Czech housing and property glossary for foreign residents

Run a Prague flat listing through a translation app and it will render dispozice as "disposition", leaving you to wonder whether the flat has a kitchen. The vocabulary below covers the listings and the paperwork that follows, grouped by the stage at which you meet it rather than alphabetically.

It describes how the words are used, not what to do in your own case. Some of the underlying rules change, so check the official source before relying on any detail.

Reading a listing

Dispozice (layout) opens every listing. The first number counts rooms and the second part describes the kitchen. 2+kk is two rooms plus a kitchenette (kuchyňský kout) in or off the main room; 2+1 is two rooms plus a separate kitchen. A garsonka is a studio, and 1+kk is its modern equivalent. A living room counts as a room, so a 2+kk usually means one bedroom.

Podlahová plocha is floor area. Check what the figure includes, since balconies, cellars and loggias are often listed separately. A sklep is a cellar, a lodžie a recessed balcony. A výtah is a lift, and its absence on the fifth floor is the kind of detail an agent may mention late.

Cihlový dům and panelový dům (brick house, panel block) describe construction. The communist-era paneláky make up a large share of Czech housing and are often the subject of insulation and refurbishment work. Our overview of the Czech housing market explains the tenure mix behind these labels.

PENB (průkaz energetické náročnosti budovy) is the energy performance certificate. It is generally required when a sale or letting is advertised, with exceptions (as of 2026; check the official source).

Who owns what

Osobní vlastnictví is personal ownership of a flat, which is what most foreigners mean by "buying". A družstevní byt is a cooperative flat: you hold a share in a housing cooperative (bytové družstvo) and a right to use the flat, a different legal position. An obecní byt is a municipal flat, usually let by the city or district.

SVJ (společenství vlastníků jednotek) is the owners' association of a building whose flats are individually owned. It decides on shared costs and repairs. Fond oprav is the repair fund its members pay into, and a správce the building manager, often a company the SVJ hires.

Spoluvlastnictví is co-ownership and podíl a share in a property. Společné jmění manželů is the marital property regime that applies to couples by default, which matters when one spouse buys.

The registers

Katastr nemovitostí is the land registry, kept by the Czech Office for Surveying, Mapping and Cadastre. The list vlastnictví is the ownership extract for a property, showing the owner, legal burdens and restrictions. We explain how to read one in how to read a property extract and how the registry works in the cadastre explainer.

A parcela is a land plot and a stavba a building, which can be registered separately. A jednotka is a unit, meaning a flat or non-residential space defined in the building declaration (prohlášení vlastníka).

Zástavní právo is a pledge, usually a lender's registered security. Věcné břemeno is an easement or similar burden running with the property, such as a right of way or a lifelong right of residence. Předkupní právo is a right of first refusal. Exekuce is enforcement against property, and a note of it on the extract is a warning flag.

Vklad is the entry of a change of ownership into the registry. In Czech practice ownership of real estate generally passes on registration, not on signing, which is why the word turns up constantly in contracts. See how the land registry handles a transfer.

Buying and selling

Kupní smlouva is the sale contract and rezervační smlouva a reservation agreement (see reservation agreements and escrow). Úschova is escrow, with funds held by a notary, lawyer or bank. The kupující is the buyer, the prodávající the seller.

A realitní makléř is a real estate agent; roles and fees are in agents and fees explained. A znalecký posudek is an expert valuation. Daň z nabytí nemovitých věcí is the property acquisition tax, abolished in 2020 (as of 2026; check the official source). It still appears in older documents, and property purchase tax history and principles gives the current position.

Renting

Nájemní smlouva is the tenancy agreement, the pronajímatel the landlord and the nájemce the tenant. Podnájem is a sublease. Nájemné is the rent; služby or zálohy na služby are service charges paid in advance and reconciled later in an annual statement (vyúčtování).

Kauce is the deposit, which the law limits to three months' rent at most (as of 2026; check the Ministry for Regional Development). Výpověď is notice and výpovědní lhůta the notice period. Doba určitá and doba neurčitá mean fixed term and indefinite term. The předávací protokol is the handover protocol, with meter readings and a list of defects. Tenants most often regret not writing it carefully.

Building and permits

Stavební povolení is a building permit and kolaudace the final approval for use of a finished building, now subject to the new Building Act regime (as of 2026; check the Ministry for Regional Development). Územní plán is the municipal land-use plan, which decides what may be built where. Rekonstrukce is a renovation, přestavba a conversion and nástavba an addition on top of a building, which in Prague often means an attic conversion.

Keep this page open in a second tab while you read the first three documents of any transaction. Most of the confusion comes from three or four words, and you will know them by the end of the first week.

This is a general explainer, not legal or tax advice.