Arranging the condominium landing

Arranging the condominium landing

"I live in a block of flats and I'd like to make the landing nicer and more comfortable. My immediate neighbours agree, but the other families don't. Can I do without their consent? Can I do without their consent?

In real estate matters, co-ownership usually takes the form of ownership by storey, within which a distinction must be made between so-called common units and units over which each owner has an exclusive right of enjoyment. Each owner thus has the right to use and develop specific parts of a building, provided that he or she does not restrict the exercise of the rights of the other co-owners, damage the common parts, works and installations of the building, hinder their use or alter its external appearance.

Each co-owner therefore has the right to carry out acts of day-to-day administration, by which is meant essentially maintenance, but not building work, which requires a decision by the co-owners. The question is whether the development you are planning is useful or sumptuary. Works are useful when they are intended to preserve or even increase the value of the property or improve its performance; they may be decided by a majority of the co-owners representing more than half of the property. Sumptuary works are those intended exclusively to embellish the property, improve its appearance or make it easier to use; in such cases, decisions must be taken unanimously. The greater the investment in terms of added value, the more likely it is that the work is sumptuary.

If you can demonstrate that your work to repair the landing is likely to increase the value of the property and its usefulness, you do not necessarily need the agreement of all the co-owners to proceed, but you will not be able to decide to proceed alone. You should therefore ask the administrator to put the matter on the agenda of the next co-owners' meeting, so that a majority or unanimous decision can be taken on the matter.