
A housing cooperative, or housing co-op, is a legal entity, usually a cooperative or a corporation, which owns real estate, consisting of one or more residential buildings; it is one type of housing tenure. Housing cooperatives are a distinc ...
s (Danish ''andelsbolig''), which occupy a legal position intermediate between condominiums and housing association
In Ireland and the United Kingdom, housing associations are private, Non-profit organization, non-profit making organisations that provide low-cost "Public housing in the United Kingdom, social housing" for people in need of a home. Any budge ...
s. The entire property is legally owned by a non-profit corporation in which the tenants own shares; each share carries the right and duty to lease an apartment from the cooperative. Shares can be bought and sold, but often the cooperative's rules strictly limit the price for which they may change hands. (In contrast, condominiums are traded on a free market). Because the official share prices are often lower than the market value and sellers often retain the freedom to select whom to sell to, under-the-table payments are common.
Current public policy favors condominiums over housing cooperatives, and recent legislation has aimed at making the latter more condominium-like. For example, since 2005, cooperative shares may be used to secure bank loans. (However, Danish mortgage banks still may not mortgage individual housing cooperative apartments).
England and Wales, UK
In England and Wales
England and Wales () is one of the three legal jurisdictions of the United Kingdom. It covers the constituent countries England and Wales and was formed by the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. The substantive law of the jurisdiction is Eng ...
, the equivalent of a condominium is commonhold
Commonhold is a system of property ownership in England and Wales. It involves the indefinite freehold tenure of part of a multi-occupancy building (typically a flat) with shared ownership of and responsibility for common areas and services. It ha ...
, a form of ownership introduced in September 2004. As of 3 June 2009, there were 12 commonhold residential developments comprising 97 units in England and one commonhold residential development, comprising 30 units, in Wales. "Condominium" is not a term that is widely used in England and Wales, as commonhold is a creature of statute and comparatively rare, and condominiums are more likely to be found in the form of leaseholds.
In English law, it is not possible to enforce a positive covenant on successive owners of freehold land, other than to maintain a boundary fence, without creating an elaborate trust. A positive covenant is, broadly, one that involves the expenditure of money to perform.
This did not create a significant problem until the 1950s when "flats" (where ownership is divided horizontally) first began to appear on the market as more affordable, particularly for first-time buyers. Until then flats had been confined to short-term unsaleable tenancies, with varying degrees of statutory rent protection and security of tenure.
It was soon learned that freehold flats were an unsatisfactory form of ownership because it was not possible to impose essential maintenance requirements. As such, flats became virtually unmarketable because they were an unacceptable form of security to lenders. Thus solicitors, the principal property lawyers in England and Wales in those days, began to use leases instead, where such limitations did not apply.
Progress was haphazard and piecemeal, but over time things became more standard. Improvements became universal as institutional lenders refused to advance money on the security of flats unless certain basic provisions were included. This benefited owners whether or not they borrowed money since the purchase was invariably conducted through a solicitor or licensed conveyancer trained to reject leases failing to meet the necessary standards.
Despite these standards, the actual form of leasehold systems is variable. Highly favoured are arrangements where the leases are granted out of a freehold owned by a corporation, itself owned by individual leaseholders. This provides an opportunity for them to participate in the proper management of the block. Again, the quality of management is very variable.
The statute creating commonholds was motivated by a desire to eliminate some of the problems and perceived injustices, such as the commercial exploitation of "lessees" by freeholders as their leases began to have too little time left to satisfy lenders. Since most leasehold developments are undertaken by commercial entities, commonholds did not become widespread. There are, however, other statutes in place that give some degree of protection for leaseholders. It is, nevertheless, essential to consider proper legal advice whenever engaged in the purchase of a flat, for the requirements for a fully marketable flat remain complex.
Law of Property Act 1925
The Law of Property Act 1925c 20 is a statute of the United Kingdom Parliament. It forms part of an interrelated programme of legislation introduced by Lord Chancellor Lord Birkenhead between 1922 and 1925. The programme was intended to moderni ...
