In January 2026, several significant legal changes will come into force affecting owners of private houses, apartments, and other groups in society.
One of the most important new measures, effective from 6 January 2026, is the unified construction process. Under this process, an application for construction submitted in the Construction Information System will also serve as an application for the subsequent registration of the building in the State Real Estate Cadastre Information System and, thereafter, as an entry in the Land Register. The unified process ensures broad interoperability between information systems and automatic data exchange between institutions. With the introduction of this process, cadastral surveying carried out by the State Land Service (previously called an inventory case) will no longer be necessary, significantly reducing administrative and financial burdens and saving time. The process will be fully digitalized, and data will be transferred automatically and sequentially between systems.
On 1 January, amendments to the Building Regulations will come into effect. These changes simplify requirements for small construction projects. In most cases, no construction documentation will be required for the new construction or placement of a small building (up to 25 m²).
Documentation requirements are also simplified where still necessary – with a construction notification and without a building authority decision, it will be possible to carry out: new construction of a first-class residential building, auxiliary building, or agricultural non-residential building, and renovation or reconstruction of a second-class one- or two-apartment residential building without changing the building volume or use (except for state-protected cultural monuments). For construction in protected cultural monument areas, an explanatory note will be required for first-class residential buildings, auxiliary buildings, or agricultural non-residential buildings, as well as for new construction or placement of second-class one-apartment residential buildings up to 200 m².
Restrictions on the use of wood in large industrial and public buildings are also revised – wood can now be widely used in higher fire-resistance buildings if appropriate fire safety systems are provided.
From 5 January, amendments to the Condominium Law will take effect, strengthening the role of apartment owners’ associations. Associations will now have the right to obtain loans from banks for the renovation of residential buildings in their own name, so apartment owners will no longer need to establish a separate organization for this purpose. Registration requirements for apartment owners’ associations with the State Revenue Service as taxpayers are also simplified. The amendments specify that if an association’s annual income from economic activity does not exceed two state minimum monthly wages, registration with the State Revenue Service will not be required.
The amendments also introduce the principle that when purchasing an apartment, the new owner will be responsible for apartment payment debts up to three years old. This establishes the principle of “debt follows the apartment.”
Additionally, the amendments state that certain boundary windows of individual properties will now be considered part of the common property of the residential building. Apartment owners have the right to repair or modify these boundary windows and doors, which are external enclosing structures of the building, in coordination with the building manager. The cost of repairing and maintaining these windows is the responsibility of the apartment owner.