Housing Community (Condominium Association)
The collective body of all owners of separately-owned units in a given building, arising automatically by operation of law and responsible for managing the shared property — the parts of the building and land not exclusive to any single owner.
Сфера дії: Польща.
Визначення
The housing community (wspólnota mieszkaniowa) is governed by the Act of 24 June 1994 on the Ownership of Premises. It arises automatically as soon as separate ownership is established for even a single unit in a building — no registration or founding agreement is required.
Since a 1 January 2020 amendment to the act, a "small community" is one with no more than 3 separately-owned units, managed under the Civil Code's rules on co-ownership, with decisions usually requiring unanimous agreement. As soon as a 4th unit is separated out, the building automatically becomes a "large community," which must have a board or a professional manager, holds an annual owners' meeting, and passes resolutions by majority vote weighted by each owner's share in the shared property — a share proportional to the usable floor area of their unit. Before that 2020 amendment, the threshold sat at 7 units, so older sources still describing a 7-unit cutoff are out of date.
The community is responsible for maintaining the shared parts of the building, funded by the administrative fee that unit owners pay in.
Приклади
In a block of flats where the first unit is sold into separate ownership, a housing community automatically comes into existence covering all current and future unit owners.
At a large community's annual meeting, owners vote on a resolution to repair the roof — votes are weighted by the size of each owner's share, not by the number of people present.
A buyer purchasing one of four units in a subdivided townhouse learns that, since the fourth unit was separated out, the building is legally a large community and its owners must formally elect a board.
Як це впливає на купівлю та продаж
A buyer of a resale apartment should check the community's financial health — outstanding arrears, planned renovations, the size of the renovation fund — since acquiring a unit automatically makes the buyer a member of the community, co-responsible for its liabilities in proportion to their share. Tenants are not members of the community and do not vote on its resolutions — that right belongs only to the unit owner.