, s.153, contains provisions for the "enlargement" of leases into freeholds, one of the effects of which is to preserve the enforceability of positive covenants contained in the lease against the resulting freehold. There are clear, but stringent, requirements. Artificial schemes using the provisions to create enforceable positive covenants in freehold blocks of flats were occasionally mooted but never gained currency.
Scotland has a separate legal system from England and Wales and is a separate consideration.
Finland
In Finland, a condominium-like arrangement where the ownership of the real estate is assigned to specific apartments ( fi, hallinnanjakosopimus, sv, avtal om delning av besittningen) is usually used only with detached
A stand-alone house (also called a single-detached dwelling, detached residence or detached house) is a free-standing residential building. It is sometimes referred to as a single-family home, as opposed to a multi-family residential dwelli ...
or semi-detached
A semi-detached house (often abbreviated to semi) is a single family duplex dwelling house that shares one common wall with the next house. The name distinguishes this style of house from detached houses, with no shared walls, and terraced house ...
houses.
A housing cooperative
A housing cooperative, or housing co-op, is a legal entity, usually a cooperative or a corporation, which owns real estate, consisting of one or more residential buildings; it is one type of housing tenure. Housing cooperatives are a distinc ...
is a common form of home ownership in Finland. Owning shares that correspond to one apartment in a housing company is generally considered as much ''owning your own home'' as actually directly owning a (single family) house. However, shares are not considered as real estate
Real estate is property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this (also) an item of real property, (more general ...
but as personal property
property is property that is movable. In common law systems, personal property may also be called chattels or personalty. In civil law systems, personal property is often called movable property or movables—any property that can be moved fr ...
and the co-op can take possession of the apartment for a term time and evict the tenant or owner because of disturbance or unpaid maintenance fees.
Finnish housing cooperatives are incorporated as (non-profit) limited-liability companies ( fi, asunto-osakeyhtiö
''Osakeyhtiö'' (; " stock company"), often abbreviated to Oy (), is the term for a Finnish limited company (e.g., Ltd, LLC, or GmbH). The Swedish-language term is '' aktiebolag'', often abbreviated (in Finland) to Ab. The Swedish abbreviati ...
, sv, bostadsaktiebolag), where one share usually represents one square meter (sometimes ten) of the apartment.
Membership in a condo is obtained by buying the shares on the open market, most often through a real estate agent. No board approval is needed to buy shares, but in some cases other stockholders or the housing cooperative itself has the right to claim the stocks being sold. There is usually no requirement for the owner(s) to live in the condo. Owning apartments for rent is a common form of saving and private investment in Finland.
Germany
In Germany, Condominiums are known as "Eigentumswohnung" and the most important law considering condominiums is the German Condominium Act (WEG). It's the basis for all legal regulations involving individual freehold ownership, the rights, and duties of homeowner associations, and the management of condominiums. The Act dates back to 1951, but it was re-enacted in 2007. Now homeowners are invested with partial legal capacity, which means that the homeowner association represents an entity with rights and duties that may include contracts. The right of ownership is divided in the first article of the German Condominium Act into homeownership, individual freehold ownership, part ownership, and commonhold ownership.
Greece
In Greece condominiums became very popular in the 1960s. It's a building one sees everywhere in Greece, since most of its population lives in big cities. They are known as "πολυκατοικίες" ('' polykatoikíes'', pronounced "poh-lee-kah-tee-kee-es"), literally "multi-residences".
Hong Kong
Condominiums are known as "private housing estates" (as opposed to "public housing estates") in Hong Kong.
Hungary
Condominiums are a very common form of real estate ownership in contemporary Hungary, as most state- or municipality-owned apartments were privatized following the end of socialism in Hungary
Communism, Communist rule in the People's Republic of Hungary came to an end in 1989 by a peaceful transition of power, peaceful transition to a democratic system. After the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 was suppressed by Soviet forces, Hungary ...
in 1989. Historically, condominiums ( hu, társasház) were formalized as a legal ownership structure as early as 1924.
