Description of the immovable

Co-ownership is a collective property in which the co-owners have a right of ownership over their respective fraction: each co-owner has an undivided right to the common portions while he will have an exclusive right of ownership over his private portion. This is how you purchase an apartment in a building in divided co-ownership, you become the owner of your dwelling (private portion), but also owner of an undivided part of the building called common portion  (for example: the ground, balconies, major components such as foundations and main walls).

This, taken as a whole, including the common and private portion, is designated in legalese as: a fraction.

Private portions

The fractions may contain one or more private portions. They are described in the declaration of co-ownership in the Section entitled the Description of the fractions, and they are physically identifiable. They may include an apartment, but also a parking space or a parcel of land (for example in townhouses or semi-detached homes).

Exclusive right of enjoyment

The declaration of co-ownership sometimes grants to the purchaser an exclusive right of enjoyment in certain common portions and common portions for restrictive use, such as a storage locker or a parking space. It is therefore essential that the notary preparing the deed identifies adequately, in your deed of purchase, the or those private portions that you are buying and the exclusive rights of enjoyment in the common portions to which you are entitled.

Detailed description

The deed of sale must contain a detailed description of the immovable, including:

• The address;
• The cadastral description of the apartment (number or numbers of the private lots);
• The cadastral description and the identification number of the parking and storage spaces, as the case may be;
• The cadastral description of the common portions (number or numbers of the common lots);
• The identification numbers of the storage and parking spaces allocated as common portions for restricted use as the case may be.

WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW! The declaration of co-ownership may grant to you the exclusive use of certain common portions, such as a balcony contiguous to your private portion. Also, certain private portions are not contiguous to the apartment. The storage spaces are generally situated in the basement of the immovable. The notary should verify if any such common portion for restrictive use has been allocated to the proper person and that its location is in conformity with the allocation plan filed in the register of the co-ownership.

WHAT TO KEEP IN MIND: The fractions are described in the declaration of co-ownership, in the chapter entitled Description of fractions, and are materially identifiable. A fraction may have one or more private parts. It may include an apartment, but also a parking space or a parcel of land (e.g. town houses)

WARNING! An apartment and a parking space cannot be sold separately when they are a single fraction, even if they have their own lot number.

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