Joint ownership

Is there a joint ownership agreement for your building?

Information on this is available from the respective district commissioner. If a joint ownership agreement is not available or if it is insufficient, a house meeting needs to be held and a decision taken to prepare a joint ownership agreement for the building.

It is necessary for housing associations in multi-owner buildings that have yet to prepare a joint ownership agreement, or one where the joint ownership agreement is unsatisfactory, to react swiftly and prepare a joint ownership agreement for the building as soon as possible so that delays and difficulties in real estate transactions can be avoided.

What is a joint ownership agreement?

A joint ownership agreement is a statutory written instrument prepared by the owners of a multi-owner building on the basis of the provisions of the Multi-Owner Buildings Act, containing a description of the building and site, stipulating its division into separate properties, common areas and common areas shared by some and determining the ownership share of each owner in common areas, thus laying the foundation for the rights and obligations of owners towards each other and as regards individual parts of the building and site. 

In other words, the joint ownership agreement is a document on the division of a multi-owner building into ownership shares. Each private ownership share is described and the items pertaining to it listed. 

Also noted is which parts of the building are common areas and whether these areas belong to all owners and if not, which owners. There are also provisions regarding factors such as ratios, obligations, garage rights, parking and construction. 

The joint ownership agreement is therefore the main document of a multi-owner building’s division into privately owned and common areas, and it can prevent various disagreements between the owners.

The joint ownership agreement is publicly registered, and on its basis, ownership shares are bought, sold, pledged, obligations attached, public levies imposed, particular costs relating to the building divided, votes weighted at house meetings in certain instances, etc.

Who can make a joint ownership agreement?

Only those who have passed a test in the preparation of joint ownership agreements and have obtained a special permission from the Ministry of Welfare may prepare joint ownership agreements. Once a joint ownership agreement has been prepared, the owners must sign it and the Building Authority confirm it before it is publicly registered.

A list of names of the parties authorised to prepare joint ownership agreements (only in Icelandic)

Cadastral Map

The Icelandic Cadastral Map holds information on land parcel boundaries. Note that the cadaster covers only about 50% of registered property yet.

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