Condominiums in Hungary are traded and mortgaged on the same market as any free-standing single-family home ( hu, kertesház; "garden-house"), and are treated much like other forms of real estate. The condominium acts as a non-profit legal entity maintaining the common areas of the property, and is managed by a representative ( hu, közös képviselő) elected by the owners' convention. Historically, this representative was one of the owners themselves; in the 21st century, however, the owners' convention typically hires a professional building manager who does not personally live in the building. Decisions that involve changes to the terms and conditions, or larger common expenses, still need to be approved by the convention, however. Voting power is based on the percentage of property owned.
India
In India, condominiums are known as "Apartments" or "Apartment Buildings/Complexes" or "Societies" or "Flats". Each building consists of multiple floors and flats/living units with different configurations. The most common configurations are "1-BHK", "2-BHK" and "3-BHK" (BHK stands for bedroom-hall-kitchen).
The association of homeowners is usually called a Co-operative Housing Society (CHS) or Co-operative Group Housing Society (CGHS), which needs to be registered with the municipal authorities.
Israel
In Israel, condominiums (known ''"בתים משותפים"'', "shared houses" or "cooperative houses") are a common form of home ownership. Public housing has historically been organized as subsidized purchases and mortgages in government-constructed condominiums.
Italy
In Italy, the condominium (''"Condominio"'') is governed by law, last reformed in 2012. Co-ownership of the common parts of the buildings (such as the stairs, main walls, facades, roof, and courtyards) is mandatory: a landlord can not give up the right on common parts for not paying the costs. Each owner's quota in the condominium is expressed in thousandths (''"millesimi"'') of the whole; these are used to determine majorities in owners' assemblies (''"assemblee condominiali"'').
The Netherlands
See housing cooperative
A housing cooperative, or housing co-op, is a legal entity, usually a cooperative or a corporation, which owns real estate, consisting of one or more residential buildings; it is one type of housing tenure. Housing cooperatives are a distinc ...
under ''owners association''.
Norway
Condominiums (Norwegian ''Eierseksjon'') was formally introduced in 1983. Approximately 19% of Norwegian homes are condominiums, as approximately 50% of the owner-occupied flats and duplexes, approximately 30% of the rowhouses, and 2.5% of the detached houses are organized as condominiums.
Pakistan
The title "Condominiums" is not used in Pakistan rather they are called "Flats" for average-style buildings while "Complexes" for sophisticated and larger buildings. The minimum number of floors for a building to be classified as "Flats" is four, with a requirement for having at least one elevator or lift for buildings upwards of four floors. Almost all have a separate room called the "Drawing Room", used for guest entertainment purposes. However, its use as a TV room and dining room is common. Another unique feature is the balcony or "terrace", which is standard for all flats.
Philippines
In the Philippines, condominiums are classified into three types: low-rise, mid-rise, and high-rise. Condos have a special type of ownership title called a CCT - condominium certificate of title. Condominiums usually have amenities, like swimming pools, owned parking, a clubhouse, and a building for administration.
Russia
Initially, the concept of a condominium was introduced by the Federal Law “On the Fundamentals of the Federal Housing Policy” No. 4218-1 dated December 24, 1992: “Condominium is an association of owners of residential premises in apartment buildings with the establishment of conditions for joint ownership and use of inter-apartment stairs, elevators, corridors, roofs, technical basements, non-apartment engineering equipment, adjacent territory, and other common areas.
Singapore
In Singapore
Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...
and Malaysia
Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...
, "Condo" or "Condominium" are terms used for housing buildings with some special luxury features like security guards, swimming pools, or tennis courts.
In Singapore, most houses without such features are built by the governmental Housing Development Board (HDB), and such HDB units can be possessed for rent or individually bought from the government. Condominiums and HDB flats make up the overwhelming majority of available residential housing in the country.
