A floor of a house is a compromise many buyers look for deliberately: more space and quiet than a flat in a block, a yard, sometimes an attic or a cellar — at a price below a detached house. In the older neighbourhoods of Sofia, Plovdiv and the other large cities, properties like this come onto the market regularly.
A floor of a house is not a "small house", though. You become a neighbour with a shared roof, shared walls and a shared yard — and the legal regime for those shared things decides whether the property brings you peace or disputes.
Behind "floor of a house" in a listing there are two very different situations.
1. A self-contained unit in a condominium. The house is divided into self-contained units — for example "dwelling on the second floor" — each with its own owner. The unit has its own identifier in the cadastre and its own notarial deed, and with it you acquire undivided shares of the common parts of the building and of the land. This is the normal and preferable case.
2. An undivided share of the whole house. The house has never been divided. The seller owns, say, a 1/2 undivided share of the whole building and the yard, and uses "their" floor by arrangement with the co-owner. You are buying a share in co-ownership, not a floor. Co-ownership rules then apply, including a possible court-ordered division — we cover these in our guide to co-owned and inherited property.
How to tell them apart: in the first case there is a cadastral diagram of the self-contained unit and the notarial deed describes a specific unit with an area and boundaries. In the second, the deed refers to "undivided shares" of the building and there is no diagram of a separate floor.
When an undivided share of co-owned property is sold to an outsider, the seller must first offer it to the other co-owners on the same terms (Art. 33 of the Property Act). If that has not been done, a co-owner can "buy out" the share through the courts within two months. The notary checks for this at completion, but the risk to the buyer is real if the offer was not documented.
When a self-contained unit in a condominium is sold together with its share of the land, the courts generally hold that no such right arises — the share of the land follows the unit. One more reason to prefer the first situation.
The land the building stands on and the yard are common parts of the condominium (Art. 38(1) of the Property Act). Under the case law, the yard as a rule cannot be divided — you cannot fence off "your half" and register it as a separate property.
You can, however, agree on how it is used. An arrangement on who uses which part of the yard, where cars are parked and whose garden is whose is the most valuable document a seller can show you. If there is nothing in writing, ask the neighbour how things work in practice — and whether there are any disputes. For a parking space in the yard and what exactly you acquire with it, see garage, parking space or a spot in the yard.
For a building with up to three self-contained units owned by more than one person, the Condominium Management Act refers back to the Property Act (Art. 3 of the Condominium Management Act):
In practice, in a two-floor house with two owners holding equal shares, neither can impose a decision alone — agreement is needed. With more than three units, the full condominium regime applies, with a general assembly and a manager.
The roof, façade, foundations and load-bearing walls are common. Repairing the roof above your floor affects the neighbour below, and a leak in their bathroom affects your ceiling. Before you buy, ask:
The dream of "converting the attic" or "adding a conservatory" rarely comes true without the neighbour. Extending or adding a storey to a building in condominium requires the other owners' consent with notarised signatures, as well as building permits. The logic is the same as for apartment blocks — see our guide to adding floors to an apartment block.
The opposite risk matters too: if the seller has already added something — an enclosed terrace, a glazed veranda, a converted attic — check whether it was legalised and whether the neighbour consented. An unauthorised addition does not become yours by virtue of the notarial deed, and it can become a source of conflict with the neighbour.
The full list of legal checks is in our guide to legal checks before buying a property.
A floor of a house can be an excellent purchase — with more space, a yard and more character than most new builds offer. A good deal starts with the documents: a self-contained unit rather than undivided shares, clear rules for the yard and the roof, separate services and good relations with the neighbour.
If you like a floor of a house and want us to check what exactly is being sold and how the common parts are used, call us or come into the office — we will go through the documents and visit the property with you.
Verified October 2026. This is general information, not legal advice for a specific case.
