The Right of Pre-emption in Selling Portions of Apartment Flats: Examination and Analysis

Exercising the right of pre-emption is one of the coercive grounds of ownership in jurisprudence and statute laws of Iran, which can benefit the person hold the aforesaid right in immovable transactions in case of the fulfillment of legal conditions. Joint utilization in shared ownership of immovable property and joint ownership of passage and waterway in Imami jurisprudence is one of the factors in the emergence of the right of pre-emption. In popular jurisprudence, in addition to the two aforementioned factors, the proximity of the two properties (i.e., being neighborhood) is another ground for the realization of the right of pre-emption. Owing to the ever-increasing rise in population and the subsequent need for housing, the issue of construction and use of apartment flats and their dealings has become gained more prominence among various members of the society. Moreover, the diversity of needs of residents and neighbors has led to a wide range of dealing related to different parts of apartments such as storage rooms and parking spaces. The common ownership of apartments in the land and premises and the sharing of ownership of passages (that is, corridors, lobbies, elevators) and waterways (water pipes and installations) have made all led to the high relevance of the right of pre-emption in dealings of apartments and their parts. As such, the purpose of this study was to address whether the right of pre-emption can be considered and implemented regarding the portions of apartment building and whether this implementation is in accordance with the law of ownership of apartments and the contents stipulated in the civil law, that is, articles 808 et seq. The authors concluded that although it is possible to exercise the right of pre-emption in the sale of apartment units and the sale of its different parts, it suffers from more restrictions than other real estate dealings and there are fewer instances of the right of pre-emption in apartment transactions than in other real estate transactions according to the criteria set out in the Apartment Ownership Law and its by-laws, as well as the instructions for separating apartments.