South Africa
In South Africa, condominiums are known as "Sectional Title" properties and are governed by the Sectional Titles Act No. 95 of 1986. Town-house complexes and many apartment blocks typically have this form of title. The owners of the complex constitute the Body Corporate, and the Body Corporate elects a group of Trustees to manage the day-to-day management of the complex, who often hire a company specialising in complex management, known as a Managing Agent.
Spain
In Spain, condominiums are known as "comunidad de propietarios" (legal term) and "comunidad de vecinos" (popular term), and are governed by the Ley de Propiedad Horizontal (L.P.H.) which significantly extends the Spanish Civil Code. L.P.H. became the law in 1960 and more than half of the Spanish population live in condominiums. According to INE
INE, Ine or ine may refer to:
Institutions
* Institut für Nukleare Entsorgung, a German nuclear research center
* Instituto Nacional de Estadística (disambiguation)
* Instituto Nacional de Estatística (disambiguation)
* Instituto Nacional Elec ...
, there are almost 840,000 condominiums in Spain which comprise around 9 million habitat buildings.
Sweden
On 1 May 2009, condominiums (''ägarlägenheter'') became available for the first time under Swedish law. Of the 14,447 newly built apartments completed in 2009, only six were condominiums. A majority of production, 7,723 units, were apartments in housing cooperative
A housing cooperative, or housing co-op, is a legal entity, usually a cooperative or a corporation, which owns real estate, consisting of one or more residential buildings; it is one type of housing tenure. Housing cooperatives are a distinc ...
s (''bostadsrättslägenheter''), the traditional form of owner-occupied apartment housing. As of late 2014, there were 955 condominiums total throughout all of Sweden.
Thailand
Nationwide, as of February 2018, Bangkok represented 58% of Thailand's new construction condominium market while the other provinces accounted for the remaining 42%. The unit type has seen steady growth in the Thai market over the previous decades, in contrast to the declining percentage in the traditional detached house. The condo development trend continues nationwide as dozens of projects are in progress in Bangkok, several others are underway in the Eastern Economic Corridor
The Eastern Economic Corridor (Abbreviation, Abrv: EEC; th, ระเบียงเศรษฐกิจภาคตะวันออก, Rabīang Sētthakit Phāk Tawan-ǭk, ) officially the Eastern Special Development Zone (ESDZ), is a specia ...
provinces of Chon Buri and Rayong, and to the west in Phetchaburi and Prachuap Khiri Khan.
United States of America
The first condominium law passed in the United States of America was in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and unincorporate ...
in 1958. In 1960, the first condominium in the continental U.S. was built in Salt Lake City
Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the county seat, seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Sal ...
, Utah. The legal concept had spread to the U.S. from Europe via the Caribbean (Puerto Rico and Cuba) but throughout the 1960s it was widely and erroneously reported that the concept had arisen in the U.S. directly based on a Roman model. In fact, the concept of an estate in the air was antithetical to Roman law, and there is no evidence of an ancient Roman ''condominio''.
Section 234 of the Housing Act of 1961 allowed the Federal Housing Administration
The Federal Housing Administration (FHA), also known as the Office of Housing within the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), is a United States government agency founded by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, created in part ...
to insure mortgages on condominiums, leading to a vast increase in the funds available for condominiums, and to condominium laws in every state by 1969. Since then, the term ‘condominium’, or ‘condo’ for short, has become a household word in the U.S. Many Americans' first widespread awareness of condominium life came not from its largest cities but from South Florida
South Florida is the southernmost region of the U.S. state of Florida. It is one of Florida's three most commonly referred to directional regions; the other two are Central Florida and North Florida. South Florida is the southernmost part of th ...
, where developers had imported the condominium concept from Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and Unincorporated ...
and used it to sell thousands of inexpensive homes to retirees arriving flush with cash from the urban northern U.S.
The primary attraction to this type of ownership is the ability to obtain affordable housing in a highly desirable area that typically is beyond economic reach. Additionally, such properties benefit from having restrictions that maintain and enhance value, providing control over blight that plagues some neighborhoods.
