Registering a Condominium in Israel
In a building not registered as a condominium, an apartment has no sub-parcel of its own and its owner has no independent entry in the Land Registry. That affects sale, mortgage and the running of the building. This guide explains what registration covers, who is obliged to carry it out, and what owners can do when it is delayed.
What a condominium is
A condominium is a building of two or more apartments registered in the Condominium Register under Chapter Six of the Land Law, 5729-1969. Registration divides the parcel into sub-parcels: each apartment becomes an independent registration unit, with a share in the common property alongside it.
Until registration, the whole building is a single parcel, and the apartment owners hold undivided shares in it or merely contractual rights. The difference is not technical: it goes to what exactly is being sold, what is charged to the bank, and who decides about the common property.
In the words of section 52 of the Land Law, the definitions section: a “condominium” is “a building containing two or more apartments which is registered in the condominium register”. A two-family house may also be registered in the condominium register where all the owners of the properties involved have consented.
Who is responsible for registration
On a purchase from a developer, the obligation to register falls on the seller. The Sale (Apartments) Law, 5733-1973, requires the seller to act to register the condominium and to register the buyer rights within the period set by the Law: section 6B(2) requires registration in the condominium register within one year of registration of the consolidation and division of the land or of the apartment being placed at the buyer’s disposal, whichever is later.
In practice registration is sometimes delayed for years, because building irregularities have not been resolved, because there is no completion certificate, or because consolidation and division of the parcel is held up. Delay does not extinguish the obligation, and the courts have awarded buyers damages for failure to complete registration.
In an older building not sold by a developer, the initiative lies with the owners themselves, and it usually calls for organising together.
The documents and the registration order
Registration is carried out by the Registrar of Land Registration at the Land Registry Office. The three central documents are:
- The application, on the prescribed form.
- The plan, prepared by an architect, engineer or licensed surveyor, who certifies by signature that it reflects the building and the apartments as built and does not exceed the parcel boundaries.
- The registration order, setting out each apartment: its position in the building, its area, its description, its share in the common property, and the attachments and charges affecting it.
A gap between the plan and what stands on the ground is the common cause of delay. A building where balconies have been enclosed or storerooms and extensions added without a permit cannot be registered until that is resolved.
The application is filed with the Authority for the Registration and Settlement of Land Rights on the “application to register a condominium” form. The plan also requires the approval of the local planning and building committee, and where a planning note is registered against the parcel, a further approval from the planning institution. The bylaws, agreed or standard, are attached to the application. Filing carries a fee, whose current amount is checked on the government payments service or at the land registry office.
Amending the registration order. Amendment is needed where an error crept into the registration, where building changes or additions were made, or where the structure was altered or demolished. The procedure follows section 145 of the Land Law, and the required documents vary with the type of change. Cancelling the building’s registration in the register requires the consent of all the apartment owners, and only then may the Supervisor cancel it.
The bylaws
The bylaws are the document governing relations between the owners: use of the common property, contribution to expenses, and management of the building. There are two kinds.
- The standard bylaws, set out in the Schedule to the Land Law, apply automatically to any condominium that has not registered other bylaws.
- Agreed bylaws, drawn up and agreed by the owners. To bind a future purchaser they must be registered. Bylaws that were not registered bind only those who signed them.
Bylaws cannot take away an owner right without that owner consent. A change that alters an attachment or affects a particular owner proprietary right requires that owner personal agreement; a majority is not enough.
Attachments and common property
The common property is everything that is not part of an apartment: the land, the roof, the stairwell, the lift, the shelter, the systems and the yard. It belongs to all the owners in proportionate shares.
An attachment takes part of the common property and assigns it to a particular apartment: a parking space, a storeroom, a roof, a balcony or a yard. The attachment is recorded in the registration order and in the extract, and it becomes an inseparable part of the apartment it is attached to.
This is exactly what buyers miss. A parking space in actual use but not attached in the register is not part of the rights being sold. Attachments are checked in the extract and the plan before signature, not on a visit to the property.
When the building is not registered
A building not registered as a condominium is not outside the law. The Land Law applies parallel provisions to such buildings on management and common property, and the Registrar has jurisdiction over disputes between the owners. But the practical consequences are real:
- No sub-parcel for the apartment, so the right is sometimes held through a housing company or remains purely contractual.
- Difficulty on sale, because a buyer cannot verify from the extract what exactly is being sold.
- Financing limits, where the bank conditions or qualifies the mortgage.
- Uncertainty about attachments, which is a common source of neighbour disputes.
Owners in such a building have two routes: pursuing the developer to perform the registration obligation, including by claim, or initiating the registration themselves and sharing the cost. In both cases the first step is establishing what exactly is blocking registration.
Every case is examined on its own facts. For a consultation with a lawyer from the real estate department call 02-5953322, send a WhatsApp message to 050-4411343 or leave your details in the form below, and we will get back to you as soon as possible.
The Supreme Court addressed this deterrent effect (in free translation from the Hebrew):
“A potential buyer may be deterred from a transaction in land which for so long has not been registered in the seller’s name. So prolonged a delay may raise in such a buyer’s heart the fear that there is some defect in the seller’s rights, and cause him to lose interest in the apartment without inquiring deeply into the reason for the delay.”
CA 532/83 Yehuda Sinai Investments Ltd v. Fishel
And the damage does not stop with the first buyer. Second-hand buyers, who bought from someone not yet registered as owner, are harmed as well:
“The absence of condominium registration affects not only those who bought apartments directly from the defendant but also the people who bought apartments from the defendant’s buyers... Registration of the building as a condominium is a registration of property rights, and it operates against the whole world. The considerable delay in registering the condominium therefore certainly caused damage also to people who did not contract directly with the defendant.”
CC 42781-01-12 Lazarev v. Neot Hadassah Yizum Ltd
What people ask most often
Our building is not registered as a condominium. Is that lawful?
Why is registration stuck?
I have used my parking space for years. Is it mine?
Do the bylaws we signed bind a new purchaser?
Can bylaws be changed by a majority?
All Real Estate Department pages
Registration stuck, or you do not know whether it was completed
We run the condominium registration from start to finish: the plan, the by-laws, the attachments and the registration. Tell us about the building and the current state of registration, and we will lead the process for you.