Types of Property Ownership 

There are two main types of property ownership in the Czech Republic: ‘osobní vlastnictví’ and ‘družstevní vlastnictví’. You will often see them referred to on real estate websites as ‘OV’ and ‘DV’ respectively. 

Before getting into the discussion of these two types of property ownership it would be good to mention that there is not a leasehold system in the Czech Republic as exists in the UK. The only exception is with occasional properties in the countryside, usually cottages, where the local town or the state actually owns the land and the owner of the cottage leases the land from them. These contracts of use with the town or state generally need to be renewed when a property that resides on such lands changes ownership. 

Let’s get into the main two types of ownership now. 

Private Ownership or ‘Osobní Vlastnictví’ 

This is the type of ownership that is common in most countries. You as a private individual or company have your name in the land registry as the owner of the property. 

This type of ownership is most common with stand-alone homes and is also now becoming common in apartment buildings. New apartment buildings are almost always private ownership. 

One obvious advantage of private ownership is that they are purchasable by companies (SROs) or private individuals. Also, banks are willing to give mortgages on privately owned property because they have collateral for the money being lent. 

Typically these properties sell for a little higher price than other types of ownership because of the possibility of financing. 

Not much more can be said about this type of ownership without understanding the other main type of ownership. 

Cooperative Ownership or ‘Družstevní Vlastnictví’ 

This type of ownership is still very common in the Czech Republic and particularly in multi-unit apartment blocks. 

With this type of ownership there exists a cooperative or ‘družstvo’ which has its name in the land registry as owners of an apartment building. Its members buy the rights to be a member of the cooperative and use a particular flat. There is no record in the land registry of particular member’s ownership of the flat they live in. 

Because banks are understandably very hesitant to lend a mortgage to someone buying into a cooperative, the price for a flat of this type of ownership is usually less than private ownership. 

One advantage of buying into a cooperative is that you do not have to wait for a land registry decision to become the official owner of your flat. Once your purchase contract is signed you can move into the flat. With private ownership it can take up to 2 months for the land registry to recognize the purchase agreement and make you the registered owner of the property. 

Is It Possible to Move Ownership from Cooperative to Private? 

Yes, this is possible but requires the cooperation and willingness of all members of the cooperative. 

The first step is for the apartment building to be split into individual apartments in the land registry since often the building as a whole is owned by the cooperative. 

Next the cooperative must sell the apartment or apartments (sometimes only a few apartments will be in private ownership and the rest remain in the cooperative) to the individual owners. At this point the individual members of the cooperative are listed as the owners of the property in the land registry. 

As you could expect, a process such as this can take six months or sometimes even longer. If one member of the cooperative disagrees with the changes and refuses to cooperate it can cause real problems and drag the process out even longer.