Over the past several decades, the residential condominium industry has been booming in some metropolitan areas, such as Miami
Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...
, San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...
, Seattle
Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...
, Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
, Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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, Austin
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...
, Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
, and New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
. However, in recent years, supply within the condo industry has caught up with demand, and sales have slowed. It is now in a slowdown phase.
An alternative form of ownership, popular in parts of the U.S. but found also in other common law
In law, common law (also known as judicial precedent, judge-made law, or case law) is the body of law created by judges and similar quasi-judicial tribunals by virtue of being stated in written opinions."The common law is not a brooding omnipresen ...
jurisdictions, is housing cooperative
A housing cooperative, or housing co-op, is a legal entity, usually a cooperative or a corporation, which owns real estate, consisting of one or more residential buildings; it is one type of housing tenure. Housing cooperatives are a distinc ...
, also known as "company share" or "co-op". A Housing Cooperative is where the building has an associated legal company
A company, abbreviated as co., is a Legal personality, legal entity representing an association of people, whether Natural person, natural, Legal person, legal or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members share a common p ...
and ownership of shares gives the right to a lease
A lease is a contractual arrangement calling for the user (referred to as the ''lessee'') to pay the owner (referred to as the ''lessor'') for the use of an asset. Property, buildings and vehicles are common assets that are leased. Industrial ...
for the residence of a unit. Another form is ground rent
As a legal term, ground rent specifically refers to regular payments made by a holder of a leasehold property to the freeholder or a superior leaseholder, as required under a lease. In this sense, a ground rent is created when a freehold piece of ...
(''solarium'') in which a single landlord retains ownership of the land (''solum'') but leases the surface rights (''superficies'') which renew in perpetuity or over a very long term. This is comparable to a civil-law emphyteusis
Emphyteusis (Greek: implanting) is a contract for land that allows the holder the right to the enjoyment of a property, often in perpetuity, on condition of proper care, payment of tax and rent. The right encompasses assignment and of descent.
His ...
, except that emphyteusis shifts the duties of up-keep and making improvements onto the renter.
In the U.S., there are several different styles of condominium complexes. For example, a garden condominium complex consists of low-rise buildings built with landscaped grounds surrounding them. A townhouse
A townhouse, townhome, town house, or town home, is a type of terraced housing. A modern townhouse is often one with a small footprint on multiple floors. In a different British usage, the term originally referred to any type of city residence ...
condominium complex consists of multi-floor semi-detached homes. In condominium townhouses, the purchaser owns only the interior, while the building itself is owned by a condominium corporation. The corporation is jointly owned by all the owners and charges them fees for general maintenance and major repairs. Freehold
Freehold may refer to:
In real estate
*Freehold (law), the tenure of property in fee simple
*Customary freehold, a form of feudal tenure of land in England
*Parson's freehold, where a Church of England rector or vicar of holds title to benefice p ...
townhouses are exclusively owned, without any condominium aspects. In the U.S., this type of ownership is called fee simple
In English law, a fee simple or fee simple absolute is an estate in land, a form of freehold ownership. A "fee" is a vested, inheritable, present possessory interest in land. A "fee simple" is real property held without limit of time (i.e., perm ...
.
Image:WilshireRegent.jpg, The Wilshire Regent
The Wilshire Regent is a 23-story, full service condominium skyscraper in the Wilshire Corridor section of Westwood, Los Angeles, California and the 103rd tallest building in Los Angeles.
History
The Wilshire Regent was originally construct ...
condominiums in Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
, U.S.
Image:aqualbview.jpg, Aqua waterfront condominiums in Long Beach, California
Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California.
Incorporate ...
, U.S.
Image:1224DearbornChicago.jpg, A historic mansion converted into condominiums in Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
, image_map =
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, U.S.
Image:Endeavour Luxury Condominiums on Clear Lake.jpg, Endeavour Luxury Condominiums on Clear Lake, near Galveston Bay
New York's Condominium Act was passed in 1964. The first condominium building was the St. Tropez Condominium in Manhattan
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
built in 1965.
See also
* Apartment
An apartment (American English), or flat (British English, Indian English, South African English), is a self-contained housing unit (a type of residential real estate) that occupies part of a building, generally on a single story. There are ma ...
* Canadian Condominium Institute
The Canadian Condominium Institute (CCI) is an independent, non-profit organization formed in 1982 to represent all facets of the condominium/ strata community. It has 17 Chapters across Canada.
Origins
Toronto property manager David Medhurst e ...
* Car condo
Like a traditional condominium, a car condo is real estate where the owner owns or leases the unit where the car is stored. The common areas of the car condo building are jointly owned by all the tenants and the car condo owner pays a monthly mai ...
* Common-interest development
Common-interest development (CID) is the fastest growing form of housing in the world today. They include condominiums, community apartments, planned developments, and stock cooperatives. A CID's ownership benefits are having rights to an undiv ...
* Community Associations Institute
The Community Associations Institute (CAI) is an international trade association and special interest group headquartered in Falls Church, Virginia, with more than 60 chapters in the United States that asserts that it provides "education and r ...
* Condo conversion In real estate, a condominium conversion or condo conversion is the process of entitling an income property or other lands currently held under one title to convert from sole ownership of the entire property (which often already is a multi unit prop ...
* Condo Owners Association
A homeowner association (or homeowners' association, abbreviated HOA, sometimes referred to as a property owners' association or POA), or a homeowner community, is a private association-like entity often formed either ''ipso jure'' in a building ...
* Condop
The term condop in real estate refers to a mixed-use condominium building where at least one of the units is owned by a cooperative corporation and sub-divided into many "co-op" apartments. The other condo units are typically retained or sold s ...
* Dockominium {{no footnotes, date=September 2019
A dockominium is the water-based version of a Condominium (living space), condominium; rather than owning an apartment in a building, one owns a Slipway, boat slip on the water. The term is a portmanteau of "dock" ...
, a water-based version
* Home insurance
Home insurance, also commonly called homeowner's insurance (often abbreviated in the US real estate industry as HOI), is a type of property insurance that covers a private residence. It is an insurance policy that combines various personal insura ...
* Housing cooperative
A housing cooperative, or housing co-op, is a legal entity, usually a cooperative or a corporation, which owns real estate, consisting of one or more residential buildings; it is one type of housing tenure. Housing cooperatives are a distinc ...
* List of condominiums in Canada
This is a list of articles of notable condominiums located in Canada.
Residential condominiums
Condo hotels
See also
* List of condominiums in the United States
A condominium or "condo" is a form of housing tenure and other real property ...
* Microapartment
A microapartment, also known as a microflat, is a one-room, self-contained living space, usually purpose built, designed to accommodate a sitting space, sleeping space, bathroom and kitchenette with 14–32 square metres (150–350 sq ft). Unlike ...
* Multi-family residential
Multifamily residential (also known as multidwelling unit or MDU) is a classification of housing where multiple separate housing units for residential inhabitants are contained within one building or several buildings within one complex. Units ca ...
* Mutual organization
A mutual organization, or mutual society is an organization (which is often, but not always, a company or business) based on the principle of mutuality and governed by private law. Unlike a true cooperative, members usually do not contribute to ...
* Private housing estates in Hong Kong
Private housing estate is a term used in Hong Kong for private mass housing – a housing estate developed by a private developer, as opposed to a public housing estate built by the Hong Kong Housing Authority or the Hong Kong Housing Soci ...
* Property management
Property management is the operation, control, maintenance, and oversight of real estate and physical property. This can include residential, commercial, and land real estate. Management indicates the need for real estate to be cared for and monit ...
* Studio apartment
A studio apartment, also known as a studio flat ( UK), a self-contained apartment (Nigeria), efficiency apartment, bed-sitter (Kenya) or bachelor apartment, is a small apartment (rarely a condo) in which the normal functions of a number of ro ...
References
External links
*
* Official Website.
* Official Website.
* Official Website.
{{Authority control
Real property law
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